A relic from Japanese times

This place seems to have no single official English name (and believe me, for a translator, situations like this are a perpetual source of headaches). But I've seen it called Lin Tien Coopery and Lin Tian Bucket Shop. Since the name could well be of Japanese origin, it could presumably also be Hayashida Barrel Shop.



I admire the owners of the shop because they have resisted the trend of modernization. Far too many traditional businesses in Taiwan have upgraded their appearance to look slick and modern. But this place retains its old-time charm, having made few changes from the time of their founding during the Japanese occupation.

Instead, they focus their energies on their products: hand-crafted buckets, barrels, tubs and dippers made of cedar. And with the high quality and fine craftsmanship, you'll get what you pay for: a standard sized bucket fetches about US$100.

The address is 108 Zhongshan N. Rd. Sec. 1, Taipei. It's kitty corner from MetrOasis and just up the street from the Happy Family Hostel.

It's located in the same Japanese-style brick building in which the shop was founded way back in 1928.



If you want to experience a touch of old Taipei, and are in the area, why not stop by?

A little more nature in Taiwan

Swinhoe's longhorn beetle (Paraglenea swinhoei)


Swinhoe's japalura (Japalura swinhonis)

A couple more Taiwan nature photos

A slug feasting on the deadly mushroom Amanita virgineoides, a close relative of the Death Cap. (Photo by Katannya)


A spectacular swallowtail. (Photo by Robert)


As for the typhoon-predicting grass, a week after we saw it, a major typhoon hit Taiwan: Typhoon Morakot. We hope it's correct in predicting that this will be the only one this year.

Though we were relatively unharmed in the north, the south saw massive flooding and landslides. Some mountain communities were wiped off the map, and many people lost their lives or went missing. And the government's poor handling of this emergency has led to charges that this is President Ma Ying-jeou's Hurricane Katrina. Michael Turton gives this issue extensive treatment in his blog The View from Taiwan.

Nature hike to Dongyanshan

Today we hiked to the Dongyanshan (East Eye Mountain) Forest Reserve, near the town of Sanxia, in the mountains where Taipei County meets Taoyuan County. We took a backwoods route, allowing us to avoid paying the entry fee. But it's a looooong way.

The trailhead was at the end of a road that forks off to the right at a small village, a place we usually turn left to go to Manyueyuan (Full Moon Park).

Eager hikers at the trailhead


This section of the trail is not very difficult. It's pretty level for the most part, with only one short scramble over some rocks.

A few minutes into the hike we came across a frog pond. We were alerted to the presence of the frogs by their croaking sounds.

Sauter's Brown Frog (Rana sauteri)


About 40 minutes into the hike we came to an open area with lots of wildflowers, and tons of butterflies of numerous species. I'd never seen such a rich variety in such a small area. It was a butterfly paradise.

Redbase Jezebel (Delias aglaia)


Common Tiger (Danaus genutia)


Swinhoe's Chocolate Tiger (Parantica swinhoei)


Top: Glassy Tiger (Parantica aglea)
Bottom: Double-Banded Crow (Euploea sylvester swinhoei)
Flower: Flossflower (Ageratum houstonianum)


Common Mapwing (Cyrestis thyodamas)


Nyctemera adversata, a Magpie Moth


To be determined


There was a certain flowering plant that seemed especially attractive to swallowtails. Most of these large butterflies disappeared quickly upon the arrival of us humans, but this one allowed us to squeeze off a few shots before fleeing:

Formosan Swallowtail (Papilio taiwanus)


We couldn't hang around all day photographing butterflies...we had to continue on our hike. We trudged on through the vegetation.



We passed some patches of palmgrass. The locals call it "typhoon grass". There's an Aboriginal legend that these plants can foretell the future. Namely, the number of typhoons for the year is predicted by the number of creases on the leaves. This year the leaves of the palmgrass consistently show one crease. No typhoon has hit Taiwan yet this year, so one is expected to come.

Palmgrass (Setaria palmifolia), the typhoon oracle


Trailhacker decided to take a closer look at some wild bananas (Musa basjoo?). They have small red fruits and large black seeds.


Then we came to a road, and walked along it for about 10 minutes until we found a dirt road to the left. Walking in, we passed by a forest of bamboo.



Japanese Fig (Ficus erecta)


We climbed up to a ridge and hiked along it. Vegetation grew thick in some areas, but the trail was clear for the most part. We traversed several peaks before finally seeing a pavilion. We were in the forest preserve. Here we had a well-deserved rest and lunch.

Some of the Dongyanshan forest preserve consists of a plantation forest of Japanese Cedar planted during the Japanese occupation after the area was logged for native hardwoods. As you can see, the trees are all approximately the same age. These trees are decades old! (Sorry... it's an inside joke; I couldn't help it.)



Admiring the view of the mountains


Took another rest outside the preserve's restaurant and noticed the name of this appetizing dish (the top one):



Look, on the ground! A snake! But don't worry: it's not venomous. It's a White Plum Blossom Snake (Lycodon ruhstrati ruhstrati). Oh, and it's dead.


Now that's a leaf! What do we call them? Elephant ears? Lovers' umbrellas? It's Giant Taro (Alocasia macrorrhiza).


We trekked back to the car and drove to Sanxia, where we had dinner at Belgian Pie's restaurant. Excellent food as usual.