A Day in Town: An Unusual Backpacking Trip

I just completed my thirteenth trip under "A Day in Town," my multi-year backpacking plan of spending a day in each of the approximately 350 townships in my country. My destination this time was Chiayi City, the smallest in area of the 20 sub-national administrative regions in Taiwan, as well as its equal and only neighbour, Chiayi County, which entirely surrounds Chiayi City. With a population of over 260,000, Chiayi City is home to Zhuluosan City Wall, the seat of Zhuluo County─a political division during the Qing Dynasty that ruled the island of Taiwan north of the Yanshui River. During this trip, I visited Dalin and Minxiong─two of the 18 townships under Chiayi County, as well as the West and the East─the two districts that Chiayi City administers.

This trip was unusual because it was made in the aftermath of Typhoon Danas, the first typhoon on record to make landfall in Chiayi County. I began by taking a train to Dalin, the northernmost township of Chiayi County, bordering Gukeng Township of Yunlin County to the north. Affected by Typhoon Danas, all express train services were suspended, so I had to take the local train that still operated albeit on a delayed basis. Dalin was formerly known as Dapulin, which literally means "large forest", referring to how the land looked when the first Han Chinese settlers arrived in the late 17th century. Endowed with fertile lands and home to two military bases, Dalin was once the richest township in Chiayi County. After walking around some villages where the ubiquitous debris resulting from Typhoon Danas remained uncleared, I took a train to Chiayi City, where my hostel was located.

On the second day, I visited Minxiong, the most populous township in Chiayi County. Minxiong was formerly known as "Dovaha", a tribe of the Hoanya, the major indigenous people in central and southeen Taiwan. Minxiong Township borders Dalin Township to the north and Chiayi City to the south, and is home to three universities: National Chiayi University (Minxiong Campus), National Chung Cheng University, and WuFeng University. I first took a train to Minxiong Railway Station, and started exploring on foot. Similar to what had been observed in Dalin, damage resulting from Typhoon Danas were evident and recovery may take weeks, if not months.

I spent the following two days in Chiayi City. On the third day, I explored the West District, where my hostel was located. With a population of over 140,000 and situated at the intersection of several highways, main roads, and the railway,  the West District has been a center of transportation, commerce, tourism, and culture for the Greater Chiayi Area, which comprises Chiayi City, Chiayi County, and a part of both Yunlin County to the north and Tainan City to the south. Interestingly, the border of the West and the East Districts is formed primarily by the north-south bound Wenhua Road, where the renowned tourist spot, Wenhua Road Night Market, is located. In this sense, tourists visiting the night market alone will already have set foot in both districts of Chiayi City.

On the fourth day, I visited the East District, the seat of Chiayi City, with a population of 117,000. Home to Zhuluosan City Wall which was first built in 1704, the East District has a long history of development and prosperity. Though the city wall no longer exists, the East remains today the political, cultural, and medical center for the Greater Chiayi Area. In addition, the East is known for Lantan Lake, a landmark serving as both a tourist attraction and a reservoir. The lake is also called the Holland Lake because it was first dug by the Dutch nearly 400 years ago during the period of Dutch Formosa. 

Though the government lifted the land warning for Typhoon Danas on July 7th, the first day of my travel, Chiayi City and Chiayi County─my travel destination─are among the areas that were worst affected by the typhoon. In addition, heavy rains followed in the wake of Typhoon Danas, which slowed the recovery efforts by the public and private sectors alike. Amazingly, throughout my stay in Chiayi during this trip, I had not heard any complaints from people I came across. People just smiled, rolled up their sleeves, and did whatever they could to have the damage repaired. To this end, I saw the decency, strength, and resilience of my countrymen in Chiayi and truly respect them.

I planned my trip and booked the hostel about three months ago. Luckily, the hostel was not affected by Typhoon Danas, so I could stay there as planned. The hostel is only a 15-minute walk from Chiayi Railway Station, providing not just beds, but also shared space where I would spend hours reading every day. Reading while traveling gives me a sense of achievement stronger than usual.

It rained so heavily on the third and the fourth days that staying outdoors wasn't a good idea. So I sat in a coffee shop for almost half of each day reading instead. There, I found myself consistently in the minority in a room of young female guests. Later, I realized that National Chiayi Girls' Senior High School was only meters away─right across the street. I believe that a majority of these young girls who diligently read their textbooks at the coffee shop were from that renowned girls' high school.

Finally, this trip was unusual because documenting it marks the first anniversary of my life as a blogger. Not knowing where blogging would take me, I published my first blog post on July 13th, 2024. A year on, I'm completing my 67th blog post, under the goal of posting once a week that I set for myself a few months into this new occupation. Reflecting on my year-long journey as a blogger, I saw myself transform along the way. I am a writer now, though I don't write to earn my livelihood─I loved writing and being a writer was my childhood dream. Above all, I was reassured in the process that I'm capable of being inspired and transforming myself ─even now as a retiree, just as I was in my 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s.