Tag: Taiwan History

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St. John’s University, Taiwan ~ Annual Celebration!

Catherine Lee

Today is the day!  On this day 49 years ago, April 26, 1967, the Ministry of Education officially notified ‘St. John’s and St. Mary’s Institute of Technology’ SJSMIT, (the original name of St. John’s University, SJU) that they could start to recruit students for their brand new 5-year junior college courses. The school dates its foundation from that day, and many of the original first intake of students are still active in the SJU Alumni Association today. Bishop James C. L. Wong was the first Chinese Bishop of Taiwan (from 1965-70) and his vision was to establish a successor institution … Continue reading St. John’s University, Taiwan ~ Annual Celebration!

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Alishan 阿里山 2016

Catherine Lee

Alishan has two 7- Eleven Stores, and claims they are the second highest in Taiwan ~ and Taiwan’s #1 highest post office too. Another must see! And Taiwan’s #1 highest elementary school.  Wow, that’s quite something!  2,195 metres above sea-level, that’s over 7,000 feet. Imagine that eh? But of course, none of these reasons are really why Alishan is so popular.  It’s very well up on the list of THE places to visit in Taiwan. Tourists from all over Asia and especially Mainland China, zillions of people have it on their list.  Alishan is famous, very famous. We’re talking about an area of … Continue reading Alishan 阿里山 2016

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Teapot Mountain 茶壺山 ~ very misty, very muddy, but hey, very fun!

Catherine Lee

‘Far over the misty mountains cold / To dungeons deep and caverns old / We must away ere break of day / To seek the pale enchanted gold’….. And so we did ~ venture forth that is, in the footsteps of The Hobbit and his friends, to the misty mountains cold, dungeons deep and caverns old ~ there’s plenty of them in the mountains above Keelung, and plenty have sadly lost their lives in those caverns mining the gold.  And copper.  The old gold mining town of Jinguashi 金瓜石 is located right there, right in the misty mountains, and just above it is Teapot … Continue reading Teapot Mountain 茶壺山 ~ very misty, very muddy, but hey, very fun!

Taiwan Episcopal ChurchLeave a comment

Bishop James T. M. Pong Memorial Conference Room Dedication Service 台灣聖公會《龐德明主教會議廳》祝聖揭幕啟用典禮

Catherine Lee

The Diocese of Taiwan office in central Taipei now has a newly-dedicated conference room, all newly-painted, and with new furniture – especially beautiful new chairs in bright blue, green and orange.  So comfortable and so bright!  Stimulating colours – to stimulate minds and hearts!  All meetings, discussions and seminars held there from now on will be helped along by sitting in such wonderful chairs! The money to do all this was kindly donated by the son and daughter of the late Bishop James T. M. Pong 龐德明主教 (Bishop of Taiwan 1971-79) in loving memory of their father, and they came to … Continue reading Bishop James T. M. Pong Memorial Conference Room Dedication Service 台灣聖公會《龐德明主教會議廳》祝聖揭幕啟用典禮

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馬祖 Matsu Islands: Boats, Beauty and, yes, Blue Tears!

Catherine Lee

Yes, we even saw the famous Blue Tears (藍眼淚) of Matsu, honest!  And they were AMAZING! And the only reason we saw them was because of that terrible Typhoon Dujuan that hit us on the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival weekend at the end of September.  Sometimes, y’know, even typhoons have a silver lining! Every year, the Diocese of Taiwan organizes a trip for a few days to visit somewhere interesting ~ mostly for the older people, but anyone is welcome, and several invite their friends and family, who may or may not be church members, so we have a lovely variety! And … Continue reading 馬祖 Matsu Islands: Boats, Beauty and, yes, Blue Tears!

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Mt. Keelung基隆山, Jinguashi金瓜石 POW Camp and Jiufen九份

Catherine Lee

An Indian Summer (or in Chinese, known as an Autumn Tiger!) ~ Yippee! Yes, a whole 3 days so far of temps up to 32°C, with blue skies, blue seas and butterflies ~ time to get the sunglasses, sun cream and sun hats back out, YES! And if there’s one place in Taiwan where a fine day is rare, it’s the N.E coast and the mountains above Keelung.  I was up there 2 months ago to climb Teapot Mountain 茶壺山 and Banpingshan 半平山(check out that blog post here) and at the time, thought that if there’s ever a fine day again, that’s … Continue reading Mt. Keelung基隆山, Jinguashi金瓜石 POW Camp and Jiufen九份

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Fugueijiao Lighthouse 富貴角燈塔 now open to the public!

Catherine Lee

Just 5 minutes on a bus up the road from here in Sanzhi 三芝 and then a 1 km walk, and there is the northern tip of Taiwan, and the famous Fugueijiao Lighthouse.  It’s round the promontory from the Fuji Fishing Harbour, and hidden behind the army camp, but the big news is that the lighthouse grounds are now open to the public.  All day every day except Mondays, and the whole world has turned up to check it all out! The lighthouse was built in 1896 by the Japanese – the first one built by them after they arrived … Continue reading Fugueijiao Lighthouse 富貴角燈塔 now open to the public!

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Teapot Mountain 茶壺山 and Banpingshan 半平山 (半屏山) Ridge

Catherine Lee

What a place!  In its heyday, Jinguashi 金瓜石 was a very major happening kind of place, a gold rush town up in the mountains above Keelung on Taiwan’s NE coast with one of the world’s largest gold and copper mines ~ over 600 km of tunnels in and under those hills. During the Japanese era (1895-1945), it became the largest copper mine in the Japanese empire. But by the 1970’s it was all gone, the gold rush all finished.  As with all mining towns, so here – a tragic history of hard labour and terrible working and living conditions. Worse too, as … Continue reading Teapot Mountain 茶壺山 and Banpingshan 半平山 (半屏山) Ridge