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The railway leading to Alishan is 72 km in total. It starts from the space 30 meters above sea level and rises up to 2450 meters above sea level, the gradient of which is so big that is rare in the world. From the mountain foot to the peak, train ascends as if it were travelling spirally along “winding staircase”. Circling mountain and warming itself into tunnels, striding valley, with birds hovering below the train wheels. Along the route of ascending in a few hours, one can enjoy the scenery of vegetation of four categories in tropical, sub-tropical, temperate and frigid zones. Those rare and grotesque trees form the “green sea” on the Alishan. When the mountain wind blows hard, the mountain forest, like terrifying waves, makes big loud thunder, which is the famous soughing in the forest trees of vast area in Alishan.

Every tourist for Alishan is interested in witnessing the majestic view of “Mystical Tree of Alishan”. On the east side of the Mystical Tree Railway Station of the main Peak of Alishan, there stands a sturdy towering tree slightly slant. Although the main trunk is broken, yet the branches on the top are green and verdant. The tree is about 52 meters high and the diameter is about 23 meters, which needs ten more people to jointly embrace it. It is estimated that its high age is 3000 odd years, a king tree in Asia.

The oriental cherry all over the slopes of Alishan is also a wonder. During spring, red and white oriental cherry blossoms up hill and down dale, crowding together gorgeously. They mingles with the verdant forest, as if the peaks of Alishan had been splendidly attired in green clothes dotted with red flowers, making one intoxicated.

In the evening, there appears often the magnificent sea of clouds in Alishan. Reaching the terrace at the peak, when one looks far into the distance, he can see the white clouds emerging form valleys and hovering with wind. Sometimes it looks like a vast expense of water drowning mountains and peaks, making pinnacles and tops of trees above turn out like floating islets. Sometimes it looks like waves breaking and foaming with tides high and low. Sometimes it looks like earth covered with cotton, and you feel a vast expanse of whiteness under you feet. When it is fine day, the verdant sunset-bathed sea of cloud glitters in different colors, dark-brown, apricot pink, sapphire blue, bright red and dark green, all changeable without end, it appears more mystical and attractive.

There is a beautiful sun observation tower on the terrace of the famous Zhu Mountain peak of Alishan. At the crack of dawn, if you ascend the tower in the midst of freshness of air, you can see the grey outline of Yu Mountain far away would suddenly be edged with golden glow when radiance, increases all of a sudden. At the very moment, the sun as if jumps out off the top of Yu Mountain, shining with boundless radiance to all sides, myriads of golden rays burst one after another from blue mountain and verdant valley, a scene majestic in all its variety.

The Tainan walking tour is the brainchild of Lily Pi, a Tainan businesswoman whose family runs the Asia Hotel in the city’s former night market area. Pi, who graduated from the city’s National Cheng Kung University and has been a caterer from the time, as she puts it, her mother was expecting her, wanted to find a way to combine her two loves of history and food. She came up with the walking tour idea because she felt that much of Taiwan’s old culture, beliefs, and customs were disappearing in the island’s rapid industrialization and modernization.

Pi started the tours three years ago as an annual event. Chinese Valentine’s Day was chosen as the date of the tours because on that day people from all over Taiwan flock to Tainan’s Kailung Seven Daughters of the Emperor of Heaven) Temple to commemorate the marriage of the emperor’s daughter to a commoner. As the story goes, this marriage was not met with approval and the couple’s two children ended up being raised by seven daughters of the emperor. Consequently, Kailung Temple became known as the temple for the protection of children.

Kailung Temple is the first temple in Taiwan for celebrating a child’s coming of age.
Kailung Temple
Kailung Temple is also the first temple in Taiwan for celebrating a child’s coming of age. On most weekends parents come here to watch their 16-year-olds crawl under a special table to signify to their family and to society that they are now adults. After crawling under the table three times, young women, in particular, then pray for a good marriage.

Pi recently decided to expand her tour to a weekly frequency because of the interest in Tainan’s temples shown by Japanese tourists who regularly visit the city. She has organized an interesting and enlightening two-and-a-half-hour walk that takes participants through seven temples to illustrate, as she says, the Chinese circle of life. Along the way, Pi carefully points out the smallest of detail, from a tiny lion perched on a city rooftop to the stones in front of a long-abandoned Japanese restaurant. Perhaps no one knows Tainan better than Lily Pi. One certainly gets that feeling walking down the back alleys that lead to a beautiful but derelict library.

While Tainan’s many temples provide the focal point of this cultural excursion, Pi also takes time to show her guests a beautiful Chinese garden and let them enjoy some of Taiwan’s specialty foods. She feels that eating is an important part of this cultural experience, and she takes every opportunity for guests to try delicacies like lotus tea, taro cake, and Taiwanese dumplings.

