Shan Ding Lu

For the last few years the streets of Kaohsiung have been a mess with construction of the two-line underground MRT. Last Sunday the 14th of September the East-West Orange line opened for passengers to finally finish the mammoth project. Since we live close by the Daliao end terminal of the Orange line this will be a huge boon for us. It currently takes over an hour to reach Siziwan near the harbour. The Orange line takes about 25 minutes to complete the 14 stations along the 14 km route.

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Tags: Around Da Liao, Kaohsiung by Stephen
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I recently listened to a speech by Australian of the year, Tim Flannery where he describes our atmosphere as The Great Aerial Ocean.  It is a great speech by a great man that jolts you in to realising just how valuable, vunerable and scarce that thin layer of air really is.

There is a circuit I regularly cycle across the flat plains either side of the Goaping river. It is fertile and irrigated land, covered in small farms, factories and villages. Each of the activities that take place along the route let off a tell-tale odore of their existence. A reminder of the aerial ocean in which we swim. [Read more →]

Tags: Around Da Liao by Stephen
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It is true that if the Communists had any sort of a navy in 1949 the history of Taiwan would have been very different indeed. When the Nationalists arrived in Taiwan they spent the first 20 years fortifying the nation for an impending communist invasion.

When I first arrived in 1989 Taiwan had just lifted martial law. Air raid drills were still common and the military had a very strong presence. You would often see movements of army vehicles and troops and there was a continual coastal watch. I remember being moved off the beach one evening by a couple of soldiers as well as being cautioned, though not badly, for taking photos of the Kaohsiung harbour entrance.

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Tags: Around Da Liao, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, Uncategorized by Stephen
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Just across the lane by our house is a field that has been growing rice for the last 5 months. I was lead to believe that farmers could get two rice crops a year from their fields. Having watched the field opposite us I can say that while they may be able to, no-one down here in the south does. Some farmers put red beans in between rice crops but most of the fields used for rice have remained fallow for the remaining 7 months.

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Tags: Around Da Liao, Shan Ding Lu by Stephen
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It absolutely astonished me the first time I saw a team of diggers came to dig up the road not more than a week after it had been freshly repaved. They did their job and roughly patched over the hole leaving a beautiful street with a large uneven blemish. When I see these things now it doesn’t phase me at all.

It seems that each essential service is responsible for connecting to any new development. And these services typically run down the middle of the road. Most streets are a patchwork of different service entry scars, even the recently paved ones.

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Tags: Around Da Liao, Shan Ding Lu, Uncategorized by Stephen
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We live on the western edge of the plains of the Goaping river. We are a good 4 kilometres from the current river course. The plains have been long tamed by levees and are irrigated by water from the river year round. The tops of the levees are at least 20 metres from the river bed and are two kilometres apart. The main river bed itself varies in width but closest to us it is 200 metres wide at least.

A large part of the land between the levees is used for orchards and other agricultural use. But there is a small patch on the western side just north of the Wanda bridge that has a model racing car track. Most weekends you can find a few enthusiasts racing their cars. However, last weekend there was a championship race with a large number of cars in 2 divisions racing it out for all the prestige that model car racing has to offer.

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Tags: Around Da Liao, Kaohsiung by Stephen
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There is nothing like an offer of something for nothing to attract a crowd. Today it was the opening of yet another water dispensing station. That brings the number to 5 in our immediate area. For something as simple as water you would think it quite difficult to differentiate your product over competitors. But as anyone in marketing knows, it can be done.

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Tags: Around Da Liao by Stephen
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The local elementary school is a 3 minute walk from our place. It is a large school that caters for kids from year 1 to year 6 (6-12 year olds). Just twelve years ago the site was fields and fish ponds, but today it is a bustling place 16 hours a day.

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Tags: Around Da Liao, Children by Stephen
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The weather is cooling down now and with the season change comes a change in the menu. The duck pond farms that have been plumping up the ducks over summer and now being emptied to fill households and restaurants with the delicious flavour of ginger duck hot pot.

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Tags: Around Da Liao by Stephen
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Since my first stay in Taiwan in 1989 I have returned every two to three years.

Upon return there is always a flood of sensations, a mix between the familiar and the foreign as you accustom yourself with your past experiences here and the long absence.

After a week or so the foreign becomes familiar again and you start to notice those things that have changed since your last visit. On one occasion it was the discovery of bubble tea, another was the arrival of scantly clad betel nut sellers. Sadly, another was the absence of those sellers as they were pushed out from Koahsiung county.

On this most recent return it took a while to notice any immediate change in the landscape. But there is one and it is quite insidious, it is the proliferation of the CCD security camera.

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Tags: Around Da Liao, Video Cameras by Stephen
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