Today is also a fine and hot Saturday afternoon, my loyalty Lancelot and I still plan to continue our itinerary of cultural journey in Taichung City. The selected spot is "Wanho Temple", the largiest Mazu Temple (媽祖廟) in Nantun. The route is also very simple: Arrive at Liming Rd. and go down south until the crossroads with Wenchang St., and you can reach the goal by this map.

To tell the truth, when I have the first sight of Wenho Temple, I think that the temple is more smaller than those i visited before, and it has no special figure, either. However, after knowing the history, I suddently usderstand its unique significance to the people in this land. In the age of inadequate technology of navigation and voyage on the sea, most of the people, who wanted to move to Taiwan to seek for a better life, had to cross Taiwan Strait, or "Black Ditch" where many shipwrecks had happened there due to the bad weather. At that time, crossing Taiwan Straight is too difficult for most people to achieve. It's said that one of ten people can survive the terrible and scaring journey. Therefore, people in southeast China, for the safty of their journey, took their local faith "Godness of the sea, Mazu" to bless that they could pass the Taiwan Strait safely. To appreciate Mazu's help, eleven celebrated families donated a lot of money to build the temple for Mazu, which is Wanho Temple now.




Besides Mazu, there are also many Gods lke Guan Yin(觀世音菩薩), Songzi Niangniang(註生娘娘), Guan Yu(關聖帝君), and Shennong(神農大帝), etc.
For the nearly 300 years, the temple has been a center of their religion and faith. In a long period of time, it has blessed the people in this land. If they had excellent harvest, these people would hold a big festivsal to appreciate her blessing.

To these people, Mazu faith is not only a spritiual comfort, but also in memory of their ancestors who made a lot of efforts to build their homeland. When they started living in this land. They believed that doing these religious activities, the determination and perservance could pass down to their following generations.

If we compare Mazu Temple to a tender mother, she has taken care of the people and their later generations like her children for several countries. Her children also thank their mother. On their mother 's birthday, all of them express their sincere appreciation. (Mazu's birthday-festival is on the twenty-third day of the third lunar month of Chinese calendar.) This land is like a big family.
During the visiting, I didn't forget to make some donation. In order to ask the fortune of the future, I drow a "lot" to ask for some advice. Here are the words on the lot.

Mazu tell me that I should not have a conflict with others for personal benefits, or however I will take bad consequence. Maybe Mazu's words inform me that I should build peaceful relationship with people aroung me.

Taiching Railroad Station & Pavilion in the Lake

Today is a warm and sunny afternoon, I started my cultural journey in Taichung with my loyalty Lancelot. The first spot I selected is one of the important historical landmark "Taichung Railway Station" and "Pavilion in the Lake at Taichung Park", which is relevant to the historical development of Taichung Railway Station.
The route of getting there is very simple: ride on Chungkang Rd. and go straight to the end and you can see the Taichung Railway Station there.

Taichung Railroad Station has been seen as a one of the most important spots in Taichung City, and it has also witnessed the growth and the development of Taichung City since the period of Japanese colonization. Greatly thanks to the communication and transportation facilities the station has provided, Taichung City has grown and thrived so quickly for the several decades.

Taichung Railroad Station has been there for over a century, and millions of people dropped by the old train station. From here, some people left for a better life in other cities; some others took it some part of their journey of life; others came bake to lead a peaceful life with their family.

We often saw that some plots in novels or in soap dramas happend in the train station: Young children wanted to pursue some better opportunities of working and learning, so they had to leave the homeland where they born and grew. On the platform, parents repeatedly told their children to take care of themselves and the children would burst into tears after the train left the station. They could only expect some day they were able to return here again in glory.

Foe whoever comes to the train station,it can be a starting point as well as a terminal spot. With the growth of the highway and the high-speed railroad, the importance of Taihung Railroad Station has not been so critical as it used to be. However, the plots of leaving, the scenery outside the window of the train, and the lunch box sold only on the train. All of them are the mutual memory for people across various generatioms. If we compare the train station to a old men, in the time of over one-hundred years, he has witnessed thousands of meeting and parting. In the long period of memory, there is a special story in every fragment of his memory, which will not fade away with the endless passing time.

Not very far to the train station, there is a Taichung Park which has the same age as the train station. There is a huge and wide lake in the park, and there is a pavilion in the lake, called "Pavilion in the Lake", which has a symbolic historical value to Taichung.

October, 24th, 1908, the critical lifeline of Taiwan's economy, the "Mainline Railway" started its function, the authority of Governor-General of Taiwan hold the ceremony in Pavilion in the Lake. Prince Kan'in Kotohito hold the ceremony in person and made the pavilion as a memorial. Pavilion was reparied for several times and become the situation it is today.

When I was in senior high school, some classmates, I liked to fool around in the train station and the park is the place I dropped by every time. Now I often passed by there on Saturday afternoon. I can see mant senoir citizens playing chesses under the shadow of the tree, litte boy playing ball games on the grass, little girls riding bicycles on the boulevard, parents playing with their children in the playing ground, and couples rowing the boat in the lake. Moreover, sometimes there maybe is some bands performing there and passersby can see them for free. All of there are the daily sights in the Taichung Park. I think I am attracted by the place not because its scenery but the place has witnessed the mutual memory of thousands of people.

I have lived in Taichung for fourteen years and Taichung City has become my hometown. However, I have no much confidence to say that I know my hometown pretty much. Perhaps the reason is that I have no enough tools of transportation as well as freedom to go around my hometown. A sound in my mind has said to me that I should have known more about my hometown in every aspect. I have been interested in the issues of culture and history. According to the development of Taiwan: The city with profund history is Tainan, while the critical section of industry is Kaohsiung and the core of politics is in Taipei. Taichung is a young city, but I think it has some important historical and cultural value in Taichung City, and every spot has its own long story.

Luckily, I still study in University in Taichung, and I have Lancelot (my new motorcycle) now. I have more freedom to travel in my hometown, and I also have the will to achieve the plan. Therefore, I selectd nine spots that are worth visiting in Taichung City, and I will become a package traveler and start my journey.

After searching for some information, I selected nine spots to visit:

1. Taichung Railway Station & Pavilion in the Lake at Taichung Park

2. Lecheng Temple

3. Wenchang Temple

4. Wanho Temple

5. Confucius Temple

6. Martyrs Shrine

7. Tunghai University

8. Taichung Folkpark

9. Taichung City Government and Municipal Office Building

In order to know more about my hometown, I begun to plan the itineraries of my cultural journey, but I don't think that I am able to visit all the spots at one time because they are located in several different places where I can't go through in one day. Therefore, I had to divide my schedule into several parts. For each part, I had to make detailed and concise plans if I don't want to lose my way nor waste my precious time and expensive gasoline.

First of all, I had to mark every spots where I want to visit on the map to plan one excellent route to ensure that I can go through as many spots as I can within a limited period of time. Secondly, I wrote down every road I have to go on a piece of paper, so I can check the road and make sure that I am still on the correct way. Moreover, before leaving my house, I had to check all the things I need for the journey, like a camera, papers, pens, and etc. to collect what I need to post on my weblog.

P.S.: I found it's very necessary to make sure the battery of the camera charged before leaving to prevent the lack of power.