Matsu Temple is dedicated to the Goddess of the sea.
Matsu Temple
The tour takes visitors to some of Tainan’s more famous temples, including the Matsu Temple , which is dedicated to the Goddess of the Sea. Almost 400 years old, this temple is also home to “the Old Man Under the Moon,” a Taoist god who functions somewhat like Cupid. Single people who are looking for a spouse come here to pray to this god. After praying, the supplicant removes a single red thread from around the god’s arm, wraps the thread up in a small piece of red paper, and carries it in his or her pocket every day. In a short time, Pi says, these people will get married. Some people also pick up some incense ash here which is said to have the power to make women more charming when worn behind the ears. Men can get the same effect by wearing it on their throat.
Once feeling empowered by this new sense of destiny, many people then head down a small lane known as “Fortune Tellers Street.” Couples visit the street’s fortune tellers to find out if they are suitable for each other and when the best date to get married is.

Tientan Temple
Another interesting temple on the tour is Tientan Temple , which is the place local people visit if they want to change a streak of bad luck. The best times to visit are the 1st and 15th days of the lunar month, when the temple is packed with people who come to pray for the safety of their families. However, even on low days the air is thick with the smell of incense coming from the scores of burning joss sticks; outside stacks of ghost money await burning

The locals who come here to pray do something that is found only in Taoist worship. They drop a pair of wooden or bamboo objects shaped like half moons onto the ground to divine their fortune. These divining blocks are used as a bridge for communication with the gods; through them, it is said, a person can determine his fortune by the positioning of them after they fall on the ground.

This large abacus, a distinct feature of Chenghuang(City God) Temple, is used to add up the good and bad deeds a person has comitted in his or her lifetime.

Chenghuang Temple
The tour starts to take on a somber note at the Chenghuang Temple. A large sign saying “So you have finally come” greets visitors here. Pi explains that after a lifetime of raising a family and earning a living, older people come here to pray that the gods will look favorably upon their deeds after they have passed on. The temple is unique for its two large abacuses which, Pi explains, are used to add up the good and bad deeds that a person has performed in his or her lifetime. If the deceased has led a virtuous life, then that person will be reincarnated. The less virtuous are condemned to hell.

The four murals on the walls of Tungyueh Tien, or East Mountain Temple, depict the types of punishment meted out on each of hells’ 18 levels.

Local residents come to Tientan Temple on the 1st and 15th of the lunar month to pray for the safety of their families.

Tungyueh Tien
With that warm thought planted in the minds of tour participants, Pi then leads them to the final temple in the circle of life. Tungyueh Tien , or East Mountain Temple. If you ever wondered what hell is like, you can study the four murals on the walls of this temple that show the type of punishment meted out on each of hell’s 18 levels. These murals graphically detail eyes being poked out, hearts being cut out, razor beds, and people being suspended upside-down in large vats of boiling oil–they are enough to scare you into following the straight and narrow!

The tour ends back at the Asia Hotel, where everyone can relax and talk about the interesting day. A walking tour cannot be done so well in every city. But Tainan’s size, wealth of temples, and warm and friendly people like Lily Pi make this tour a hit. Pi says that as most of the gods live in Tainan, you can always find one to suit your needs. Whether you are looking for a god or just want to learn something about Taiwanese culture, walking around Tainan is a great way to start.

Tainan is connected to the other major cities in Taiwan by air, highway, rail, and bus. The easiest way to get there from Kaohsiung is by train, one-way fares run from NT$60 (US$2.30) to NT$89 (US$3.40). Several trains depart every hour for the 38-minute run. Upon exiting the Tainan train station, take the left underpass and walk ahead to the next street, which is Chungshan Road. Turn left and walk for about five minutes until you reach the Asia Hotel. If in doubt, ask someone how to get to the Tainan Provincial Hospital. The hotel is diagonally opposite the hospital.

The tours are run every Sunday from 2 p.m. until about 5 p.m. The cost of the tour, which includes a sampling of traditional Taiwanese food along the way, is NT$500 (US$19.25).

Taiwan is particularly known for its collection of electronic gadgets, and the shoppers here would definitely try out a recent model. From fashion accessories to a hi-tech camera, from authentic food to local handicrafts, Taiwan has enough in store to satisfy every buyer.

Given below is a list of destinations from where to shop in Taiwan:
– Shilin Night Market, Taiwan
– Jaoho Street Night Market, Taiwan
– Snake Alley, Taiwan
– Liuho Night Market, Taiwan
– Shida Night Market, Taiwan
– Feng Chia Night Market, Taiwan
– Taichung Electronics Street, Taiwan
– Windance Shopping Center, Taiwan
– Sogo Shopping Center, Taiwan

Visitors can enjoy a refreshing cup of tea at the museum’s tea house.
“Pinglin has over a century of experience producing tea,” says Mayor Huang Ming-feng, whose family has planted tea in the area for five generations. Paochung teaan aromatic, sweet-tasting brew is the type of tea most commonly grown around Pinglin. “The quality of our paochung tea has steadily improved,” continues Huang. “It is the most fragrant tea available.”

