Travel Guide for the 2009 New Year Holiday — Taiwan Central

■ Big Buddha Parkland is located in the Bagua Mountain National Scenic Area (www.chcg.gov.tw/), close to downtown Changhua. The black-bodied Sakya Big Buddha statue is the city's special landmark and spiritual representation. From Bagua Mountain go through the Big Buddha archway, and walk along until the end — there Big Buddha sits straight and tall in the open area. Bagua Mountain's Big Buddha was built in 1961, the entire body a ferroconcrete carved sculpture. It was the largest Buddha in Asia in its early years.

■ Taiwan Folk Village (http://www.t503.com.tw/do_02.htm) is an open air museum offering a collection of traditional buildings spanning 300 years of Taiwan history. At the museum, visitors can experience traditional crafts, such as incense, paper, rice wine, soy sauce and quilt-making.

■ Lugang Folk Arts Museum (www.taiwanese-secrets.com/lugang.html) houses a fascinating collection of Ming and Ching dynasty artifacts: vintage photos, lacquerware, porcelain, stone carvings, embroidery, musical instruments, and other items. The building is an amazing blend of Asian and Western architecture.

Chiayi Area

■ It takes over three hours for the Alishan train to push its five carriages up the mountain, but the journey itself is part of the fun. As the train ascends its winding path that hugs the mountainside, the typical broadleaf trees give way to conifers. What is even more interesting are the so-called "thousand-year-old trees" that appear every so often on the train ride up.

■ The Jiayou Bicycle Trail is a worthy addition to Taiwan's fast-growing network of bike paths and tourist cycling routes. Just three-and-a-half kilometers long, it links Shuishang Township with Shihsian Road in the southeastern corner of Chiayi City.

Yunlin Area

■ Established in August 1986, Janfusun Fancyworld (http://www.janfusun.com.tw/) is a leading amusement park business in Taiwan. It not only has the most modern rides and high-tech theaters, Janfusun Fancyworld is surrounded by beautiful natural scenery while offering cultural activities, as well as shopping — something for every family member.

■ Coffee cultivation in Taiwan began in the 10th year of Emperor Guangxu, in the Qing Dynasty (1884). During the Japanese occupation, the Japanese planted 75 hectares of coffee trees on the Hebaoshan Commercial Farm in Gukeng Township, Yunlin. Thereafter, Hebaoshan was known by the name "Kafeishan" (or Coffee Mountain), a moniker that remains to this day.

■ Wonder how many gods there are in Taiwan? The Taiwan Temple Art Museum (http://tour.yunlin.gov.tw/) can help you figure it out. Affiliated with the Yuanlin Cultural Center, the museum includes a main hall (temple hall), and two side halls with a puppet show museum and deity statue museum. The exhibits in the temple hall cover correlations between temples and Taiwan development, temple fairs, paintings, methods of flag embroidery, among others.

■ The Shautien Temple in Peikang, built in 1694, is more than 290 years old. It used to be called Tienfe Temple, or Tienho Temple. In order to commemorate the Matsu Temple (Shautien Building) in Meichou, China, it was thus re-named Shautien Temple. Because of its wide-spread reputation, Shautien Temple has become the leading temple for more than 300 Taiwan temples worshipping the Goddess Matsu.

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