Of the millions of calla lilies produced in Taiwan each year, more than half grow on farms near Bamboo Lake (Zhuzihu,
Traffic problems aside, it's hard to imagine a better setting for wholesome family entertainment so close to Taipei. Most come to pick bunches of the long-stemmed calla lilies, a relative of the taro that thrives in the cooler mountain climate. Others come to watch their children look for tadpoles in the muddy furrows or chase butterflies through the fields.
"It's like another world," said Hung Yi-wen (
"It's so romantic," sighed Cindy Chen, a college student who was visiting for the first time. She came to escape the bustle of the city and breathe the mountain air. This year's calla lily festival winds up this weekend and offers a variety of activities, including a photography contest, guided ecological tours and mini concerts.
Last year the event drew half a million visitors, according to the Beitou Farmer's Association and Taipei City government. Organizers expect a similar number to attend this year.
"We have so many visitors I can't even count them," said Mrs. Cheng , who runs the Trail Calla Lily Garden (
PHOTOS: RON BROWNLOW, TAIPEI TIMES
Like most establishments, Cheng's serves drinks on a shady patio and charges NT$100 per person for entry. Here, the fee allows visitors to pick a bunch of 10 flowers. Cheng also sells individual flowers for NT$10 from a roadside stand.
The government encourages visitors to take public transportation up the mountain during the calla lily festival. Although several buses stop near Zhuzihu Road, a circular route that connects the calla lily farms, only the Small No. 9 (
Nestled between Datun (
Outside Mau-bang Garden (
"We grow about 400,000 flowers a year," Gao said. To his right, a television played an instructional video on how to pick calla lilies. Gao said a flower picked in cooler weather can last up to 20 days at home. Trim the stalk every day and put it in a vase filled with a few ice cubes and several centimeters of water.
Some of the farms remain open after the official end of cally lily season. Goa said Mau-bang Garden closes in May and reopens from July to September for sunflower season.
To get there take the MRT to Beitou Station and transfer to the Small 9 bus.
Taiwan’s English education system is being pulled apart by three opposing forces. Bilingual Nation 2030 pulls students toward English and global communication. Artificial Intelligence (AI) readiness pulls them toward digital judgment, verification and AI-mediated work. But Taiwan’s old exam culture pulls them back toward memorization, grammar drills, timed reading and correct answers. If the education system keeps using old exams to define success, it risks producing graduates who are neither genuinely bilingual nor genuinely AI-ready, but trained for tasks machines can already perform. The first force is Bilingual Nation 2030. Launched in 2018, the policy aimed to “help Taiwan’s workforce connect
It seems every few days one bumps into one of those “real man” comments in which Taiwan is urged to “face reality” or similar, and “make a deal,” with the speaker implying that soon it will be too late. “Deal” advocates always present themselves as having a superior grip on reality, and the manly ability to make the “hard choice.” Their testosterone-laden language often echoes that of Taiwan sellout advocates. Note that such commentary always specifies a process (“make a deal, work with, make progress”), never the end state of what occupation by a violent authoritarian colonialist state will entail. In
There are shadowy cabals plotting to sell out Taiwan to be annexed by China, by invasion if necessary. Fortunately, they are buffoons. In 2019, former Bamboo Union gangster and founder of the China Unification Promotion Party (CUPP), Chang An-le (張安樂, colorfully known as “White Wolf”), led a protest at the Legislative Yuan against comments made by then-premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) that in the event of an attack by China, he would never surrender, but would protect the nation by fighting to the end, even if he only had a broom. Chang had party members bring a wooden casket that they
June 1 to June 7 "If all Taiwanese were as afraid of dying as you, then what would happen?” Physician Shih Chiang-nan (施江南) reportedly said this to his wife Chen Chiao-tung (陳焦桐) after she urged him to stop intervening on behalf of Taiwanese soldiers stranded overseas after serving in the Japanese Army during World War II. Shih had clashed with high-ranking officials over the issue, engaged in several heated arguments with Taiwan governor-general Chen Yi (陳儀) and allegedly shouted at general Ko Yuan-fen (柯遠芬), chief of staff of the Taiwan Garrison Command, over
RSS