July 8, 2012
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Taipei…..Maokong - After a full breakfast, we went for a short day trip up the hills in Maokong, which is well known for its tea shops and hiking trails……
The ride up the hills was slow but quite enjoyable…..
As we go near the top, the mountain air feels cool and refreshing…..
Once embarked, we randomely picked a path and there are these big and small tea houses all over…..
This is where the stream rocks are and the name of “MaoKong” came about…..
Small temple and more hiking down the hill…..
The stream appears quite dry but slippery…..
Over time, the stream waters have carved potholes in the river rocks. The original name to this place was pronounced as “Niao Kang” in native Taiwanese dialect, but over time, this has become “Maokong” in Mandarin, referencing the “cat’s hollows” in the stream rocks…..
Back to the main road, we stopped over at this tea house, which has a wood burning pizza oven, as you can see the smoke coming out from the rear…..
Iced tea with fruit infusion; we had a small pizza but too hungry to wait for a photo opportunity…..
It was a nice and clear day…..
One more thing, I had this stinky tofu at another tea house down the street, it was delicious with hot and spicy sauce on the side…..
The whole outing took half a day, but that depends on how long you like to stay. Some may like to visit during the late afternoon hours and pick a tea house to have dinner and view the sunset, that would be a romantic way to end the day!
Comments (23)
I’ve never had stinky tofu before.
Is this place close to the city? I’m curious if you rented a car to get around? Would it be difficult for someone who can’t read or speak Chinese to get around?
I love how you incorporated your pictures with a brochure. How did you do that?
@ElusiveWords - Matt, this place is accessible by metro/public rail line. Taipei is “foreigner” friendly, most of the popular signages are in English, and taxi drivers are super friendly! The “brochure” is made up by W, he customizes a different one after every trip, and I copy and paste a few of these pages over here; with his permission of course.
Oh so there’s more to Taiwan than food?! Lol jk I’ve always like how green Taiwan is
Cool! My colleagues told me about MaoKong… Will be flying to Taipei Wednesday. Having a flight to Manila in between… But! Overall a nice description! I’m looking forward to my “trip” too! Maybe we’ll bump into each other… That would be funny ey! =D Enjoy Taiwan!
Hey, as long as you are in Taipei, have you been to WuLai?
@oxyGENE_08 - Yes, Gene, the place is very lush and green! Love it!
@MiSsMiNnY - Thanks! You have a very enjoyable time in Taipei too!
@amygwen - Not really, I’ll certainly check it out on my next visit. Thank you for the recommendation!
looks like a beautiful place to visit. actually i haven’t been anywhere in asia… must change that soon!
@kunhuo42 - Well then, you have a very good excuse of taking a vacation soon! You’ll have lots of choices where to explore first!
stinky tofu hm……..which one you prefer, the one in Taiwan or Hong Kong….?
That picture of the rocks with the holes – wow!! Great photography.
Did you take pictures for a pamphlet? It looks like you, or your boyfriend, was on that pamphlet?
Have taken the gondola but never explored any of the stops.
@agmhkg - Hehe….I prefer the ones from Hong Kong, with crispy n’ crusty skin, bought fresh from the street stall, doused with hot and spicy sauces. *nom nom*
@stepaside_loser - Thanks, Andrew! W will be very happy to hear that. After he took those photos, he slipped and fell into the stream, cracking his camera lens. Luckily, only minor bruises from that, and the camera lens got repaired later on. About that pamphlet, that’s from W’s travel book, I just copied from one of the pages from it. W likes to make a hard cover coffee table book after a long trip, he scanned and assembled all the photos from the trip.
@christao408 - One of the stops is the zoo, which I’m very curious to visit too. Oh well, there’s always a next time, right?
Reminds me of the “hill stations” of India. The pictures are beautiful Gary.
@ZSA_MD - Thank you, Zakiah! Hill stations is a good term for this place.
i’m so jealous. i love taiwanese tea.
@rudyhou - If you love Taiwanese tea, you should definitely pay a visit! :0)
@CurryPuffy - i have. twice already. n am craving more.
@CurryPuffy – That is awesome that W does that!
Man havent been there in awhile because I dont drive in Taipei!
@yang1815 - seems like the traffic direction is similar to the States, but not easy to navigate.