Now, here is where
my journey to visit Wu Feng's place gets really strange. First, it would be of interest to say that when I had mentioned to the local teachers that I wanted to visit Wu Feng's memorial, they discouraged me, saying that it wasn't worth the hassle it would take to get there. If I took a bus it would take too long to get there and be difficult to get another bus back. They said 20 minutes tops and I would see everything there was to see and be bored. So..... I was totally delighted that there were in fact many things to see and the layout of the property was extensive. While I only posted a few of the photographs, I took many more and saw much more than what you see in the previous post. But that is just the beginning. It
wasn't until I was leaving the residence that the taxi driver mentioned we still needed to go visit the Wu Feng temple which was down the road. Ah, cool! More to see. I was totally unprepared for what I saw next. Perhaps the teachers had discouraged me from going because they didn't want me to know about this part of Taiwan. I was delighted. It put a whole new twist on my adventure on this island, Formosa. It started out rather deceptively, as from the front, the temple area looked quite small. An unimpressive temple and a few building looking quite similar to what I saw at the residence. There was an "entry fee" which surprised me. It was a rather high entry fee (for Taiwan) and I paid for my adm
ittance as well as that of the taxi driver because I wanted him to come along and translate for me. That was definitely a good move on my part as the place turned out to be huge and there was much to be translated or described in English. First, we entered a strange little room with Wasabi plants, charts about the growth of Wasabi, and even a few products for sale. Wasabi is grown in Alishan, as is oolong tea and many other products, so I wasn't particularly surprised to see a room of Wasabi here. As a matter of fact, I had been hoping to find some Wasabi coated peanuts and found them there. The building was not air conditioned and the temperature outside was most likely above 100 degrees F. Through a doorway was an incredible display of
artifacts from China, Japan and early Taiwan. I even saw a few things that looked suspiciously like early American products. The taxi driver described what the items were and how they were used, although there were a few things he didn't really know. It was delightful despite the fact that my clothes were beginning to be soaked in sweat and a steady stream ran from my scalp through the frizz of my hair. It was hard to tear myself away from those historic relics, but I knew if I stayed in that heat much longer I would suffer. It's hard to describe the feeling of standing there, inches away from a diorama created hunderds of years ago in China, ancient puppets, and handmade musical instruments played by many generations of Taiwanese, shoes worn by women with bound feet, Chinese bridal beds and Japanese "safety deposit boxes" slept on at nights to keep them safe. It was incredible.
my journey to visit Wu Feng's place gets really strange. First, it would be of interest to say that when I had mentioned to the local teachers that I wanted to visit Wu Feng's memorial, they discouraged me, saying that it wasn't worth the hassle it would take to get there. If I took a bus it would take too long to get there and be difficult to get another bus back. They said 20 minutes tops and I would see everything there was to see and be bored. So..... I was totally delighted that there were in fact many things to see and the layout of the property was extensive. While I only posted a few of the photographs, I took many more and saw much more than what you see in the previous post. But that is just the beginning. It 
wasn't until I was leaving the residence that the taxi driver mentioned we still needed to go visit the Wu Feng temple which was down the road. Ah, cool! More to see. I was totally unprepared for what I saw next. Perhaps the teachers had discouraged me from going because they didn't want me to know about this part of Taiwan. I was delighted. It put a whole new twist on my adventure on this island, Formosa. It started out rather deceptively, as from the front, the temple area looked quite small. An unimpressive temple and a few building looking quite similar to what I saw at the residence. There was an "entry fee" which surprised me. It was a rather high entry fee (for Taiwan) and I paid for my adm
ittance as well as that of the taxi driver because I wanted him to come along and translate for me. That was definitely a good move on my part as the place turned out to be huge and there was much to be translated or described in English. First, we entered a strange little room with Wasabi plants, charts about the growth of Wasabi, and even a few products for sale. Wasabi is grown in Alishan, as is oolong tea and many other products, so I wasn't particularly surprised to see a room of Wasabi here. As a matter of fact, I had been hoping to find some Wasabi coated peanuts and found them there. The building was not air conditioned and the temperature outside was most likely above 100 degrees F. Through a doorway was an incredible display of 
artifacts from China, Japan and early Taiwan. I even saw a few things that looked suspiciously like early American products. The taxi driver described what the items were and how they were used, although there were a few things he didn't really know. It was delightful despite the fact that my clothes were beginning to be soaked in sweat and a steady stream ran from my scalp through the frizz of my hair. It was hard to tear myself away from those historic relics, but I knew if I stayed in that heat much longer I would suffer. It's hard to describe the feeling of standing there, inches away from a diorama created hunderds of years ago in China, ancient puppets, and handmade musical instruments played by many generations of Taiwanese, shoes worn by women with bound feet, Chinese bridal beds and Japanese "safety deposit boxes" slept on at nights to keep them safe. It was incredible. 
4 comments:
God..I envy you. I have always been interested in other cultures..how they lived..their art..how they raised their children..how they ran their governments.
You were looking at statues and objects a 1000 yrs old.What a great experience. I won't write again..just wanted to tell you that one of my favorite questions to ask is if you could go back 1000 yrs..or forward a thousand yrs..which would you do? I think we have at least one thing in common.Ray..
Great, great, great. Thanks for posting.
Sam, I am always delighted when you visit the blog. I stop by yours as well and from the recent photos you have posted, know I must visit the Outer Banks once I return to the US... I have a few books of poetry I need to buy as well.
Ray, if you must envy me at all, let it not be for the year I have spent in Taiwan, let it instead be for those other years...all but the first 18 years... I have spent with that other, most precious thing we have in common.
As for 1000 years in either direction.... no, I would not wish to go back or go forward. Today is really all there ever is. Let us be the best we can be.... today. (thank you for stopping by the blog)
Post a Comment