Stop 3 : Taichung Harbour (台中港)

Taichung Harbour is mainly a fisherman’s wharf located in Central Taiwan. Once as fishermen parks their boats, they ship their harvest to the gigantic Taichung Fish Market right next to the harbour.

Our tour bus dropped us here to visit the touristy fish market, watch the sunset, and have seafood dinner at a nearby restaurant. I didn’t think much of the restaurant as we walked in, but every fish dish was fresh and tasty!

Stop 2 : Taiwan Glass Hall

We continued on to Taiwan Glass Hall. Its giant showroom was full of impressive glass statues, furniture, decoration, and etc. Even the showroom itself was impressive!

Stop 1 : Lu Gang (鹿港)

Lu Gang used to be the 2nd most prosperous place in Taiwan and an important harbour for business people to go between China and Taiwan. However, nowadays it was hard to imagine its Golden old days. The harbour had become too muddy and was replaced by Kaohsiung Gang, the main international harbour in Taiwan. Jobs were scare, so lots of young people moved out to big cities and left the older generation behind. The government tried to preserve what little was left there and renovate the place to attract tourists. This plan had been paid off. Everywhere we went was swamped by tourists like us!

I had been reading about Lu Gang and wanting to visit it for a long time. But the incredible thing was that we only spent 8 minutes in its famous Jiu Qu Xiang (Nine Bent Alley)! Yick! Even though we should’ve asked for the direction sooner and spent less time on the so-so lunch, the tour still allotted too little time for Lu Gang.

We strolled to its famous Matsu temple, Tian Hou Gong, the oldest Matsu temple in Taiwan. The traditional craftsmanship was impressive! I would like to observe each room and god/goddess better, but my eyes couldn’t stand the overwhelming incense and had to escape to the hallway most of the time.

BTW, this temple had the most advanced bathrooms that I had ever seen (except in Japan). Not only they were in a new 2-floor building next to the temple, but also the entrance was an automatic door, AC was provided, and each flush and faucet was controlled by a sensor! And it was free! All these pointed out that this was a very popular temple.

As usual, the old town was developed around the temple, so tons of street vendors set up their stands along the old streets. Unfortunately, most old buildings were either torn down or pushed back along with a new and boring facade. To see the traditional buildings, one had to go to the preserved alleys, like Jiu Qu Xiang. But we had no idea where it was.

After asking a street vendor, she told us a long route and we were in a big hurry to get there. When we finally got there, every time I tried to stop and take a photo, my parents kept on reminding me to hurry up. Well, not until we finished Jiu Qu Xiang, an alley much shorter and less impressive than I had imagined, we realized that it was very close to the temple and we could’ve leisurely enjoyed it. Why did the street vendor made us waste so much time? Probably because we didn’t buy her food, I guess. Well, I learned my lesson…

The Deluxe Bus Tour

Back in July, I had swore that I would never join another bus tour. So what the hell I went on another one? Well, because I had been wanting to see Lu Gang’s old streets and buildings for a long, long time. (Lu Gang literally means “Deer Harbour”. It’s located in Central Taiwan and on the West Coast.)

To fight against the awful karaoke noise, I brought along my Meizu Mini Player full of Buddhist music. And to avoid wasting time on waiting for the late comers, I brought The Sutra of Hui-neng (“非常壇經”) by Master Hai Yun (海雲法師) with me. (Master Hai Yun is another good story teller, BTW.) On top of that, this was a deluxe bus; each row only had 3 seats instead of the usual 4, although it was still on the narrow side and didn’t have much leg room. But, anyway, my strategy worked and this trip was much more comfortable than my July trip, thank goodness!