2 Day trip down to Central Taiwan: Day 1 Puli

A few days after I arrived, my parents signed up for us to go on a mini trip down to central Taiwan. It was with a group that they have had good experiences in the past, so they decided to take me along this time. The only catch? Everyone on the trip was over 60 years old...except for me. Well, I thought, might as well go with an open mind.

We met up at Taipei Train station at around 7:30am, and got on the tour bus, or as I would like to call it, a senior party bus. The bus was equipped with 5 flat high definition TV screens, a killer stereo system, AND strobe lights. I can already picture a bunch of old people starting to karaoking around me as I stepped on the bus.

We arrived in Puli, which is almost the central point of Taiwan. It is mostly known for its passion fruit, Shaosing Wine, and rice noodles. We got lunch at 金都restaurant, which is more or less a tourist destination.

Lunch consisted of traditional Taiwanese fare. Dish after dish was set on top of the lazy susan as everyone digged in with chopsticks around the the table.

After lunch we walked across the street to visit a tea shop. On the way I caught sight of a place where people where cleaning and preparing the leaves for betel nuts. This is a rare sight that can only been in in the smaller towns of Taiwan!

I was excited to visit the tea shop. I've always had an obsession with tea and

the traditional art of making tea. There's so much knowledge about the temperature of the water, the amount of tea leaves (depending on the type of tea), the tea vessel used, and then the tea cups. Everything affects the way the tea can be enjoyed.

To the right is a collection of the different tea vessels.

Below I am holding the thingy that is used to dry tea leaves. It is only used for some of the best teas out there, since a lot of production now is done by machinery.

There are 2 tea cups. It is first poured into the taller one shown on the right. The tea drinker then pours the tea from the tall cup to the shorter and wider one on the left. The drinker then smells aroma that is left by the tea in the taller cup. This is a tradition that is not widely practiced nowadays, but it is so comforting to see people that are still so passionate about it.

Our next stop takes us to the glutinous rice bridge. Yes you read that right, and I had the same question when I saw the name. Why is it called the glutinous rice bridge?

This bridge was built in 1940 by layering square stone bricks which were bounded with a base of glutinous rice mixture. This one seen here is the most complete and well-preservered glutinous rice bridge in Taiwan. It has experienced and survived numerous severe storms as well as the devestating 921 earthquake. Today it is a protected historic site in Taiwan.