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Land of Chalk--Tsochen Rural Township
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| Moisture evaporating from the chalk of Tsochen's Moon World badlands in the warmth of the early morning sun shrouds the hills in mist, like a scene from an ink-wash painting. But to enjoy this sight you have to rise early, and have luck with the weather. (courtesy of Tsochen Farmers Association)
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Tourists visiting Tsochen Rural Township for the first time are sure to be impressed by the chalk badlands, and by the Bambusa stenostachya bamboo that has grown there since Japanese colonial times. The ground in Tsochen is mainly made up of the Mt. Touke sandstone and shale stratum. This stratum has a very soft, loose structure, and this is why the badlands terrain is especially well developed here. This geological environment has created formations such as cuestas, ravines, meanders and cliffs.
The Mt. Touke stratum was laid down in the Pliocene and early Pleistocene epochs. It is some 1500 meters thick on average, and rich in fossils. The fossil beds of Tsailiao Creek in Tsochen were made famous by the discovery there in 1971 of the skull of "Tsochen man." The Tsailiao Fossil Museum and Tainan County Natural History Museum, both close to Provincial Highway 20, explain the history of the fossils'discovery, and display almost 1000 fossils.
The soil of Tsochen's farmland is chalky, saline, low in organic matter and strongly alkaline (pH 8.5), but because of this the area's red bananas (Musa coccinea), Luzon bananas (M. basjoo), fragrant manjack (Cordia dichotoma), yams, bird's-nest ferns and mangoes are all especially tasty.
On the badlands, however, hardly any plants survive, and only Bambusa stenostachya is able to grow in quantity. Every year in February and March, because of the lack of rain and the high soil salinity, the bamboo leaves all turn to yellow, orange and finally red, in a spectacular show of colors seen nowhere else in Taiwan. At this time Tsochen puts on its "Chalk Festival,"to allow visitors to sample the area's fine produce, visit the farms where manjack, dragon fruit (Hylocereus undatus), yams and bird's-nest fern are grown, try their hand at bamboo basketry, enjoy a banquet of chalk country produce, see exhibitions of Moon World photographs and Aboriginal artifacts, or visit fossil beds. Summer visitors, meanwhile, can admire a sea of flowering mango trees, while autumn and winter are perfect for bicycle rides around Tsochen.
To get there by car from Tainan City, take Provincial Highway 20. If arriving by freeway (National Highway 3 or 8), exit at the Hsinhua Interchange onto Prov. Highway 20. Hsingnan Bus Company services from Tainan City to Yuching or Nanhsi stop in Tsochen; buses depart about every half hour. Tsochen Farmers Association (06 573-1716) provides a minibus service for groups, and also organizes bicycle tours and farm tours.
| For "Chalk Country banquets," contact Tachung Canteen, (06) 573-2373. Cost: NT$3500 per table. |
Mt. Tsao Moon World
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| At Yanshuikeng in Tsochen's Tsaoshan Village, there are many saline mud pools that bubble with flammable natural gas. The pools can be very deep, so visitors should take extra care. |
Tsochen's biggest scenic attraction is Moon World, in the Mt. Tsao area at the southern tip of the township.
Moon World is a classic example of a chalk badlands terrain. In geological terms it comprises highly saline limestone with a sandstone and shale structure, so that in an area of several hundred hectares no plants grow and the highly eroded ground is bare, creating a "lunar" landscape. The area is also interspersed with mudstone strata containing large amounts of natural gas that forces mud out of the ground in "mud volcanoes." In winter, moisture evaporating from the chalk leaves behind patches of powdery white salt crystals on the surface. Well known scenic spots in Moon World include Erhliao Pavilion, Hill 308, Mt. Tsao Suspension Bridge, the Crocodile, and the Lion's Head. At Erhliao Pavilion at dawn, when the first rays of sunshine fall upon the chalk, moisture starts to evaporate out of it to form mist which shrouds the hills, creating a scene like a Chinese ink-wash painting.
