Taipei County - Pingshi, Shen Keng - Tofu, Tea and Trains. 20 August

Bill had planned a trip for us as we have not met up for 2 years. He wanted to see the old towns that he knew. I love seeing the old villages in their natural surroundings and Pingshi 平溪 is one of the best to visit.

There was quite a large group of us, 20 people with 5 cars so we all met at Kunyang metro station and set of by road, Bill leading the way to Pingshi.

As we drove along I saw beautiful mountains along the road and the fresh air made me feel very energy, because I was up late chatting with old friends until 3:30am.

After about 30 minutes we arrived in Pingshi which is in Taipei County, inland from the northern tip of Taiwan's northeastern coastal scenic area.

The town was once an area that bustled with coal-mining activities but today only an old railway line threads its way through the mountains and forests and is all that is left from those glorious bygone days.

There is only one train an hour, so we can walk along the railway line. There were people saying, "Rail come, rail come", which I guess meant a train was due then other people said, "Rail come, rail come", as the warning was passed down the line.

The railway station is of wooden construction and its architecture is entirely of apanese style. The longest coal cabinet in Taiwan can be found opposite the railway track. Here also they sell a lot of sky lanterns which are miniature hot-air balloons. It is a unique local custom in Pingshi to release the sky lanterns, at the time of the Lantern Festival, two weeks after the Lunar New Year. I saw one family buying a lot of sky lanterns and making them ready to fly.

Most of the food here is of traditional local origin. We sat down and drank iced maei cha - pasty tea and ate rice-flour noodle, dark plum juice and fruit ice. It had begun to rain and this was very relaxing to watch as it poured in the old village.

We moved on to Shen Keng to buy tofu for take away dinner. ShenKeng 深坑 is a small town near Taipei city and is famous for tofu and tofu cuisine. What makes Shen Keng's tofu so special? Because they follow the way of the ancients, blending salt into soybean milk to bring out a smoky flavor and making all the tofu by hand.

I had to cue for one hour to buy 9 boxes of cooked tofu, and then we went to a tea house to eat the tofu and chat and play Chinese chess. Big black asked me, do you want to play Chinese chess, I said yes, and he said, they want to talk with me, until I turn my head back, I did not notice they were planning to buy a birthday cake for my birthday on 31st August, so they celebrated my birthday early, I was surprised and I felt warm in my heart, we sing happy birthday to you with Taiwanese sign language.

I had a wonderful time visiting the towns and villages that are set in the local countryside.