I have been fortunate(?) enough to have been offered 2 teaching positions in the town of Dong Shi - about 60 mins drive from Taichung and up in the mountains somewhere (apparently)
All the info I can find online involves the devestation after the big quake back in 1999.
Can anyone shed some light on what it would be like to live there?
I have been living in Taichung county (Wu Qi) since arriving last November, so I am used to a fairly quiet life…
Both jobs are offering 80 hours a week, one is 550 NT and hour and the other is 625NT an hour - both include accomodation in the employment package.
It’s quieter than Wuchi. It’s a Hakka town. Not only was the town hit hard in the 921 earthquake, it got hit hard in a typhoon a couple of years ago. They lost a lot of dwellings in these disasters and a lot of the population moved away. The town was founded in the Japanese period on the timber trade from the Dashuishan forest, but of course that was a long time ago. Now I think most the economy is based in fruit growing and selling betelnuts to passing truck drivers.
Oh, waitaminit. There used to be lots of trucks going over the cross-island highway. Now that’s closed there are probably a lot less. The wife and I went up to help with relief work after the flooding. I did notice there didn’t seem to be many young people around.
Well, it’s a pretty quick hop to either Taichung (via Dakeng) or Fengyuan if you get bored.
I have been fortunate(?) enough to have been offered 2 teaching positions in the town of Dong Shi - about 60 mins drive from Taichung and up in the mountains somewhere (apparently)
All the info I can find online involves the devestation after the big quake back in 1999.
Can anyone shed some light on what it would be like to live there?
I have been living in Taichung county (Wu Qi) since arriving last November, so I am used to a fairly quiet life…
Both jobs are offering 80 hours a week, one is 550 NT and hour and the other is 625NT an hour - both include accomodation in the employment package.[/quote]
hey pubba, your avatar is what you gonna look like when you work 80 hours a week teaching engerish to the natives
Tung shih is the start of the EW cROSS island highway i believe (alpine road, not real highway). I think it starts where theres a bridge with two dragons on the end? IF its still there. I love the EW cross island hway. Just so nice to drive. 3000 turns, 4 hours up and 4 hours down . Brilliant driving road. And you get to HONK at every one of those 3000 blind turns !! MY friends from the states just LOVE to blast that horn !! hehe Cuz in the usa they’d be SHOT blastin the horn like that.
[quote=“tommy525”]Tung shih is the start of the EW cROSS island highway i believe.[/quote]The new central cross-island highway starts further south. I’m not sure where it starts officially, but it goes from Caotvn through Puli, Wushe, and over Hehuanshan.
You’re probably thinking about the old one which ran up through Guguan to Lishan. It’s broken now, and probably won’t ever be repaired. It broke in the big earthquake, and was nearly repaired a couple of summers ago, then a big typhoon hit and the government decided not to bother trying to repair it again. A little local traffic still goes through but you need a permit.
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“tommy525”]
You’re probably thinking about the old one which ran up through Guguan to Lishan. It’s broken now, and probably won’t ever be repaired. It broke in the big earthquake, and was nearly repaired a couple of summers ago, then a big typhoon hit and the government decided not to bother trying to repair it again. A little local traffic still goes through but you need a permit.[/quote][/quote]Take a flyby with Google Earth and you’ll see the impossibility of reopening that section past Kukuan. Are you sure there is local traffic going up there? It looks to me that it would be more hiking than driving…
[quote=“redwagon”][quote=“joesax”]You’re probably thinking about the old one which ran up through Guguan to Lishan. It’s broken now, and probably won’t ever be repaired. It broke in the big earthquake, and was nearly repaired a couple of summers ago, then a big typhoon hit and the government decided not to bother trying to repair it again. A little local traffic still goes through but you need a permit.[/quote]Take a flyby with Google Earth and you’ll see the impossibility of reopening that section past Kukuan. Are you sure there is local traffic going up there? It looks to me that it would be more hiking than driving…[/quote]When I get a new computer, I’ll see about getting Google Earth. Sounds great.
I’m not sure about the traffic. Some local traffic goes past the checkpoint, but I guess it doesn’t go very far up. I had the impression from somewhere that a few local residents were going further up on bicycles or motorbikes. But I may very well be wrong.
