What do Taiwanese consider THE thing to bring back from a trip to Hualien?
(Besides a huge, shiny rock…)
those cakes that are kind of like moon cakes.
Muah jie? Is that how I write it?
When we were there it was Mochi rice-candy … good stuff.
Dried bonito. There’s a whole museum dedicated to the stuff at Qixingtan.
[quote=“ichbinjenny”]What do Taiwanese consider THE thing to bring back from a trip to Hualian?
(Besides a huge, shiny rock…)[/quote]
Um…“THE” thing? Is it a riddle?
Thanks, guys, for the suggestions. :+)
jenny, are you heading down soon? I read that the travel bureau got farmers to plant rapeseed and cosmos flowers all the way down the rift valley between Hualian and Taitung. The report said 100km of flowers. I would love to see that.
Yes! That’s true. I had seen it. Really Amazing!
Yes! That’s true. I had seen it. Really Amazing![/quote]
And the season is just starting. I didn’t see any pics on your blog, but then they were taking a long time to load.
How far south did you get?
[quote=“Muzha Man”]
And the season is just starting. I didn’t see any pics on your blog, but then they were taking a long time to load.
How far south did you get?[/quote]
I only finished PART I of my travel story; there will be PART II to VI or V, I think. 
Churning out term papers is my first priority now. 
(That’s why I am posting on Forumosa.com now, taking a short break from writing papers.)
If you have time (and only if you have time), could you send me a pic or two by email, or post them here? I’m trying to decide if I should head down in the coming weeks to check this out.
I’m here now. Tomorrow I’ll put some gas in the scooter and see these flowers. Thanks for the heads up!
Head down county road 193 which runs parallel to Hwy 9. Quieter route, perfect for scootering or biking.
So I did take the scooter out for a look-see. Granted it was dusk and the weather has been cold, wet, and windy for the past few days, but the flowers on Hwy 9 were a bit disappointing. There were more stalk and leaves than flowers – at first I thought the fields were just overgrown with weeds. I got down to Fonglin and decided to turn around. Maybe the flowers are better the farther south you get. In any case, the green plants were better than the unkempt areas alongside the road. :bravo:
Mucha Man – They’re probably better while biking, and even better when the weather is nicer.
If you have time, though, check out the smaller fields of flowers west of Hualien’s city center, closer to the mountains. I think they’re better since the fields are more compact and you can’t get bored with all the other interesting things growing in the neighboring fields.
My Taiwanese friend told me the government is giving people with land bags of seeds and a small stipend to grow the flowers as a city beautification project. I think these in-city flower fields are of the same government project as the ones on the highway.
[quote=“ichbinjenny”]
[/quote]
Amazing!! Isn’t it? Thanks for this nice picture. 
Yeah, they’re really pretty! That is a picture of one of the smaller (a really BIG small) flower fields in my area. At first I thought the flowers were being grown to be sold, but my friend said they’re being grown so Hualien looks pretty. Apparently the city is doing a lot – adding rows of trees, growing flowers, fixing roads – to make the city even better.
Well the farmers grow them between harvests to fertilize the soil. But this year they are also doign so to make the environment more beautiful. Meinong also does this. The season is short though so maybe it is a bit early. In any case, from what I read the best route is along county road 193 (or 195) not off Hwy 9.
The tourism bureau has supposedly put out a map of the best areas. Don’t know where to get it yet.