After the killing of foreign sailors on Taiwanese soil and the resultant Mudan Incident of 1874, which threatened the Qing’s claims on Taiwan, Chinese authorities decided to beef up defenses in the south by constructing a wall around what is today’s Hengchun Township (恆春) in Pingtung County. Today, it has the distinction of being the only city wall left in Taiwan with all of its original gates still intact.
Not only are the original gates still intact, but most of the original wall is still standing, and open to the public. A walk along — and often on top of — the wall is a great way to get familiar with the town and see a bit of history. At only 2.5 km around, an hour or two on foot is enough to finish the entire loop.
Standing in front of the Hengchun bus station, the original South Gate is visible at the end of Nanmen Road (南門路, literally “South Gate Road”) nearly straight ahead. This is the most ornate of the old city gates and a fitting place to begin the walk. For over a century, this has been the gateway to Kenting (墾丁). At one point, a rail line even ran through the gate down to Nanwan (南灣). Nowadays, vehicle traffic heading to Kenting still leaves the city on this same road, but now passes around the gate in a roundabout. After taking a few moments to admire the reconstructed tower atop the gate, start your tour of the wall itself by turning east along Lane 14, Nanmen Road.
Photo: Tyler Cottenie
AROUND THE TOWN
Remnants of the wall are visible on the until the junior high school is reached. Here, a section of the wall was demolished to make room for the schoolyard. More recently, however, a steel-and-wood elevated walkway was built along the original wall’s path, allowing pedestrian traffic to continue following the route of the old city wall without blocking the schoolyard below.
On the far side of the schoolyard, the walkway reconnects to the top of the original wall, which is then intact all the way to the East Gate. The inscription above this gate, as with the South Gate, states that the gate was built in the first year of the Guangxu Emperor, i.e., 1875. At that time, the Alangyi Trail (阿朗壹古道), which connected Hengchun with Taitung County, began here. Nowadays, County Road 200 leaves from beside the gate, leading to Jialeshuei (佳樂水) on the eastern side of the National Park, or to Syuhai Village (旭海), where a section of the old Alangyi Trail is still preserved.
Photo: Tyler Cottenie
‘GHOST GRAPPLING’
After climbing back up onto the wall on the other side of the road and continuing counterclockwise, you will pass by a high platform with 36 poles underneath it. This is where the annual “ghost grappling” (搶孤) festival takes place, during which teams form human towers and try to climb up heavily greased poles to a platform above. This year’s competition is set to take place this weekend, with the festivities spanning from today to Sunday, and the main event taking place Sunday evening.
Next up is the North Gate, which is still connected to the wall and allows both vehicle traffic through it and pedestrian traffic overtop of it. The land just outside of the wall around here is still undeveloped; the landscape of wild grasses and coconut trees probably hasn’t changed much since Qing Dynasty times.
Photo: Tyler Cottenie
Back to County Road 200, where a section of the wall was again removed for the road, you will have been on the wall for an entire kilometer. The section from the East Gate to here is the longest continuous stretch of original wall still standing. After crossing the road, you may continue on top of the wall again or follow the modern paths and alleys running beside the wall for the rest of its course.
THE BUSTLING TOWN CENTER
Just 100 meters ahead is the West Gate. Be careful walking around here as scooters run through the passage frequently, sometimes at high speeds. Larger vehicles need to be careful, too: this is the gate where a campaign truck for Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) got stuck last year. A temple and plaza sit just inside the gate, making this a popular spot for locals to go for a stroll or hang out. For people watching along the wall, this is your best bet.
Photo: Tsai Tsung-hsien, Taipei Times
The remainder of the wall passes near Henchun Old Street and the bustling business area around it, including the Hengchun Night Market, which lies just outside the wall. Walking along the wall at night is not only quite a bit cooler, but is perhaps the most photogenic time as the wall is beautifully illuminated in the parks and plazas. If you start your loop of the old wall in the late afternoon, you will arrive in the West Gate area just as the sky is getting dark — and just in time to turn in toward the shops or the night market for a bite to eat. If you want to complete the entire loop first, the wall ends rather anticlimactically across from the Presbyterian Church, with the last 150 meters back to the South Gate having been demolished for roadways.
Exploring the wall is a great way to spend a couple of hours in Hengchun, at any time of day or at any time of the year. With the ghost grappling festival taking place this weekend, however, there’s never been a better time to visit. Hengchun is sure to be livelier than usual, with street performances and additional food vendors around. Climbing up onto the wall is a great way to take in the party atmosphere from above, or to get away from the crowds for a while if they become too overwhelming. Whenever you choose to visit Hengchun next, be sure to take a moment to appreciate one of Taiwan’s best preserved historical monuments, right in the heart of town.
Photo: Tyler Cottenie
Photo: Tyler Cottenie
Photo: Tyler Cottenie
Last week saw the appearance of another odious screed full of lies from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian (肖千), in the Financial Review, a major Australian paper. Xiao’s piece was presented without challenge or caveat. His “Seven truths on why Taiwan always will be China’s” presented a “greatest hits” of the litany of PRC falsehoods. This includes: Taiwan’s indigenous peoples were descended from the people of China 30,000 years ago; a “Chinese” imperial government administrated Taiwan in the 14th century; Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung (鄭成功), “recovered” Taiwan for China; the Qing owned
In Taiwan’s politics the party chair is an extremely influential position. Typically this person is the presumed presidential candidate or serving president. In the last presidential election, two of the three candidates were also leaders of their party. Only one party chair race had been planned for this year, but with the Jan. 1 resignation by the currently indicted Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) of the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) two parties are now in play. If a challenger to acting Chairman Huang Kuo-chang (黃國昌) appears we will examine that race in more depth. Currently their election is set for Feb. 15. EXTREMELY
Jan. 20 to Jan. 26 Taipei was in a jubilant, patriotic mood on the morning of Jan. 25, 1954. Flags hung outside shops and residences, people chanted anti-communist slogans and rousing music blared from loudspeakers. The occasion was the arrival of about 14,000 Chinese prisoners from the Korean War, who had elected to head to Taiwan instead of being repatriated to China. The majority landed in Keelung over three days and were paraded through the capital to great fanfare. Air Force planes dropped colorful flyers, one of which read, “You’re back, you’re finally back. You finally overcame the evil communist bandits and
They increasingly own everything from access to space to how we get news on Earth and now outgoing President Joe Biden warns America’s new breed of Donald Trump-allied oligarchs could gobble up US democracy itself. Biden used his farewell speech to the nation to deliver a shockingly dark message: that a nation which has always revered its entrepreneurs may now be at their mercy. “An oligarchy is taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence that literally threatens our entire democracy, our basic rights and freedoms,” Biden said. He named no names, but his targets were clear: men like Elon Musk
RSS