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“tommy525”]Tung shih is the start of the EW cROSS island highway i believe.[/quote]The new central cross-island highway starts further south. I’m not sure where it starts officially, but it goes from Caotvn through Puli, Wushe, and over Hehuanshan.
You’re probably thinking about the old one which ran up through Guguan to Lishan. It’s broken now, and probably won’t ever be repaired. It broke in the big earthquake, and was nearly repaired a couple of summers ago, then a big typhoon hit and the government decided not to bother trying to repair it again. A little local traffic still goes through but you need a permit.[/quote]
WOW , how things have changed ! What has happened to GuGuan? Is it still a town? I know that the quake heavily damaged that whole area !! Is GuGuan finished? I remember a road from GuGuan to sunmoonlake . Been on that road a few times. HOw much of the old EW highway is still left? And is the original so badly damaged as to be finished for good??? Amazing !! IT was such a pretty road too.
[quote=“tommy525”][quote=“joesax”][quote=“tommy525”]Tung shih is the start of the EW cROSS island highway i believe.[/quote]The new central cross-island highway starts further south. I’m not sure where it starts officially, but it goes from Caotvn through Puli, Wushe, and over Hehuanshan.
You’re probably thinking about the old one which ran up through Guguan to Lishan. It’s broken now, and probably won’t ever be repaired. It broke in the big earthquake, and was nearly repaired a couple of summers ago, then a big typhoon hit and the government decided not to bother trying to repair it again. A little local traffic still goes through but you need a permit.[/quote]
WOW , how things have changed ! What has happened to GuGuan? Is it still a town? I know that the quake heavily damaged that whole area !! Is GuGuan finished? I remember a road from GuGuan to sunmoonlake . Been on that road a few times. HOw much of the old EW highway is still left? And is the original so badly damaged as to be finished for good??? Amazing !! IT was such a pretty road too.[/quote]Guguan’s still there; still a hot spring resort. I don’t think there was ever a road direct from Guguan to Sun Moon Lake. But the 21 goes pretty close. The broken section of the old highway is about ten kilometres I think. Not sure though.
[quote=“joesax”][quote=“tommy525”][quote=“joesax”][quote=“tommy525”]Tung shih is the start of the EW cROSS island highway i believe.[/quote]The new central cross-island highway starts further south. I’m not sure where it starts officially, but it goes from Caotvn through Puli, Wushe, and over Hehuanshan.
You’re probably thinking about the old one which ran up through Guguan to Lishan. It’s broken now, and probably won’t ever be repaired. It broke in the big earthquake, and was nearly repaired a couple of summers ago, then a big typhoon hit and the government decided not to bother trying to repair it again. A little local traffic still goes through but you need a permit.[/quote]
WOW , how things have changed ! What has happened to GuGuan? Is it still a town? I know that the quake heavily damaged that whole area !! Is GuGuan finished? I remember a road from GuGuan to sunmoonlake . Been on that road a few times. HOw much of the old EW highway is still left? And is the original so badly damaged as to be finished for good??? Amazing !! IT was such a pretty road too.[/quote]Guguan’s still there; still a hot spring resort. I don’t think there was ever a road direct from Guguan to Sun Moon Lake. But the 21 goes pretty close. The broken section of the old highway is about ten kilometres I think. Not sure though.[/quote]
well since i drove several times from kukuan to sunmoonlake , i guess it was a road?? I forgot exactly how i did it tho, but the road was a dirt track for quite some distance
[quote=“tommy525”]
WOW , how things have changed ! What has happened to GuGuan? Is it still a town? I know that the quake heavily damaged that whole area !! Is GuGuan finished? I remember a road from GuGuan to sunmoonlake . Been on that road a few times. HOw much of the old EW highway is still left? And is the original so badly damaged as to be finished for good??? Amazing !! IT was such a pretty road too.[/quote]Kukuan is still there. It’s before the really rockslide-prone stretch and it’s much easier to keep the road open. The bridge just before Kukuan goes down once in a while, like in a big typhoon, but it’s usually up again quickly. There’s too much money invested into spas and hotels up there to give it up.
