Taitung's Bohemian Survival Plan

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     Sitting on the tip of a half-buried "zhong-zih" terrapod on the beach of Taitung, Taiwan, by the side of the Pacific Ocean, at dawn. The breath I caught in coming to the clean east coast of Taiwan has just been taken away. After a half hour walk along the the dyke path of the Taiping River from the  B&B near the Kai-Feng Street Bridge, I needed this restful view. 

     Smokey Cat is equally inconvenient to everything in Taitung, which means my wife and I had some good exercise walking, but when we found our stride, we were on to Taitung's Bohemian survival plan. 

     

Taitung City, on the south-east coast of Taiwan, was not only one of the last places on Taiwan colonized by Han Chinese; it had remained a backwater deep into the 21st Century. I have already written about the breathtaking views and return of aboriginal culture in the mountains around Lu-Ye.(http://forgottenpeopleoftaiwan.blogspot.tw/2014/02/return-of-ami-native.html) 

    Taitung City  took center stage on our recent visit.

     Arriving at lunch time Saturday after a four hour train ride from Taichung (one hour HSR and three hours diesel from Zuo-Ying, Kaohsiung) we went via Ping-Dong up the east coast. The ocean vista along the way are amazing. Get a seat on the right side, buy a train "biendang" lunch box and you are set.         The new Taitung train station is quite far from downtown in the coastal city. It was chosen to be so distant by local politicians that saw a chance to speculate in land sales by enticing investors to buy the land near the station. After they sold the land, at a premium, the value dropped; after all, there is nothing between the new station and Taitung.  Only taxi drivers benefit from the distance between the station and Taitung; don't pay more than 200. 

     Since my wife and I visited a few years ago, Taitung has made a remarkable change for itself, with a bohemian attitude no less, though urbanization has brought a movie theater, shopping mall, an Eslite Bookstore, and many western food franchises. Its abandoned sugar processing plant and railroad line have become the core of a new bohemian lifestyle that has already attracted many progressive Taiwanese and ex-pats.                                                

      Taitung has done what other famous cities have famously done: taken an abandoned urban rail line and changed it into a pedestrian mall. High Line Park in Manhattan and Promenade Plantee in Paris are the two main models. Taitung, too, has an area of abandoned rail link that they have added boardwalk to, landscaped, and encouraged businesses to open up their back doors and build entrances .  

      Starting from the downtown end of the line, at the old railway station, there is the new Taitung Railway Art Village. Several buildings were converted for exhibition space and grassy park where the stockyard once was for families to enjoy. On most evenings and weekends, the local indigenous merchants set up stalls to display their crafts and food stuff.      

      As you walk along the right-of-way, the bohemian air starts to peculate as you see new community centers, cafes and bistros popping up. One place that got our attention was Cheela Cafe (http://www.cheelapension.com) The back entrance was so tropically enticing with aged planks leading up, with a modern cafe at the front. My wife and I had the best homemade cinnamon buns we've ever had in Taiwan along with a large variety of fresh brewed coffee and tea. There was real New York style cheesecake! 

      Back outside on the old rail pedestrian mall, we were witness to a tree massacre. In an attempt to landscape the path, tree pruning was outsourced to someone who had no aesthetics about tree trimming. It made us think that although Taitung had intentions of luring tourists with the new bohemian folk life style, they haven't gotten all the kinks out yet.                                                        

        Walking further on, we came across a bright red building, just around the corner from Obama Bakery. Occupying the second floor is the Taitung Theater. This organization shows Eastern European Films sent to them from their Taipei foundation. The films are subtitled in Chinese but most of them are not in English; ex-pats beware. It seems the students who get public service credit benefit most from the film showings. The screenings are poorly attended but since it is publicly funded, the management isn't concerned. In New York City, these films would bring in $20 a ticket and be sold out weeks in advance. I wished this theater was at least in Taichung where I could enjoy some showings. In Taitung, it lends itself to the bohemian survival plan but void of local relevance. 

          On Sunday, our first full day of visiting Taitung, I snuck out before dawn while my wife slept and  walked a block away to the dyke road along the Taiping River to the Pacific shoreline. It would have been better if the B&B had offered bicycles for such a trek but I couldn't resist it knowing an ocean wasn't  far away.          

     I was taken aback by the beauty of the river side as I spotted some grazing water buffalo. Their owners let them graze freely until they are needed to till their fields; quite a perk for a beast of burden.  The clouds tried to reach over the enormous mountains to the west; the palm trees hugged the dykes.

 When I crossed the last bridge over the river, fearing that the sky was starting to lose its bluish hue and I would miss the dawn, I hurried. Then, I spied the end of the river. Though I had to cross a footbridge over a putrid sewer runoff to get there, I left my cares and woes drain along with it and rushed to the shoreline. This Brooklyn boy needed to witness the crashing of sea waves, to feel the earth tremble and smell the salty air of the Pacific Ocean, anyway. I ignored the filth.

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     Breakfast at the Smokey Cat would be served soon. I had a date with my wife I didn't want to miss, so I bid farewell to the Pacific and headed back. We had one more day ahead of us before we were to train back to Taichung Monday. 

        Sunday, we walked down Kai-Feng Street and back to the Old Train Line. On the way, we spotted an interesting restaurant on a corner with a large clay pot. The sign said "homemade chicken soup." It was just what the doctor ordered in the damp chill of a tropical ocean side town in winter. The proprietor placed a thick glove on her hand and reached into the steaming pot to pull out a smaller pot, one of dozens lining the shelves inside.

     We got our soup to go and went on our way to find our next adventure. Turned left at the Old Rail Promenade when we reached Obama's Bakery, and went to find the perfect bench to enjoy our soup. We found one looking out over a pretty wash near a cultivated field along the path, now divided for bikes, too. The Jewish penicillin penetrated our weary Taichung-polluted noses as our glasses steamed up with every sip.  The bones disintegrated in my mouth. 

     The Taitung City Bikeway is a 32 km. loop around the city following the old tracks out to near the new train station before heading back through the Forest and Seashore Parks. We were headed to the old Sintung Sugar Factory Arts Center in Dulan Village near the old Ma-Lan Station. Taitung couldn't get more bohemian than this.  

     

     The Sintung Sugar Factory, abandoned since the late 90's, was taken over by artists that transformed the deserted plant into studios and showrooms. There, exhibitions from craftsmen are held for art aficionados. Handicraft shops display the work from indigenous artists. Groups from Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Japan are also present. With concerts, a coffee house, and even a B&B, the Sugar Factory is the matching bookend to the other side of the Old Taitung Rail Promenade.

     After an afternoon perusing the handicrafts, we got back on the tracks and headed to the old part of town for a very special farewell dinner. We couldn't leave Taitung without enjoying the seafood specialties at Taitung's oldest 

and most famous restaurant, Wan-Ba-Tsu. Their best dish has got to be the turnip coated fried fish. I suggest you call in advance as they are often swamped with banquets and dinner parties.

      After dinner, we took a long walk back to Smokey Cat through old Taitung, a city preserving its past cultures while investing in a future of tourism with surfing contests, bike paths, a gateway to Green Island, badminton tournaments, and most importantly, a bohemian shot of fresh air that should get a lot of progressive west-coasters and ex-pats moving to the clean side of Taiwan. Up the mountains, near Lu-Ye, there is even more fresh reason to visit Taitung. But whatever you do, don't miss seeing the Pacific Ocean and walking the Old Rail Line.