Wang Yeh Boat Burning Festival Part I

Yesterday, Saturday Oct. 10, was the first day of the 2009 Wang Yeh Boat Burning Festival in Donggang, in southern Taiwan. It's one of Taiwan's prime festivals, and it takes place once every three years. We went to the final day of the 2006 festival, and this time around we decided to go to the first day of this week-long event. (Next week we'll go once again to the last day, which we just learned is Friday the 16th. The boat will be set alight on what will technically be Saturday morning.)

Robert wrote two interesting articles on this festival:

1. Taiwan Today
2. Wall Street Journal

We drove down south and overnighted in the city of Pingdong. The next morning we drove to Donggang, where the festival takes place.

Wang Yeh (wang ye, Royal Lords) are an aspect of Chinese folk religion. They are the spirits of what were once real, historical people, who centuries after their deaths have been elevated to divine status. Representatives from Wang Yeh temples all over Taiwan converge on Donggang for the festival, carrying their local gods in sedan chairs.

The festivities focus on Donglong Temple, with much of the activities happening in the temple square. On the first day, Wen Hong, the god of Donglong Temple, is carried outside and the doors to the inner sanctuary are ceremonially sealed during his absence.

Here's a scene from the ceremony in which the god is brought out. You can see, on the right, under the twin paper lanterns, the sanctuary door is open in the background.


The characters on the two lanterns above the doorway read "Inspection tour on behalf of Heaven," which is what is about to happen during the week: the gods go around on an inspection tour of the area, and will report their findings to Heaven.

A palanquin bearer, wearing the characteristic hat, inspects the sedan chair in which the temple god will be carried.


Music fills the air. Inside the temple, a group of young musicians play the suona, a double-reeded horn which sounds somewhat like a bagpipe.


Next, the gods are carried in their palanquins across the temple square, past the Wang Yeh boat still waiting in its "garage," through the golden arch on the far end of the square, and into the city streets.

The temple square is jam-packed with palanquin bearers, devotees and tourists. During this festival, Donglong Temple has been designated daitianfu: "Temple in Lieu of Heaven."


Make way for the King! Temple god Wen Hong is carried in his sedan chair.


Along the way, there are drums, gongs, fireworks along the pilgrimage to the beach. Finally, we approach the seaside.

A palanquin bearer cools down with a refreshing Taiwan Beer.


Dozens of palanquins are lined up on the sandy shore.


Lots of colorful characters can be seen here.




One of the gods arrives by sea.


Just beyond the lined up sedan chairs is a stretch of open sand in front of a stage, where another ceremony takes place. At this ceremony, the presiding Wang Yeh is chosen.



We had been told that the name is chosen by spirit mediums who write characters in the sand. We saw them carrying sticks presumably for that purpose, but either there were too many people or we were looking in the wrong place because we didn't see the sand-writing taking place. In any case, the name was chosen: with fanfare, firecrackers, cheers and a release of balloons, it was announced that the presiding Wang Yeh was named Luo.

Afterwards, the procession started in earnest, with all the sedan chairs being carried to another temple in the city, the first in a tour of many temples in the area.

We decided to go have dinner while we waited for the next major act of the day: the firewalk. On their return to the temple, the sedan-chair bearers walk barefoot through coals to purify themselves.

At around 7:00pm, the coals were burning with fierce heat.


The coals are smoothed out, and rice is tossed onto the coals as an offering. It bursts into a blaze with plumes of smoke rising into the night sky.


Next, salt is tossed on the coals, which lowers the temperature "so they don't get barbecued," the announcer said.


And across they go.


After crossing the coals, they left the temple grounds, went onto the street, and came back, forming a continuous loop of people streaming across the coals. I don;t know how many times they had to make the circuit.

Even SpongeBob was there to witness the festivities.


At night, the palanquins are lit up with colorful lights.


Festive fireworks enliven an already intense evening.




And this is only the first day!

On Friday the 16th, we go back down to Donglong Temple for the culmination of the festival: the Boat Burning!!

To get an idea of what it's like, check out the video I made for the last festival. Just click on the following YouTube link:

2006 Wang Yeh Boat Burning Festival

Jiajiuliao Hike

Last Saturday we did one of our favorite trails, the Jiajiuliao Trail, near Wulai. It was threatening rain, and this trail, clear, wide, level and not muddy, is a good trail for rainy days. We went here last February, so I blogged in more detail at that time. But this time we had some new people along, including Sunny, the daughter of long-time family friends.

Here we are in the hut.

Paradise Lost and Regained: Daxi River

This is the tale of our adventures on Daxi River, one of our favorite destinations near Taipei.

