Weekend in Miaoli / Hsinchu - 25 and 26

I didn't realise how much of a backlog this was until I looked up the exact dates I was in Miaoli... But I'm committed to clearing all that backlog today so reader beware: you're in for my blogging diarrhea fit! :)

so yes... the trip to Miaoli was quite a last minute decision... Justian from YZLC MSNed me on Friday evening asking if I was interested in joining their ICX Functional Meeting (yes again.. I am becoming a regular on their monthly FMs) which will be held in Miaoli this month (April)... so naturally I said ok and next morning, we met up at Taipei Train Station for a 1.5 hour (I think) train ride to Miaoli.

Miaoli is further South of Taipei and at this time of the year (end April till early May) is famous for its Tung flower blossoms. This is the season when the flowers start falling from the trees and because the flowers are white and extremely plentiful, they have been described as 五月雪 or "Snow in May".. you can read more about the flower and the season HERE

Of course, one can see these flowers in other parts of Taiwan as well (even in Taipei) but this season is even more significant in Miaoli because of its link to the Hakka people and their culture, which is another characteristic of Miaoli...

If I could summarize this weekend trip to Miaoli in one word, that word will easily be: Nature.

We stayed at a peaceful hostel high in the mountains... riding up on scooters from the train station took us almost 45 mins and involved some pretty winding hill roads as well as some really really steep roads... but the scenary along the way was really amazing and once we were at the hostel, it was so refreshing to be away from the hustle and bustle of the city...
Here are some shots of the hostel (it's actually a 三合院, one of those oldish chinese houses with a courtyard in the middle) and the greenery found on the way to and around it... (they're a bit small but don't worry. I will provide my facebook photos link at the end of this post)

The hostel is called 黃石山莊 and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking to spend some time within nature... they only started operating early this year as a hostel. Their main "trade" is actually hand-making lights using bronze and colored glass so the craftsmen work in the left section of the house, while the hostel rooms are on the right...and needless to say, you'll get a chance to see their works of art around the house...

Anyway, after checking in we headed to the Wood Sculpture Museum area, not to visit the museum but to check out the mountain (hill?) park beside it... it was surprisingly crowded and goes to show how the Taiwanese enjoy their nature :)


We climbed up quite a lot of steps to reach the top of the hill and all along the side we could see Tung flowers on the ground... some people were even picking them up and stringing them into a flower bracelet :)

right at the top, we were greeted by the sight of a HUGE tea plantation maintained by some Buddhist society... and beside the plantation, there was a specially maintained meditation area which is open to the public.. (Shirley, I think you'll love this place :P)

So in terms of actually introducing Miaoli, this is really all I have... for the rest of my photos, check out http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=6633795&l=547d5e9d81&id=576355703
You'll find some shots of the hostel in the early morning with fog rolling all over the place.. it's like being in some really zen and heaven-ish place :)

We headed to Hsinchu on Sunday afternoon instead of staying on in Miaoli because the weather was getting quite bad with rain and lots of fog... and I didn't get to see much of Hsinchu since the trip was mainly to go for Karaoke there :) lots of fun, but more on Karaoke later on :)