May 18th

On this day, we visited the Gold Ecological Park and Museum located in Jinguashi, the northeast coast of Taiwan. At one time, this area was a booming gold and copper mining town. But like most prosperous mining cities, it plunged after the minerals were exhausted from the ground. But, in recent years, this area has become a popular tourist attraction for domestic and foreign tourists for it historic and environmental education information.

Built during the Japanese colonial period in the 1920s, we were able to see Four Joined Japanese-style residences. 

One of the buildings that were built was the Crown Prince Chalet. It was created in anticipation of a visit from the Crown Prince who actually never showed up.

The view of the countryside was just beautiful. The humid, wet weather was a catalysis for the vast growth of trees and plants.

We took a tour of the Benshan Fifth Tunnel.

This exhibit provides visitors with a first-hand experience of tunnel working conditions. The copper mines of Kinkaseki were the most brutal of the POW camps in Taiwan.

 It was pretty dark in the tunnel and the walking conditions was pretty bad.

Some of the workers in the tunnel.

Getting ready to use some dynamite.

Cover your ears!

 Even POWs get a break.

Back to work.

After walking though the tunnel, we entered the museum that had allot more information about the gold mining operation.

Scale model of the mining area

Tiffany getting a feel of the gold 

Dr. Peng checking out his weight in gold as Dr. Laurence looks on.

Tea-Pot Mountain

Walking through the market area. These places are very common and very busy in Taiwan.

The view from the restaurant where we had lunch.

After lunch, we went to what is called "Sky Lantern Experience." This is where people receive a four-sided, paper mache balloon that flies away when lit up at the bottom; like a hot-air balloon. On these sky lanterns, you are suppose to write things that you wish for like good health, happiness, etc. Some people write prayers of loved ones that that have lost. I usually wish for the same things...

Here I am about to release my Sky Lantern.

 And there it goes

Hopefully, they will come true. Especially the winning lottery ticket.

May 17th

We visited Tamkang University (TKU) and we met a group of accounting students who were our ambassadors. Most of the students that we met and visited with were either Freshmen or Sophomores.

We took a tour of the campus and it was just beautiful. The campus was a little spread out but the scenery was very calm and relaxing.

During our visit, we stopped in at the Maritime Museum, which was named “Merchant Ship Hall.”It had many scale models of famous ships that were cargo ship or war ships and the history behind each one.

The Santa Maria

The Aircraft Carrier Nimitz

This is an ancient boat from Hong Kong but I forgot the name.

The Bismark

We also saw the Chueh-hsuan Chinese Garden which is a reconstructed of Chinese Palace-style classrooms. It’s a reproduction of the famous garden “Yuyuan Garden” in Shanghai. This area is a very calm and peaceful place. Although you cannot enter this building, allot of students come here to read, study or just want to enjoy a peaceful, calm environment.

We had a special lecture about the differences in communication styles. I learned that people in the East and the West use the same information but the format that they present it is very different. In the West, we present it as Who, What, Where, When, and then the Why. Whereas, in the East, they present it as What and then the where, who, why and when. It’s very different but they information does reach the reader.

We also visited the Fuyou Temple, which was the center of the original Tamsui street. It was a temple where fishermen would go to pray for get strides when they would fish.

We also saw Oxford College, which is the earliest theological education facility in Northern Taiwan. It was established by Dr. George Mackay, a missionary, who bought land to create a missionary training center.

Another building that we visited was Hongmao Castle (Fort San Domingo). Part of Northern Taiwan was coveted by the Spanish in the early 17^th century and they colonized part of Tamsui and they build Fort Santo Domingo. This building was taken by the Dutch in which they rebuilt it as Fort Antonio. Whats really interesting about this site is the way it is designed. The design of the high walls makes enemies attack from one specific angle that makes it easy for the group that inhabits the fort to defend it.

Our friends from Tamkang University

Fort Santo Domingo

The view from Tam Sui Old Town by the water