Tomb Sweeping Day
Yesterday was a day when most Taiwanese packed their family in the car and headed for the hills. Tomb Sweeping Day is the day when Taiwanese respect their ancestors by visiting their graves. They will clean the grave, burn ghost money and offer fruit and incense.
Hillside tombs
These tombs dot hillsides all over Taiwan. For the most part they are rarely visited, but on this day they were a hive of activity. People clear the vegetation that has grown over the tombs and sweep out the dirt.
Keith and David with some ghost money
Later in the day we went to Nuandong Valley (暖東峽谷) near Badu. Places like this are one of the reasons I love Taiwan. This small valley was just ten minutes by car from Badu, but it could have been a million miles away from anywhere. It was late in the day when we arrived there. It was starting to rain a little and the weather had turned cold. The light wasn't very good for taking photos, but the two shots below were the best ones I took. They show where the river runs through a small gorge.
Nuandong Valley (暖東峽谷)
Nuandong Valley (暖東峽谷)
Although I went there by car, bus 306 from Keelung terminates at the entrance to the valley.