體内環保: 臺灣素食觀 (Vegetarian and Environment)

你們好，好久不見了！

I took this picture at the Spring Vegetarian Restaurant 春天素食餐廳.  It says, “Meat-less on Mondays and Tuesdays” 週一週二無肉日; and “anti-global-warming” 抗暖化.   It reminded me Candy’s project – health consciousness as well as environmental awareness in Taiwan.



In this restaurant, a variety of delicious vegetarian dishes is available for consumers. I believe it has at least 50 kinds of dishes.

紫藤廬 (Wistaria Tea House) 和食養文化山房 (Shi Yang Tea House on the Mountain)

紫藤廬，鬧中取靜；一個曾經是知識份子沸沸揚揚的聚集地
食養山房，世外桃源；一個希望與自然世界心靈互照的極樂土
誰能像我們一樣有幸
一天之内在兩處如此特別的地方
享受甘醇的茶香、怡人的氛圍
真要感謝張老師當下熱心的安排
讓我們領會了從過去到現在，從現在到未來的無限可能

“一花一世界，一葉一如來“
食養山房壁上書法繪畫
從中領悟到
'用心享受
用心觀察
一切從心始
一切于心止'
心之于萬物，
也許食養山房主人是真正地從中領悟到了



宜蘭傾盆大雨之際採茶
親身用手觸摸茶葉的滋潤感覺
點滴在心頭



For Wistaria Tea House in Taipei:
 http://www.wistariahouse.com/main/modules/MySpace/index.php?sn=wistariateahouse&pg=ZC2024

For Shi Yang Shan Fang:
http://www.shi-yang.com/

I love these two Tea Houses.  What they are doing is beyond tea.

:D

Hello all!

Sorry...my post is long overdue. My internship in Taiwan is going well, although life here is so busy and I'm still trying to get used to the working hours here. Looking back at the two week trip we had together, I think it was an experience I couldn't have had at any other school or with any other teachers! The itinerary everyday was superbly planned out and the activities and excursions definitely helped me understand my second homeland a lot better than before. (speaking of homeland, I just received my Taiwan National Identity card and Health Insurance card two days ago!)

Some highlights from the trip that were the most...culturally invigorating for me were the Yingge and Yilan trips, and finally the trek to the "5 finger mountain" for the tea ceremony.

Here are some photos from each place:

Yingge: museum and pottery making. woo!

Amazing architecture.

So glad I got a glimpse at the new exhibition on the ...4th? floor!! Such great pieces. This one is called "to accept or to reject" by Huang Chi-Cheng

"Sharing the Sweet Flavor of Happiness" by Hsieh Pei-Tsen

"words" by Lin Li-Min

"Dragged" by Lian Shian-Li (so cute!!! i love this last picture)

my first egg vase..."egg" by christine yeh heheh

my second ceramic jar (i have no name for it yet!)

the final products! glaze included :D

At Yilan for tea picking

complete with ponchos and conical bamboo hats (or dou li)

close up of a ...grasshopper type creature on a tea leaf! (with penny in the bg!)

and then the tea ceremony place

such beautiful interiors. i love tatami!! perhaps reminiscent of Japanese colonization. this was our class's view of the tea ceremony performance.

and the view of the outside. even if it was raining, the place was still so beautiful! extremely peaceful, simple and elegantly designed...i wouldn't mind living here.

Anyhoo! That concludes my pictures show-and-tell. I hope you all are doing well and that your summers are awesome! Can't wait to see more posts. :)

Christine

Tradition and Japanese Cultural Influence in Taiwan

Hello class and readers!

Thank you for tuning in to our class blog. Our trip to Taiwan was truly an exciting and rare opportunity. I feel I learned about Taiwan with a depth that could only be gleaned from a trip like this. Each step of the way Prof. Wu made sure that we understand the significance of each place in the context of Taiwanese history and culture.

One aspect of Taiwan that is fascinating to me is the influence of Japanese culture. As a student who has previously studied Mandarin in Mainland China, it was like a form of culture shock. Because the Japanese government has never formally apologized for Nanjing Massacre and other events of WWII, in addition to other tensions, Mainland China (at least on a surface level) is wary and resentful of Japan in many ways. Taiwan however, having been cut off from the Mainland in terms of communication and political experience, its long history as a Japanese colony, and Modern trade relations, seems to display its Japanese cultural heritage openly and with pride.

I would say the peak experience of our trip for me was our visit to a very traditional tea house in the mountains outside of Taipei. This was the rarest of opportunities, as this place is normally quite expensive by Taiwanese standards and is usually booked up months in advance. (For this experience we owe our thanks to 吴老师 and especially to 张老师，who also accompanied us earlier that day to the Wisteria Tea House for a lesson in traditional tea ceremonies.) Not only were we able to sample tea, but we heard the most beautiful traditional tea ceremony music and saw a brief opera performance from The Peony Pavilion.

Afterward we enjoyed a delicious meal of healthy, local foods meant to complement our tea. The tea house is part of the “养身” movement in Taiwan, encouraging Taiwanese people to live life with health, and balance.

吴老师 Prof. Wu explained to us how the traditional Japanese architecture of the tea house, rarely found in Mainland China, is actually derived from China's Tang Dynasty- the point at which immigrants arrived in Japan from China and settled there. Due to political upheaval as well as the difficulty of maintaining these wood and paper based buildings over such a long period, this Tang style architecture can for the most part only be found in Japan today.

The traditional tea house is of this style- tatami style mats, low tables and paper shade windows. We also spoke to the waitstaff, who not only live at the tea house but are also practicing Buddhists. This tea house actively preserves traditional Chinese tea culture, although the style would seem Japanese to a viewer not versed in ancient Chinese history.


To be in the fresh air of the mountains, to hear the rush of the streams, the rain, and the breeze outside, while savoring the aroma of the tea, was an experience I will never forget. Taiwan has so much more to offer than just to city of Taipei. It is fascinating that the fast-paced economic development in Taiwan, which has created one of the most modern cities in the world, seems to also have provided avenues to actively preserve some of China's most ancient and complex cultural traditions.