If you're starting your trip in the late morning from Ilan City, Bajia's Fishery is an excellent place to stop for lunch.
The menu is mainly fish entrees, though some are made with pork and chicken. But coming here for meat is like going to a steakhouse to eat fish.
Everything at Bajia is delicious and fresh. Among the many dishes, the sweet-roe xiangyu (甘露卵香魚) is a must. The portion of the fish that contains roe -- fish eggs -- is braised in soy sauce and lightly sauteed. The taste, although too dry if you eat it in one mouthful, is buttery and sweet. You can top off lunch with a cup of coffee or tea in the second-floor coffee shop.
An afternoon is complete only after a tour of the Happy Cherry Tea House and a cup of Oolong tea. There, you and the owner, Zhong Yong Xing, can discuss whether or not it's acceptable to drink the first pour.
"It's okay, it's really okay to drink it," he said to a group of surprised tourists who came recently.?
Dinner can be hard to find in the backwoods along Route 7. A restaurant called Shanben Farm (
When you arrive, you'll find out what's on the menu. But selections are bound to include steamed fished smothered in ginger and scallions and braised in soy sauce, as well as a variety of meats, from lamb to chicken, cooked with tea.
If you want to stay the night, five minutes away from Shanben is a cozy bed-and-breakfast called Tea Village (
Before tucking in, owner You Hui Zhen (游輝真) will teach you how to make two Hakka specialities. One is leicha (擂茶), a hot beverage made from ground green tea, peanuts and sesame seeds. The other is a sweet, elastic treat called muorji, made from sticky rice that is shaped into balls and rolled around in sesame seeds or crushed peanuts.
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April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist
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