For our second day in Hualien County we have a full schedule in between lunch and dinner.
We leave for the Hualien Fengbin Sky Trail, a 150m sky trail that hangs out over one of the limestone cliffs above the ocean. We all feel fine about this, until we are told there is a 20m section that is transparent, built from steel beams and tempered glass. This will allow those, who are not too afraid, to look through the glass to the shore below. One of our group starts to feel a little nervous but we promise to flank either side of her and make sure she is comfortable. Although still feeling anxious, she decides she doesn’t want to miss out on what will be an amazing experience. And it was! Part of the trail is a fairly narrow path cut out from the cliff face that had connected the local villages during the Japanese period. The walk also takes in part of a cliff edge section of the old highway. If visiting, spend as much time as you can around this area – the coastline is incredible.
Our lunch today will be at the Yankees Dude Ranch restaurant. Yes, an unusual name for a restaurant in Taiwan – and why the name? Our host explains that before they opened the restaurant the family had land on which they raised goats (Yang) and chickens (ji). YangJi. Unable to cook and sell food on their land (ranch) they moved to the city and set up the restaurant which specialises in chicken and goat dishes, as well as fish and vegetables. All ingredients are locally produced and our refreshments include their home-made apple & pineapple, and lemon oolong tea.
Our lunch was long and relaxing but we are now ready for more sightseeing and set off for Qixingtan Beach at the north of Hualien City, where the mountains meet the sea. There is no sand, just the most amazing pebbles in all shapes and sizes. I feel the need to collect some as they are so tactile, but resist the urge as not only is it not permitted, I have to remember how many kgs of luggage I am allowed on the plane home! It’s another hot (34 degrees) day andlooking at the blue water we wish for a cool dip but swimming is also not permitted on the beach so we have to be content with dipping just our feet in the water.
We move on to the Clear Water (Qingshui) Cliffs in Sioulin Township. These extraordinary cliffs were ‘created by collision between the Philippines and Eurasian tectonic plates around 6 million years ago. As the earth crust was uplifted, the island of Taiwan was formed and at the point where the plates collided the long stretch of cliffs was created’. The sight of these sheer cliffs with high mountains above, and the deep blue ocean below, is truly staggering.
It’s time to eat – again – and we head off to experience a local Hakka restaurant, Shi-Ting Hakka Restaurant or our dinner. Hakka cuisine is described in Wikipedia as a “style of Chinese cooking which is little known outside the Hakka home. It concentrates on the texture of food – the hallmark of Hakka cuisine. Preserved vegetables are commonly used for steamed and braised dishes such as steamed minced pork with preserved vegetables and braised pork with salted vegetables. Hakka cuisine may be described as outwardly simple but tasty. The skill in Hakka cuisine lies in the ability to cook meat thoroughly without hardening it, and to naturally bring out the proteinous flavour (umami taste) of meat.
We have a very early start in the morning taking the train back to Taipei. A 2.5 hour journey that in between sights unseen will deliver a total of 31 tunnels through the winding and steep cliffs.
The writer was a guest of the Taiwan Tourism Bureau/Taiwan Visitors Association
.jpg){kind=tracking}