February 10, 2020
Corona Virus (Covid-19) continues to rule our lives. We avoid crowds by avoiding public transportation, wash our hands and stay away from people. To this end, Chia rented a car again and drove us a mere 8 miles north of Taipei to the area near Tamsui District. Taylor and I have been to the town of Tamsui on the MRT a number of years ago, but we visited the opposite side of the river which has a bustling downtown. This time, we explored the quieter opposite side of the the Tamsui River at the far north where it empties into the Taiwan Strait.
We began our outing at a public playground, and then wandered along a boardwalk through the mangrove swamps in the Wazhiwei Nature Reserve.
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| Solomon was exuberant at being in the fresh air, in a playground, and among children. |
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| Tamsui is across the Tamsui River from us. Mangroves and fishing boats are in the foreground. |
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| We paused at this riverside stainless steel sculpture for a family portrait. |
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| For a child, there is always something to examine on the riverside. Chia is teaching Solomon about how mangrove trees germinate. |
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| As we walked along the boardwalk, it became apparent that we were walking along side fishing villages. The tide is out so the boats are all grounded. It's a great time to see the painting on the sides of the small boats. |
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| I can tell that this is an active fishing village when the boats go out, and when they come back in. Right now, all is quiet and ready for the boats to go out again. |
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| Mangrove swamps are fascinating for all ages. |
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| The trees germinate when these long beans drop into the sand. |
After our walk through the mangroves, we headed to Guandu Temple for the Lantern Festival. Guandu Tample was built in the 1661 for worship of Mazu, the goddess of the sea. The actual date of the Lantern Festival was several days ago, so we don't encounter large crowds, which is our goal. We pretty much had this enormous temple all to ourselves.
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| I took this photo from the parking lot. This is one portion of this enormous temple which is built into the side of a hill. There are several more entrances. |
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| I'm standing at one of the many entrances, looking out at the river. |
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| We entered through this long tunnel, built into the hillside. |
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| In one of the temple courtyards, Solomon helped feed the fish and turtles in the fountain. |
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| Mickey supervised the feeding of the fish. After all, it's the Year of the Mouse (Rat). |
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| This is an animated display. The sealife was in constant motion. |
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| These lanterns are recycled water bottles, brilliant in many ways. |
The temple was brightly lit with lanterns every where. However, up in a room at the very top, was the grand finale: lanterns made to represent famous European paintings. Maybe you will recognize some of the artists.
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| Of course, no festival would be complete without Mighty Mouse. After all, it is the Year of the Mouse (Rat). |
No trip to Taiwan is complete without a visit to a temple or two. This year, due to our location in a western style shopping area which was short on temples, and the virus, we didn't go to the temples like I prefer. Guandu Temple, during the Lantern Festival, proved to be the magical temple experience that I require in a visit to Taiwan.
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| Thank you for watching over Solomon. |
(Thanks to Chia for contributing many of these photos.)
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