The Pinglin Tea Industry Museum has a pleasant Chinese-style garden.
Just an hour from the hustle and bustle of Taipei, the museum overlooks one of Taiwan’s cleanest waterways. Peishih Stream is the source of Taipei’s drinking water, so environmental responsibility is of the greatest concern in Pinglin. The town is surrounded by forested hills, and is so small that one main road accounts for most of its commerce. The road is lined with workshops where tea is fermented, dried, and packaged. These small tea factories must be kept extremely clean and well-ventilated to ensure that none of the rich fragrance is lost. Between them nestle numerous tea shops, which provide visitors with opportunities to sample Pinglin’s famous paochung tea.

The museum displays traditional tea producing equipment.(left) Exhibits show China’s many varieties of tea and how they are processed.(right)

A Cup of Fragrant Tea
As with more common Chinese teas like oolong, paochung tea is partially fermented by exposing the tea leaves to light and air for several hours after picking. This fermentation process eliminates the grassy aroma of (unfermented) green teas, which is caused by chlorophyll. If the tea were allowed to ferment in this way for three days, the result would be black tea. Paochung is only about 20-30% fermented, however, which preserves the sweetness of the leaf.

Pinglin’s merchants are always happy to welcome visitors with a cup of paochung tea and to show off the various grades, none of which ranks among Taiwan’s most expensive teas. While you are browsing the tea shops, you’ll no doubt notice quite a few tea products, such as tea candy, a chewy Japanese sweetmeat known as moji flavored with different kinds of tea, and tea oil. The oil is worth its price (a 600 ml. bottle costs NT$800) for the rich and subtle flavor it imparts to special dishes.
These shops also feature all manner of tea-making utensils and accessories, from fancy teapots, cups, and pitchers to special self-draining tables. Westerners are often bewildered by the number of specialized implements used in the gentle art of tea brewing. And tea time would not be complete, it seems, without an assortment of dainty snacks such as dried fruit, pine nuts, and sesame cookies.

The museum incorporates three-dimensional simulations of traditional tea processing.

A History of Tea
To find out why such a fuss is made over a simple cup of tea, head up to the museum, where 2.7 hectares of exhibits should make things clear. Displays recount the more than one-thousand-year history of tea. A thorough exposition is given of the various processes used throughout the ages to make different types of tea. In the eighth century, for instance (when Lu Yu), an ancient Chinese scholar, wrote the Book of Tea), leaves were mashed into a paste and dried as tea bricks. During the Sung dynasty (960-1279) dried leaves were powdered and whisked with hot water in a bowl. Only during the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) did the use of teapots become common.

Modern tea processing in Pinglin–from the picking of the leaves to the packaging of the product–is explained in pictures and three-dimensional simulations. The visitor can also watch live demonstrations of various techniques. Exhibits are housed in a spacious modern facility that was inspired by the traditional gardens of the Southern Fujian gentry.
Naturally, tea is served at the museum. It has two tea houses, one of which can accommodate parties of up to 120 guests. Three tea pavilions offer visitors the chance, weather permitting, to sip paochung tea outside while admiring the view over the stream.

Spring Tea in Pinglin
Around the end of March, Pinglin begins picking the famous ’spring tea’. This tea, picked just after the cold of winter has departed, possesses a particularly fine flavor that is hard to achieve in other seasons. During this time, and through the early part of April, the whole town is busy producing its specialty–the world-famous Wenshan paochung tea. The heavenly aroma of fermenting leaves fills the air, and some producers welcome visitors for a peek at the operation.

A trip to the world’s largest tea museum offers more than an introduction to a famous tea variety. It is a trip into the rural countryside of Taiwan, where the environment comes first and people have time to enjoy a cup of sweet paochung tea with friends and visitors. Because the area is so charming, campgrounds near Pinglin have become popular in summer, creating a second industry.
“We’ve just begun to beautify our town,” says Mayor Huang. “In the near future, over three kilometers of land along this stream will be protected. We’re building parks with broad walkways by the stream-side.” And for a centerpiece, Huang continues, “There will be a big fountain in the center of the stream, near the museum.”

A shuttle bus from Taipei is also planned for the future. For now, there’s a public bus (the Hsintien Bus Company, tel: 666-7611) leaving every half hour from the Public Insurance Building on Taipei’s Kungyuan Rd. (¤½¶é¸ô) near the Hilton Hotel. A one-way ticket costs only NT$82.