Weekend in Yilan
I went to Yilan on the weekend. I love going there and enjoy the rural feeling with the backdrop of mountains. The rice fields seem to be giving way to new houses at a rapid pace though. I wonder how long it will be before this is just another ugly urban area like many other places in Taiwan.
On Sunday morning we went to the Luodong Sports Park (羅東運動公園). I am sure just about everybody that visits Yilan goes there. There is a good reason why though. It is a beautiful park and I don't know of any others in Taiwan that could compare to it.
"The General Temple of Taoism Sanqing Temple" (道教總廟三清宮) was an interesting and busy place. The three deities in the photo are the Three Pure Ones. I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked but you can see a couple more photos here.
Yulan (玉蘭) is a small village where tea is the major industry. This photo shows the view from above Yulan with tea fields covering the mountainside. On a clear day there would be spectacular views of some of Taiwan's high mountains and the ocean here.
Returning to Taipei on Monday morning I went through the Hsuehshan Tunnel (雪山隧道) for the first time. My main impression of the tunnel was that it is very long! Driving for 12.9 km at the 70 km/h speed limit, it should take about 11 minutes to get through the tunnel. I am curious to know why there were two motorcycles parked at the entrance to the tunnel (motorcycles are not allowed to travel through the tunnel).
206cc in Yilan
Cycling along the Tonghou River
Pinglin and Shenkeng: tea and tofu
Links 20 July 2007
Cycling the Northern Cross Island Highway
Posted: November 27th, 2006 under Photos, Travel, Yilan.
Comments
Comment from Shi-ru
Time 29 November 2006 at 1:21 pm
hi! I want to say that although 雪山隧道 is convenient but I still like to drive the way alone the shore from Keelong 東北角海岸線。I really like the scenery all the way there and there are a lot of paths with really beautiful scenery.
And on the way to I-lan, 北關 the place to see the waves, there is a “lion museum” there. It’s pretty small but with some really cute collections of the stone carving lions. Such as the funny 風獅爺 （金門的吉祥物）I think you would like to take a look there. And they have a beautiful garden, too. I was there 5 years ago and like that. They are also the hostel, the room itself is nice but kind of small and expensive. 
just for your info.
http://www.leogroup.com.tw/
And wanna some more info about travel and meal feel free to ask me. my family and I went there almost 6 times every year.
Comment from andres
Time 4 December 2006 at 12:07 pm
david, i just went through the Hsuehshan Tunnel this past weekend. the scooters you are wondering about parked at the entrance, belonged to the police. maybe they were taking a bathroom break when you passed?
Comment from Chris
Time 28 November 2006 at 5:20 pm
I spent a year living in Loudong less than three blocks away from the sports park and swapped the view I had of the park and the castle for close-ups of water tanks. I really miss those views and the park.