This semester we took a 2 hour bus trip to Ping Tung in Southern Taiwan. Ping Tung is known for being hot and in Taiwan that counts for something because all of Taiwan can be considered hot.
Before the arrival of Chinese in the 1600's, Taiwan was populated Malay-Polynesian people from the south for about 6000 years. In this way, very similar to the Philippines. When the Chinese, arrived they pushed these indigenous people from the coastal lands up into the less hospitable mountains. The history of their exploitation reads a lot like the history of the American Indians.
But recently Taiwan has tried to retain the culture of these diminishing tribes. One way is these cultural parks that provide employment for the indigenous people and an educational opportunity for the majority Taiwanese and Chinese.
The park is up in the hills close to the mountains, it good to get away from the chaos of the cities and back to a more natural setting. Poinsettias grow wild in Taiwan. They can be bushes about 6 feet tall.
The cultural of these people reflects their Polynesian origins. Bamboo was the building material.
They had games like this swing that some of tried.
We learned some indigenous songs and words. And exchanged some of our own. Here the Russian girls sing one of their national songs.
This guy,馬柔堤 ma3 rou2 di1 a student fron Indonesia, saved my life on the last field trip. I got lost and was walking away from the buses at the end of the day. If he hadn't spotted me, I might still be lost in the mountains of Taiwan.
This is our group, find Waldo(Mike).(Hint: not too many have gray hair.)
2 comments:
Ping Tung sound pretty. You said it was hot there, but aren't the mountain areas cooler? Good luck with your final exams!
Wow..it's a big group...Are you the most senior one? I saw some old faces too..haha.
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