Return to QiShan

This past week we took a trip to Southern Taiwan. We took the train to KaoHsiung and from there took trips to QiShan, JiaSian and TaiMali. Using the public transportation of trains and buses is really convenient. Driving either in a car or on a motorcycle can be exciting, but a little dangerous if you're not use to driving in Taiwan.

Last year with a fellow classmate, we went to QiShan during the Chinese New Year's vacation.

http://mikeess-trip.blogspot.com/2011/02/trip-to-qishan.html

This time QiShan was less crowded and we got to see some of the old buildings built in the Japanese period(1895-1945). QiShan during Japanese time was an agricultural center supplying Japan with tea, coffee, bananas, ... all the subtropical products that can't grow in Japan. The Japanese built a railroad to QiShan but nowadays trucks to the transport, but the old train station has been refurbished for the tourists.

There are still some old stone 2 and 3 story building along the old main street in QiShan.

Most of them look like the old trading houses that colonial powers always built,
imposing and impressive.

One coffee shop in an old building is nothing like a Starbucks, massive stone arches. Chinese architecture rarely used arches.

The other famous product of QiShan is bananas. I didn't realize how good bananas can taste when they are picked in the morning and eaten that day. In the US, bananas have to be picked before they are ripe and they then ripen on the way to the market. Also because of the handling along the way, the bananas have to be of a variety that can tolerate the handling. In QiShan, a day old banana is thrown away.

Marketing never hurts so this truck was parked on the main street, just in case you forgot that you were in QiShan.

And the sculpture in the town square also spread the news.