Tsailiao Fossil Museum, Natural History Museum
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| Karma Kagyu Monastery is Taiwan's largest White Sect Tibetan Buddhist temple. Its buildings are highly distinctive. |
During the Pleistocene epoch the area that is now Tso-chen was repeatedly covered and uncovered by the sea, and the fossilized remains of many organisms were preserved in the sediments that were laid down. Today, after each heavy rain the bed of Tsailiao Creek is left covered with large numbers of fossils. In 1931 (under Japanese rule), Professor Hayasaka Ichiro of Taihoku Imperial University in Taipei made the first recorded fossil discovery at Tsailiao Creek. Later, large numbers of fossils were found there, of many different species. They included both marine and land organisms, and revealed much about the organisms"evolution and the changing geographical environment. Tsailiao Creek became a world-famous fossil site. Many older people in Tsochen still remember how as children they gathered fossils from Tsailiao Creek, to sell to archaeologists and tourists and so eke out their families"meager incomes.
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| Crops grow slowly in Tsochen's chalky soil, but this makes them all the more flavorsome. Red bananas, mangoes and manjacks are all famous local products. |
In 1974 some teachers and pupils from Kuangjung Elementary School, and some amateur collectors, put their fossil collections on public display. This eventually led to the building of the Tsailiao Fossil Museum, which was completed in 1981. The museum currently displays nearly 1000 fossils from the Pleistocene (1.8 million to 10,000 years ago), including remains of ancient rhinoceroses, crocodiles, elephants and shellfish. The nearby Natural History Museum has long-term exhibitions on fossils, on the story of "Fossil granddad" Chen Chen-mu, and on local history.
Tsailiao Fossil Museum
61-1 Junghe Village, Tsochen
Rural Township, Tainan County
Tel: (06) 573-1174
Hours: 8:30-12:00, 13:30-17:00,
Tuesday afternoon to Sunday.
Tainan County Natural History Museum
61-11 Junghe Village, Tsochen Rural Township, Tainan County
Tel: (06) 573-2385
Hours: 8:30-12:00, 13:30-17:00, Tuesday afternoon to Sunday. |
Siraya Thatched Cottages
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| The six Siraya Aboriginal style thatched huts at Maolu Holiday Farm look like something straight out of an old photograph. Here you can experience something of the life of the plains Aborigines in bygone days. |
About a minute's drive from the Tsailiao Fossil Museum is a Siraya home from home: Maolu Holiday Farm. The first sight to greet the eye on entering is a large expanse of lush green grass on which rabbits, piglets, kittens and children play happily. Around it are six huts with grass-thatched roofs and bamboo walls, and a larger thatched cabin, which look like something straight out of an old photograph of plains aboriginal life. These were recreated by Maolu owner Mao Ming-hsu after much experimentation.
If you want to get close to nature and experience living in an old-style aboriginal house, why not choose a hut close to the lotus flower ecological pool. There you can enjoy the sound of frogs calling throughout the night, the smell of the thatch, and get a more relaxing night's sleep than on any spring mattress. And if it starts to rain, you can quietly listen to the patter of the raindrops on the thatched roof.
The farm also serves Aboriginal foods, including mai (meat-filled glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in Alpinia leaves), wild vegetables such as Crassocephalum rabens and black nightshade, and Pingpu-style roast chicken. Prices range from NT$800 to 2000 per table. Quantities are limited to ten tables a day, so it is best book to early.
Maolu Holiday Farm
83-1, Junghe Village, Tsochen Rural Township, Tainan County
(06) 573-2056
Prices: Huts NT$300 each, cabin (sleeps 25) NT$1200. |
Pama Pingpu Culture Museum, Lo Lai-shou Memorial Hall
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| The Alizu shrine in Kousheliao is one of more than ten Aboriginal shrines in Tsochen. The picture shows offerings made to the spirit Alizu. |
Tsochen was once called Pama, and was a settlement of the Hsinkang branch of the Siraya plains (or "Pingpu" Aaborigines. People of Pingpu ancestry account around a third of Tsochen Rural Township's population, and they have many distinctive family names. Many traces of the Siraya can still be seen in Tsochen. For instance there are over 20 shrines to Alizu, such as the Tuchia Alizu shrine in Kuanghe Village, or the shrine in Kousheliao. However, most Aboriginal religious observances have been simplified over time, and today people of Pingpu descent are largely Christians. Tsochen has three churches over a century old; the oldest, Tsochen Presbyterian Church, was founded in 1869. It still has the tradition of singing hymns to Aboriginal tunes. The Pama Pingpu Culture Museum and the Lo Lai-shou Memorial Hall, both next to the church, have exhibits of Pingpu contracts, ritual vessels and other artifacts.
Lo Lai-shou Memorial Hall and Pama Museum
Contact Tsochen Presbyterian Church,
(06) 573-1076 |
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