It all started in late spring of 2006, when we trekked along a previously unexplored (by us) trail starting from a farmhouse on Highway 007, and headed downhill along the Daxi River, which flows out at the fishing town of Daxi on the east coast, north of Yilan. I still remember the farmer's words of warning to us as we began the trek: "You won't make it by nightfall." Turned out he was right: we spent the last hour hiking through the woods on a leechy, overgrown trail in pitch dark, with just a couple of tiny flashlights to light our way. (But oooh, the fireflies!) Our hopes were finally buoyed when we saw, on the opposite hillside, a house with the lights on. We knew a road had to be nearby, and that we were coming to civilization.

That hike was a mixed bag: a mixture of tribulations and amazing discoveries. The biggest discovery of all was a fantastic-looking waterfall we observed from far up on the hillside trail. Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera that day.

On the way, we crossed the river a number of times, noticing that it seemed easily walkable. We were determined to come back someday and walk up the river to the waterfall.

The day came a couple months later.

We organized a group of perhaps 6 or 7 people, and "river traced" up the Daxi River.


Along the way, we scrambled over boulders and stopped to cool off in refreshing pools.



The surrounding mountains and jungle were gorgeous, and we noticed as we hiked up that there were no traces of human presence: not a scrap of litter or any artificial structures. The water was crystal clear, teeming with fish, including Taiwan shoveljaw carp (Varicorhinus barbatulus), which flash their silvery bodies in the sun.



As we hiked up, the trail got rockier. On our first hike, we stopped by a pool and had lunch, wondering how much farther it would be until we got to the elusive waterfall.





One member of our group went on to explore as we waited, and found our destination just 10 minutes beyond:

The waterfall!


Since that day, we've made this an annual hike, ideal for summer because of the cool water and the beauty of the place. And after each hike, we'd go and have a seafood dinner in Daxi, often buying fish at the harbor fish market and having a local restaurant cook it up for us.

Daxi Fish Market








The following year, we went there again. Here, Robert and Christian discovered a trail that brought them around to the top of the waterfall:



On this watery trail there are other interesting diversions, like the Massage Waterfall:





And the Power Waterfall

Robert taking in the power


Paradise Lost

After several memorable visits in 2006 and 2007, we decided to go again in 2008. This time wasn't so enjoyable. First, the air was filled with smoke from several brush fires that were burning along the river. We decided to quicken our pace by hiking along the trail that was up on the hillside. But when we were getting close to the waterfall area, we encountered some illegal hunters who didn't want us there scaring the game away. (They were presumably hunting barking deer and/or wild boar.) We took a trail down to the river, where we encountered yet another person, who seemed concerned that we were there. (It turned out he was the guy who lives at the house on the hillside, the same house that had given us hope a couple years before.) Dejected, we went back with the feeling that our secret paradise had been spoiled.

Paradise Regained

We went back on September 6, 2009. The weather looked promising and, according to Trailhacker, who owns a house near the trailhead, the local mulberry trees were bearing ripe fruit.

So we went. The weather was perfect, and the mulberries were delicious! And the area was teeming with butterflies. And the water and air were clear. We hiked up the river, as usual, and encountered no one. (Only bad point: we did find a few piles of garbage farther upstream, evidence of illegal fishing activities, since this is a closed stream. We cleaned up all the garbage we found.)

I had forgotten my camera, so I started using my cell phone as a backup. But early into the hike, my cell phone fell into the river. I managed to grab it after it was submerged for a second, and took it apart and let it dry for 24-hours. Surprisingly, it works fine now!! So anyway, all the photos below from Sunday's hike were taken by Robert.

An extraordinary specimen of Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya)


Four species
Common Jay (Graphium doson postianum)
Common Bluebottle (Graphium sarpedon connectens)
Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida formosana)
Common Mapwing (Cyrestis thyodamas formosana)


Mulberries!


And of course, this time we made it all the way to the waterfall, where we had a nice swim!


And discovered that those funny little fish behind the waterfall are juvenile Monk Goby: they climb up the wet rock walls eating algae, using their front pair of fins like arms. Later they swim downriver out to sea to mate, returning to the river to spawn. More than one hiker has mistaken them for leeches.

Monk Goby (Sicyopterus japonicus)


It was a truly enjoyable day, which, as usual, we topped off with a meal at the seafood restaurant. The meal included Yellowtail Barracuda! (A little bony, but very tasty!)

Dinner: Yellowtail Barracuda (Sphyraena flavicauda)


And this is the view of Turtle Island as we round a corner on the road from the trailhead, driving toward the coast (photo taken by me in 2006):

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.