The road you are thinking about is probably the 21 between Tienlung and Puli, via Guohsin. Tienlung is a bit short of Kukuan. Be aware that the locals on that road have taken to putting oil down on tight corners to discourage bikers from using it, and that’s where our own Captain Stag was rammed off the road by a (drunken) anti-biker vigilante. Take’s the fun out it a little eh, wondering if the next corner is going to greased, or if some inbred congenital idiot is going to attempt to kill you just for riding a bike through ‘his’ county.
so if the EW highway is gone after GuGuan, how does one get to LIshan from Taichung now?
I remember the stretch after GuGuan on way to LIshan was quite scenic and just carved out of a mountain in some parts. yes i guess the 21 was what i was on to sunmoonlake. It was mostly gravel in those days and had nobody living on much of it.
These days basically noone goes to Lishan. It was dying as a resort even before the road went down. You can still get there via Hohuanshan and Dayuling. Lishan didn’t exist until the x-island highway and aside from the apple orchards that sprang up in the area, there isn’t much to hold a population there now that the traffic is gone.
Yes, the 21 used to be gravel from a few km from Tienlung and most of the way down to Guohsin village. It was on my favorite Sunday afternoon loop in those days. It’s all blacktop and EVO replicas now. :s
Heres how to get to Lishan . xn–rht17z.tw/交通指南/index.htm xn–rht17z.tw/交通指南/map.htm
GuGuan is still there just damaged by earthquake and typhoons.
Pubba,Dongshi is a Hakka town.
Hakka culture and language is totally different from Mingnan.
And the Hakka food is good.
You can try it if you are there.
Good luck.
[quote=“wisher”]Heres how to get to Lishan . xn–rht17z.tw/交通指南/index.htm xn–rht17z.tw/交通指南/map.htm
GuGuan is still there just damaged by earthquake and typhoons.
Pubba,Dongshi is a Hakka town.
Hakka culture and language is totally different from Mingnan.
And the Hakka food is good.
You can try it if you are there.
Good luck.[/quote]
no doubt nice site but all in chinese ? arggh, cant read any of it.
a lot of young taiwanese cant speak taiwanese too well nowadays and also hakka (if they are hakka). Will these two languages die off if the new generation doesnt speak it?
[quote]a lot of young Taiwanese cant speak Taiwanese too well nowadays and also hakka (if they are hakka). Will these two languages die off if the new generation doesnt speak it?
[/quote]
I think Taiwanese(language) including Mingnan and Hakka and aborigional languages.
I have the difficulties to listen and speak Mingnan.Because its not my mother toung.
The Hakka is less young people can speak even listen nowaday.
When you talk to some Hakka people ,you can find they speak some mandarin.
because they forgot some words how to say in Hakka.
Like :drangonfly,and butterfly.
I think not many young Hakka people can speak it.
[quote=“redwagon”][quote=“tommy525”]
WOW , how things have changed ! What has happened to GuGuan? Is it still a town? I know that the quake heavily damaged that whole area !! Is GuGuan finished? I remember a road from GuGuan to sunmoonlake . Been on that road a few times. HOw much of the old EW highway is still left? And is the original so badly damaged as to be finished for good??? Amazing !! IT was such a pretty road too.[/quote]Kukuan is still there. It’s before the really rockslide-prone stretch and it’s much easier to keep the road open. The bridge just before Kukuan goes down once in a while, like in a big typhoon, but it’s usually up again quickly. There’s too much money invested into spas and hotels up there to give it up.
The road you are thinking about is probably the 21 between Tienlung and Puli, via Guohsin. Tienlung is a bit short of Kukuan. Be aware that the locals on that road have taken to putting oil down on tight corners to discourage bikers from using it, and that’s where our own Captain Stag was rammed off the road by a (drunken) anti-biker vigilante. Take’s the fun out it a little eh, wondering if the next corner is going to greased, or if some inbred congenital idiot is going to attempt to kill you just for riding a bike through ‘his’ county.[/quote]
MAN aLIVE. Definitely the Taiwanese version of REDNECKS huh?? Appalachian style… Better dress like one of them and chew beetlenuts if you plan a ride thru i would say. And watch the movie Deliverance before you ride thru as well.
EDIT: oh and thanks to wisher for the english website for us NON Chinese readers
