Southern Taiwan Ride 2015: Pingtung City to Fangliao

June 29th, 2016

After spending a day riding around Pingtung City I was ready to hit the road again. With no specific destination in mind—only an intention to head in the direction of Hengchun, far to the south—I checked out of the vintage homestay I lodged at the previous night, stopped at Eske Place Coffee House for a delicious and healthy vegetarian breakfast, changed into cycling wear, and exited the city to the east. I knew almost nothing about where I was headed or what I might see on the third day of my southern Taiwan ride in 2015. I only had one stop planned in advance: a hospital in Chaozhou rumoured to be abandoned. I didn’t know it at the time but I would spend almost the entire day riding through the historic Hakka belt of Pingtung.

To begin, a few technical notes about riding through the rural sprawl of the Pingtung Plain (屏東平原). The two biggest challenges were the heat of early summer and the relentless tropical sun. Convenience stores and traditional shops were never far but I still had to take regular breaks in the shade to avoid heatstroke. I was in no rush anyhow; one of my goals on this trip was to see more of this part of Taiwan up close, without much scheduling or advance planning. I navigated with the assistance of Google Maps (and full cellular reception almost everywhere I went, this being Taiwan) and eschewed straight thoroughfares for winding country roads. I was operating under the assumption that twists and turns might indicate older and more historic areas.

A cemetery on the outskirts of the city. It was a serene place to stop and contemplate the moment before forging on.

A Tudigong (土地公) statue on the outskirts of Pingtung City.

Beyond city limits I cycled through a cemetery on the very edge of Changzhi before cutting south through Linluo, the first of several Hakka majority districts¹ on the way to Fangliao. I must admit that when I set out on this trip I didn’t know very much about Hakka culture in Taiwan beyond what you can read on Wikipedia². I have since done some reading to learn a little more about what I photographed, and to provide context for this post.

A traditional home in Linluo. The style is similar to those found in Meinong.

The Hakka people are the largest minority group in Taiwan, making up about 15% of the population. Many still speak Hakka, a language that is not mutually intelligible with either Mandarin Chinese or Taiwanese Hokkien, and their cuisine is widely celebrated across Taiwan. Most Hakka in Taiwan trace their ancestry to the mountainous borderlands of Guangdong, Jiangxi, and Fujian> in China. During the Qing dynasty era immigration to Taiwan was controlled by imperial decrees that regularly forbade people from crossing the treacherous Black Ditch (烏水溝), nowadays the Taiwan Strait (台灣海峽), on the basis of gender, ethnicity, and point of origin. The rules and how rigorously they were enforced varied over time and, as such, Hakka emigrated to Taiwan in waves, with different groups arriving at different times often settling with others of a similar background.

Not all countryside homes are so well maintained. Here is an abandoned mud brick house not far from the main road.

Many Hakka immigrants settled the rugged hills of Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli in northwestern Taiwan but for the purposes of this post I’m going to focus on those Hakka who settled the flatlands of rural Kaohsiung and Pingtung, an area that came to be known as Liutui (六堆, literally “six militias”, though the meaning is closer to “team” in Hakka). The name refers to the six units of a Hakka self-defense force formed in response to a short-lived rebellion against Qing rule led by Zhū Yīguì (朱一貴) in 1721. Zhu Yigui captured Tainan, expelled the Qing officials, and proclaimed himself king. Internal divisions and Qing reinforcements doomed the uprising but not before Zhu sent rebel troops east into modern-day Pingtung where they were successfully repelled by the Liutui volunteers³. After the dust settled this frontier defense force became something of a local tradition, taking up arms against hostile bandits, rebels, Indigenous warriors, and any other threat to the Hakka communities stretching along a north-south axis from Jiaxian to Jiadong. Taiwan under Qing rule sounds, in many ways, not unlike the Wild West of American mythology.

A simple Hakka home in Zhutian with a distinctive cubic motif running along the base.

On a previous bicycle trip to Meinong, toward the north end of the old Liutui area, I observed differences in the style of more traditional homes that presumably indicated a Hakka, rather than Hoklo, association. Similarly, while riding south through Zhutian I noticed many residences that were different than the norm in some way, usually in terms of decorative motifs like the geometric patterns you’ll notice in some of these photos, the choice of colours, or the style of nameplates (匾額) over doorways. Sometimes those differences were structural, for it isn’t uncommon to see squat and blocky Hakka households looking much like sanheyuan (traditional U-shaped Taiwanese farm houses) without the adjoining wings. I have read that traditional Hakka buildings are much more subdued in their appearance so there is something of a mystery here: why would older buildings in Hakka areas be more colourful and diverse than elsewhere in rural Taiwan?

