Sanyi Cycling

– by Pickles (catching up on adventures from April)

Daxingshan Temple

We usually bike in and around Taichung, but we were craving something new, so we threw the bikes in the van (family truckster) and drove 45 min north to the city of Sanyi. Sanyi is known for wood carving, but we found it is a great area for cycling as well.

At the top of our first climb, we found this temple and decided to explore.  The orange carpets laying in front of the temple? Shredded carrots drying in the sun.

The view from the top of the first climb, tea fields galore

Our route took us over the small range of hills to some quiet and beautiful countryside, perfect for cycling.

Down in the valley are rice fields
Pro Tip: All police stations in Taiwan have water and are happy to fill up your water bottles.
Bee Hives off the side of the road.

Pomelo Country

On our climb back to Sanyi, Passionfruit pointed out where her pottery teacher, Wei Li fires pottery in a massive wood fired kiln. It’s nestled in a wooded area that’s slightly visible from the road. As we were halfway up the hill, we noticed smoke rising from the kiln’s chimney. Indeed Wei Li was working the kiln! We pedaled over and to say nihao and have some oolong tea.

Heating up the Kiln to 1200 C. which takes 4 days. The pottery fires for about a week then it cools down until it can be removed.

Jaboticaba County

Pomelos aren’t ripe until Autumn, but the the jaboticaba fruit is! And it grows on the bark of the tree. It tastes like a grape.

It just goes to show ya, you never know who or what you’ll see while in Taiwan.

For example…

Keep your eyes open!

pp

Pickles & Passionfruit


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2 thoughts on “Sanyi Cycling

  1. Of my gosh, I love the shredded carrots, the green ness! What was the temple like on the inside? Those police stations with water, how nice. Was it just Practical to dry the carrots on the stairs or was it something to do with a ceremony? Great that you ran into your potter! Wow, 4 days of heating. That tree– with the big globes of grapes— very, very strange! Do you just walk up and pick one or do you have to hack it off? ….And that duck! Apparently he call shot-gun! Oh,uh.

    1. The temple and its property is massive. We walked all over and poked around, observing people worship Buddha, selling and preparing food. Yes, I think it was simply convenient to dry the carrots in the sun. There were other foods drying on racks, like fishes too, but the carrots were the show stopper. Many people dry foods naturally in the sun, in front of their home, on the street, in large 3-4′ bamboo saucer baskets (garlic, chili peppers, cabbage). You can pluck the grapes right off the tree! Here’s a bit on the temple: https://www.rtaiwanr.com/miaoli/jiuhuashan P.S Look again. I’m not a duck, I’m a pet tortoise. 🙂

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