Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Getting There & Away
From Zhiben Train Station (just south of Taitung) catch bus 8129 (NT$63). Morning
buses run at 6.40am, 7.55am, 9.10am, 10.30am and 11.45am. The last return bus is at
10pm.
Taimali
This small Bunun village (Tàimálǐ) running up the emerald coast hillsides has become
known locally for efforts to revitalise traditional aboriginal culture (including the skills
needed to genuinely live off the land). Outside of the Harvest Festival in August, travel-
lers are unlikely to see any of this but do stop in for the beach, the long, beautiful palm-
studded beach that stretches on and on. There's no swimming (it's far too rough) but the
crashing surf, the wide soft-sand beach, the green mountains rising to the west and the
long coastline sweeping out to the north make this an absolutely fabulous place for a
couple hours of strolling. There's also plenty of driftwood, should you want to build a
fire, and no one would object if you set up a tent and camped out.
The BBC chose this beach as one of the 60 best places in the world to watch the sun-
rise of the new millennium on 31 December 1999.
WORTH A TRIP
BOMBING MASTER HANDAN
Taitung's most popular Lantern Festival activity only began in 1954, and is intim-
ately tied to the gangsterism that has long plagued small town life in Taiwan. Called
Bombing Master Handan
(Zhà Hándān)
, the festival is, depending on which legend you
believe, a celebration of a former Shang dynasty general (and god of wealth and
war) who hates the cold, or a more recent thuggish leader who asked for his follow-
ers to blast him to death in payment for his crimes. Either way, 'warming' him with
firecracker and bottle rockets as he passes by is considered a good way to win this
god's favour.
The twist in the Taitung festival is that volunteers accompany the Handan statue
on his platform as he is carried across town. Wearing nothing but red shorts and a
few protective items (googles, gloves, scarf, amulet), they willingly subject them-
selves to the same treatment Handan is getting. Few last more than a few minutes
of the barrage which is one reason why this strange festival is linked to organised
crime: today, as in the past, many of the volunteers are current or ex-gangsters
looking to show their courage, or atone for their sins.