This strikingly beautiful building in Zhutian is the gateway to Liutui Martyrs’ Shrine (六堆忠義祠), a monument to the fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives to defend local communities.

An unusual temple with a striking blue and teal rooftop caught my eye as I swung around a bend somewhere in Zhutian. While doing some research for this piece I discovered that this is the gatehouse to what you might call, in English, the Liutui Martyrs’ Shrine (六堆忠義祠), apparently the oldest of dozens of Hakka shrines honoring the Yìmín (義民), or righteous people⁴, who died defending their new homeland. Originally known as the Loyalty Pavilion (忠義亭), a simple shrine was built on this site after the 1721 uprising to commemorate those who fought against the forces of Zhu Yigui. The ranks of the fallen expanded with the many armed conflicts of the subsequent decades but the Liutui were eventually defeated in the final battle of the Japanese invasion of Taiwan in 1895⁵. The shrine languished in Japanese times but underwent a massive restoration shortly after the KMT arrived in Taiwan. More recently the complex was renovated and expanded to include the Pingtung County Hakka Cultural Museum (屏東縣客家文物館). Bāozhōngtíng Yìmín Temple (褒忠亭義民廟) in Hsinchu is the top-ranking Yimin temple in Taiwan but the modest Liutui Martyrs’ Shrine is the oldest. Knowing all of this now I wish I had hopped off my bicycle to take a closer look at this intriguing place—but all I did was snap a picture of the pretty rooftop before moving on.

An abandoned home somewhere around Xīshì Station (西勢車站).

A drink shop in a small village with a bike pump on hand. I didn’t stop to check if it was actually there.

That’s exactly what it looks like: one kid on a scooter pushing two more on a bike. Insanely irresponsible; welcome to southern Taiwan!

The sign forest on the way into Chaozhou. Even this small town of 55,000 feels like a big city.

Soon I arrived on the outskirts of Chaozhou, a settlement of approximately 55,000 residents named after the city of the same name in far eastern Guangdong, China, where most of the original settlers emigrated from. Historically this part of China was known in English as “Teochew”, an antiquated romanization of the same characters in “Chaozhou” still used to describe its people, language, and cuisine. The Teochew people speak a dialect of Min, the same family that includes Taiwanese Hokkien, and appear to have fully assimilated into the Hoklo majority. Chaozhou, despite being one of the largest towns in Pingtung, was not part of the Liutui area due to its different ethnic and linguistic composition, although it wasn’t at all uncommon for Teochew people to mix with Hakka and even join the Liutui defense force. Nowadays Chaozhou is home to a large Hakka population and signs of Hakka culture are readily seen just about anyplace you look—if you know the signs.

The retro streets of Chaozhou. The entire town had a very vintage feel to it.

Breakfast: fresh beets at Eske Place in Pingtung City.

Lunch: local Hakka fare at a noodle shop in Chaozhou.

I rode around Chaozhou for a while in search of all the usual things I look for: cool temples, famous shops, interesting architecture, mysterious ruins, and so on. I didn’t end up finding much, though I did stop at a popular Hakka eatery for a plate of pink noodles and blobs of what I would assume are squid or octopus. After that quick snack I wandered over next door to check out what appeared to be the main temple in town, Chaozhou Sanshan Guowang Temple (潮州三山國王廟).

Inside the big temple near the traffic circle in Chaozhou. Unsurprisingly, the main gods venerated here are Sanshan Guowang (三山國王).

Sānshān Guówáng (三山國王), the Three Mountain Kings, are widely considered to be the patron deities of the Hakka people in Taiwan. Now that I know to look out for them I’ve noticed temples venerating Sanshan Guowang in pretty much every Hakka area I visit. Their origin story is unusually straight-forward: centuries ago a flood devastated a town in eastern Guangdong, China. Residents prayed to three nearby mountains, asking for the rain to stop, and soon it did. Since then all kinds of legends have sprung up about the potency of these three gods.

Formerly a Japanese colonial era post office built in 1916, now the Pingtung Story House (屏東戲曲故事館).

I meandered around town in search of old architecture and soon encountered the Pingtung Story House (屏東戲曲故事館), originally built during the Japanese colonial era in 1916 to serve as the town hall and, later on, a post office. It was recently restored and opened in 2012 as a small museum and event space. I didn’t stay long enough to check out the interior—I was eager to scope out the supposedly abandoned hospital on the south side of town.

Bus parking behind an abandoned hospital on the outskirts of Chaozhou.

Around back at an abandoned hospital in rural Pingtung.

