Hiking in a different light
View of Chengtian Chan Temple (承天禪寺) at night
I normally go hiking in the mornings, but this afternoon I finished work early and in the late afternoon I headed for the hills of Tucheng (土城).
It was a good change to hike in the late evening. There are few people on the trails at that time and the late afternoon light is softer than the bright early morning sun.
I hiked up to the summit of Tianshang Shan (天上山). I arrived there in time to watch the sunset. It was great to watch the evening light slowly fade and the lights of Taipei grow brighter. The view of Taipei from there really is fantastic.
I spent a couple of hours up there and took a lot of photos. Not all of them worked out very well, but it was a good chance to experiment with different exposures. I will go back again when the air is clearer and take some more photos.
Early evening Taipei panorama
I stitched together some of the photos into panorama shots which you can see above and below. The one above takes in a wide view from Tucheng all the way around to Taipei City with Taipei 101 just visible on the right. The one below takes in Tucheng, Banqiao and Shulin.
Night time Taipei panorama
And for Prince Roy, who is somewhat sceptical about the existence of wild mammals in Taiwan, I spotted a bat flying past while I was on top of the mountain. I have previously seen a monkey in the area. Squirrels are very easy to spot, but I haven’t taken a photo of one yet.
Hiking the Yinhe Cave Trail
Making it simplified
Hiking around Xindian & Maokong
Art and architecture in Kaohsiung
A monkey in the mountains
Posted: August 25th, 2006 under Hiking, New Taipei City, Photos, Taipei City.
Tags: tucheng
Comments
Comment from davidreid
Time 13 September 2006 at 10:59 pm
Thanks for your comment Scott.
Bats are able to adapt to and even thrive in urban environments. In Melbourne, Australia, there is actually a problem with too many flying foxes.
It was actually the first time I had seen a bat in Taiwan, but maybe I just don’t go out enough at night 
Comment from Scott
Time 13 September 2006 at 9:26 pm
To David-on-Formosa:
I saw the mention of bats, and couldn’t help but jump in.
I think bats are very interesting, and I am happy to see them all over Taipei. Lots in 228 Park (across from the NTU Hospital), and in the park by my apt. near the ShiLin night market. The most I have ever seen in one place was a few weeks ago at the Confucious temple in Tainan. The air was just full of them for about 30 minutes at dusk.
I teach English to teenagers, and I sometimes tell them about the bats I see. For some reason, they find it impossible to believe that there are actually bats in Taipei. They think this crazy foreigner is seeing things.
As interesting and benefical as bats are, it’s a shame their biology teachers don’t teach them more about their local flora and fauna in school
–Scott in Taipei