A Day in Town: Pinglin, Shiding, Shenkeng, Xizhi (New Taipei)

I just completed my fourth trip under "A Day in Town", my multi-year backpacking plan of spending a day in approximately 350 townships in my country. My destination this time was New Taipei, the largest among the six municipalities of Taiwan with a population of over four million. The New Taipei City government administers 29 districts, including Zhonghe, where I have lived for 60 years now. On this trip, I visited four districts: Pinglin, Shiding, Shenkeng, and Xizhi.

Pinglin District is in the southeastern corner, surrounded by other districts of New Taipei including Wulai, Shiding, Pingxi, and Shuanxi, and bordering Ilan County to the east. Pinglin is best known for its tea manufacturing. And, in spite of its mountainous terrain Pinglin was once a boom town because of its location as the gateway between Taipei and Ilan. With the completion of National Freeway 5, the expressway linking Taipei and Ilan, in 2006, Pinglin lost its gateway status and its population has contracted ever since. Now it administers seven villages, down from its high of ten. During my day in Pinglin, I visited five out of seven villages there.

I started my day in Pinglin by taking the MRT to Xindian, where I transferred on a bus that departed every hour for Pinglin. About two hours later, I got off the bus and started exploring on foot the hills, streams and the tea fields that coexist with the ecosystem in good harmony. After hours of refreshing wandering and on my way to catch my return bus, I spotted a statue of Avalokiteśvara, erected on the top of a hill next to Pinglin Junior High School. I climbed up the stairs (approximately 200 of them) to reach the statue and had an amazing bird's eye view up there, ending my rewarding stay in this remote district of New Taipei.

I spent my second day in Shiding, the district surrounded by other districts of New Taipei, including Pinglin, Wulai, Shenkeng, Xizhi, and Pingxi. The name Shiding literally means "stone threshold". It was so called because there were many large rocks in Jingmei River that surfaced above the water during the dry season, and the inhabitants there would cross the river by stepping on these large rocks, as if stepping on the threshold to get over the entrance of the door, and hence the name. Shiding is the main source of water supply, holding 90% reserve capacity of Feicui Dam that supplies Taipei City. There are 12 villages listed under Shiding District, and I visited seven of them during my day there.

I started my day in Shiding by taking a bus to Huafan University, an institute of higher education founded by members of the Buddhist community, and located at an elevation of 550 meters above sea level. From there I explored downhill on foot, and stumbled upon Fenglin, one of the 12 villages of the district. What amazed me about this village is that it's the historical site of a river wharf when Jingmei River was still navigable about a century ago, and served as the depot for both goods and passengers for not just Shiding, but also all its surrounding districts. From here, goods and passengers were transported to and from Dadoucheng, the busiest port of Tamsui River, where onward connection by land to the rest of Taiwan, or by sea to China, was the reality then—though unimaginable now.

On the third day, I visited Shenkeng, a district situated in the center of New Taipei City, bordering Taipei City to the west and Shiding District to the east. Given its proximity to Fenglin, the historical river wharf of Shiding, Shenkeng has benefited from trade and commerce for centuries, with many historical sites and architecture well preserved. Above all, Shenkeng is best known for its local delicacy: tofu.  There are eight villages in Shenkeng, and I visited six of them during my stay there. 

I started my day in Shenkeng by taking a bus to Bafenliao, the easternmost part of the district bordering Shiding, and explored westward from there on foot. Toward the end of my day there, I visited Tungnan University, a renowned university established in 1970. I first heard of it by name 50 years ago, yet this was the first time I had visited its campus. I was inspired to pay a visit, having recently read the related history, because the university was where Wanshuen Cottage, the earliest settlement of Han Chinese in Shenkeng, was located.

On the fourth day, I visited Xizhi, the district of New Taipei which borders Taipei City to the west and Keelung City to the east. Situated where the major traffic routes by water, road and rail all cross, Xizhi was developed early and has remained prosperous for the last two centuries. There are 51 villages listed under Xizhi, more than those of Pinglin, Shiding and Shenkeng combined, and I visited 17 of them during my day there.

I started my day in Xizhi by taking the train to Wudu, the northernmost train station within Xizhi, from there I explored on foot southward, visiting many places of interest. Among them, this park stood out because its name reflected the story of Xizhi. It reads Shuefangjiao in Taiwanese, literally meaning "wave end" because the tidal wave from sea used to travel inward along Keelung River to reach (end) here, and hence the old name of the district, too. It was renamed during the Japanese ruling period as Xizhi, which means the same in both Japanese and Chinese (wave end) and has remained so to this day. Thus, through Keelung River, which was the second largest river route (next only to Tamsui River) in northern Taiwan, Xizhi was well connected for distribution, trade, and commerce. Standing here, I could imagine vividly how people made their living in this thriving town centuries ago.

Among all things that I discovered and learned during the trip, this was the most special one: an interpretive signage I stumbled upon in Xizhe, indicating the way to the tomb of Du Yuesheng (1888 - 1951), a Shanghai mob-boss-turned financial tycoon and a staunch supporter of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and the Kuomintang in their fight against the Communists and Japanese. I love the quotes of Du on the sinage, which were full of life wisdom, philosophy, puns, and humors. The first one was about the "face culture" of Chinese people, and it goes like this: 'There are three types of noodles (same pronunciation as "face" in Chinese) that we all eat, though they taste so bad—"relationship" noodles, "hypocrisy" noodles, and "appearance" noodles.' The other one sounds very funny but is ruthlessly true: "We are all but a chamber pot, and are put back under the bed as soon as we have been used."

Though the destination of my trip is not far from my home, which is also in New Taipei City, I still stayed at a hostel during the trip to make it feel like traveling. The hostel is near Taipei Main Station, from there, I took a train, a bus, or the MRT to visit one district a day. At the end of each day, I would sit by the window, enjoy a coffee, and read my book. The hostel is conveniently located and furnished, and I plan to return for future backpacking trips.