On the edge of Chaozhou I encountered the ruins of Dàshùn General Hospital (大順綜合醫院), a huge ruin looming over the otherwise flat and increasingly rural countryside. Abandoned almost a decade ago, it was not in business for very long before it closed due to corruption and mismanagement. There appears to be an ugly coda as well, for it was later the subject of an investment scam of some kind (see also: PTT). I circled around the property, starting at the front, where several guard dogs had been chained up to dissuade curious interlopers from taking a closer look. Around back I found some material to make a makeshift bridge to cross an irrigation channel and entered the hospital grounds without alerting the canine sentinels to my presence. Alas, the owners have done an uncommonly good job sealing the building from would-be explorers such as myself. I am not one to break locks or windows. So much for the one stop I had planned!

This place is locked up tight! They’ve even enlisted the services of a gecko to seal the entrance.

A rather scenic bunch of broken lights. And hey, what’s that in the background? Lens flare hell yeah! — A rather scenic bunch of broken lights. And hey, what’s that in the background? *Lens flare hell yeah!*

A visit to the country dentist shouldn’t have to be so unsettling.

Back on the open road I cycled south through a landscape of rice paddies, aquaculture ponds, light industry, and small villages. Not long after leaving the hospital behind I noticed another abandonment by the roadside, this time a beautiful old Japanese colonial era mansion in the middle of an old village. I haven’t been able to learn too much about it but based on the character on the façade I dubbed it the Chaozhou Liu Mansion (潮州劉厝).

An unusual Japanese colonial era mansion by the roadside on the outskirts of Chaozhou.

A little further down the road I passed by another intriguing ruin: Jiǔkuàicuò Catholic Church (九塊厝天主堂), also the subject of a full write-up on this site. I didn’t realize it at the time but this abandoned church added one more piece to the puzzle of Pingtung’s ethnic make-up. The church was built sometime in the mid-20th century for Taiwan Indigenous people from the Makatao group who migrated here for work in the sugar industry. When the industry collapsed these workers presumably moved on and the church was left to the elements. Read more about the church in this post.

The abandoned church from the roadside. Some effort has been made to wall it off but the passage of years has worn out one section.

Inside the abandoned Catholic church on the southern outskirts of Chaozhou.

Areca palm and aquaculture ponds in rural Pingtung. Not pictured here are all the annoying insects that love to hang out in such places.

There wasn’t much daylight left by the time I was done with the church. I set out into the countryside, riding fast and making few stops. I was intent on making it to at least one more place of interest before the dying light drastically limited my photographic opportunities. After riding through palm plantations and more rural sprawl I passed through Jiàngōng Village (建功村) and snapped a quick picture of another temple venerating Sanshan Guowang. A little ways down the road I arrived in the old town of Xinpi, a loose gathering of a few hundred households spread out in an arc along the highway.

An old home in a small village on the outskirts of Xinpi.

Yet another temple devoted to Sanshan Guowang. This is definitely Hakka country!

Broken windows and doors collected in a side lot.

Recycling storage next to an old home in Xinpi.

An old home in Xinpi with an unusually pointed horseback gable. The shape of these gables alludes to one of the five classical Chinese elements, fire in this case.

Xinpi was also part of the Liutui area and still retains a significant Hakka population. The big temple in the middle of the oldest part of town venerates—you guessed it—Sanshan Guowang. But there was something noticeably different about Xinpi, even in the dusk. The south side of town displayed a remarkable assortment of traditional architecture, from sanheyuan (traditional three-part farm houses) to more blocky structures embellished with gorgeous architectural flourishes. Take, for example, the scalloped corner of the building pictured above, formally known as a horseback gable (馬背山牆). While writing up my visit to Yìfāng Old House (義芳居古厝) in Taipei I learned that these gables are shaped according to the principles of fēng shuǐ and the wǔxíng (五行), or five classic Chinese elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. I feel as if I have often seen the straight or curved shapes representing wood and water but the jagged outlines of this particular gable allude to the flickering of a flame, something new in my experience.

A Japanese era anti-aircraft fortification next to a canal in Xinpi.

This little corner of rural Pingtung held one more surprise for me: the Xinpi Anti-Aircraft Machine Gun Fort (新埤反空降機槍碉堡), a story I already wrote up at length (click through for more photos). In short, I noticed a sign along the highway that said something about a “fort”, went to go take a look, and found this squat concrete structure along an old irrigation canal at the edge of town. It was built in the Japanese colonial era to protect the town from attacks by allied forces, particularly those dastardly Americans. Similar fortifications can be found all around Taiwan near former military facilities, particularly airbases, making this one somewhat unusual. The humble hamlet of Xinpi isn’t likely to have been much of a target.

