Saturday, March 15, 2008
We met, as usual, at the Muzha MRT Station. Robert, Kate, Kitty and I took a cab to National Chengchi University, and walked across campus to a place near the the bottom of the stairway that goes up to Zhinan Temple. We met Patty at a convenience store there. After stocking up at the store, we started our trek. We hiked up the stairway, which is very long.
I've heard it rumored that the entire climb consists of 1000 steps. Up, up, up we went.
Near the top, there are some sculptures of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac on the side of the trail. The first time we hiked this way, the sculptures were hidden by overgrown vegetation. At that time someone told us of their existence, but this time someone had done a great job of clearing away the undergrowth. Here is the Rat:
When we got to the base of Zhinan Temple, we took an alternative route past a smaller temple. I noticed some old residential buildings on the side of this hill. Buildings like these are a common sight in rural areas.
We hiked down a trail to a valley to where the Zhinan Elementary School is, which is right next to the trailhead for the Tea Picker's Trail. This trail is a stairway that goes straight up to the heart of Maokong.
Here's a view of the Maokong Gondola, which goes from the zoo to Sanxuan Temple, where the tea houses are concentrated. In the foreground are some betel nut palms (Areca catechu).
We stopped by an old farmhouse, with a classic, rustic Taiwanese look to it.
Up, up, up!
On the way up, we passed a number of graves.
At the top of the trail, we came to the Maokong Gondola station. We passed right under the gondolas.
But we didn't stop there. We went past the crowds of day-trippers and trudged on, taking a trail that went up to the ridge above Maokong. Up, up, up!
From the top of the ridge we could see the Maokong Gondola station.
The trail soon left the woods and meandered through tea fields.
We passed through a flower plantation on the way to one of our favorite teahouses, Zizaitian.
Then after enjoying a refreshing and relaxing tea break, we started walking back down to the city. We passed another temple, Zhangshan Temple, on the way down to National Chengchi University. A woman was selling sausages at the temple.
We walked all the way back down to Muzha, and were rewarded with some nice views of the city below, and of the freeway.
We passed back thoug the university campus and went to have a meal at one of our favorite restaurants, a place that serves Yunnanese cuisine for cheap. A great end to a great day!