Crossing the Línbiān River 林邊溪 at sunset.

After exploring the old fort I headed back to the highway and crossed the sluggish Línbiān River (林邊溪) into Jiadong. Sunset and the gathering gloom of evening offered a respite from the endless daytime heat—as well as new nuisances in the form of insect swarms along the roadside. I continued south, ever south, still not entirely sure where I would spend the night, but not at all worried about it either.

Out on the open road in Jiadong District. With fading light there wasn’t much left to see.

Deep into Jiadong I chanced upon a sight that brought me great satisfaction: a vintage sugar train by the roadside! One of the very first things I went looking for on this bike trip was some trace of the sugar industry in rural Tainan. I found nothing more than a set of half-buried tracks along a dusty road on that first day—and here was one of the original engines! Very cool. Now referring to some of the maps I sourced from Taiwan Railways (now defunct) it seems I crossed a line running through Chānglóng Village (昌隆村) to the sugar factory back in Nanzhou, just west of Xinpi. Almost nothing remains of the sugar industry in Taiwan but it was once one of the country’s most important exports.

One of Taiwan’s original sugar trains resting by the roadside.

An unfinished temple somewhere in Jiadong. Anyone want to bet who is likely to be worshipped here whenever it is completed?

Under cover of night I passed into Fangliao and finally left the Liutui behind. There was nothing much to see anymore, only the road up ahead and the many flashing lights of passing motorists as we all traversed the dark countryside. I assumed I might find a decent hotel somewhere near the railway station so I turned off highway 1 and headed into town, a small settlement sprawling along the coastline at the southern end of the Pingtung Plain. When I reached the northern end of the main drag I stopped to appreciate the surreal sight of Déxìng Temple (德興宮) beaming toward the unseen sea.

Arriving after dark in Fangliao to the sight of a big temple at the north end of town.

I had no luck finding a decent place to stay in the center of town for one reason or another. Instead I cycled back to the highway and found a grungy roadside motel. After a much-needed shower I headed back into town for dinner but almost everything was closed. With nothing more to do I retired to my room, looked over the photos I had taken, and started thinking about where I’d be going next. Beyond Fangliao there was only one highway leading south along the rugged coastline of the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島). This meant I was bound to be repeating the same ride I undertook in 2013 when I cycled from Donggang to Kenting. I certainly didn’t mind seeing such beautiful scenery again but vowed to do things a bit differently and take a closer, more informed look at some sights that I had seen on my first spin around this part of Taiwan. The story continues in the next chapter of my ride around southern Taiwan in 2015!

On this particular day I passed through three Hakka majority areas: Zhutian (71%), Linluo (68%), and Xinpi (54%); data taken from Wikipedia in Chinese. ↩
This is not a result of a lack of interest; there simply don’t seem to be a lot of good online resources about Hakka culture in Taiwan in English. Most of what I chance upon is really basic. Other material is oddly sanitized and trivialized; see, for example, the reference to the “Cute Hakka” (可愛客家人) in the recent presidential inauguration. ↩
I should probably mention that it doesn’t seem like the villages of the Liutui were especially loyal to the emperor; the militias were simply defending their homes. The fact that the communities of the Liutui area were regularly on the same side as the Qing earned them some measure of official sanction but it sounds like the alliance was more or less incidental to other factors on the ground in Taiwan. ↩
Although Yimin worship is distinctly Hakka this article suggests the ethnic makeup of the Yimin themselves is not exclusively Hakka. ↩
Had I known about any of this I would have gone to take a look—that battle was fought in Zhǎngxìng Village 長興村, not far from where I started my ride in Changzhi earlier that day. ↩

Map

Themes

Temple Culture in Taiwan (台灣的寺廟文化)
Sugar Industry in Taiwan (台灣糖業)
Indigenous People of Taiwan (台灣原住民)
Hakka Culture in Taiwan (台灣客家文化)
Bicycle Touring in Taiwan (台灣自行車旅遊)

Regions

Changzhi (長治)
Chaozhou (潮州)
Fangliao (枋寮)
Jiadong (佳冬)
Linluo (麟洛)
Pingtung (屏東)
Pingtung City (屏東市)
Zhutian (竹田)

Series: Southern Taiwan Ride 2015

This series chronicles a multi-day bicycle trip around the deep south of Taiwan, specifically from Tainan to Taitung in June 2015. Along the way I visited many places in Kaohsiung and especially Pingtung. A lot of what I saw and experienced hasn’t been written about in English very much so I’ve taken some extra time to provide background information to better contextualize what’s in the many photographs in this series. Altogether this is a complete trip journal clocking in at around 20,000 words from start to finish!