Summer East Rift Valley & Yeh Liu,Taiwan

East Rift Valley. A 2 day tour of Hualien County to the Taitung County via train ride.. through the Matai-an wetlands.. The Bunun tribe people village..dip in the Hongye Hotspring Cingshuei Park in the Luye Plateau.. Small YehLiu for the out of this world geological formations with mushroomy, honeycombie, or bean curdy shaped rocks...just north of Taitung City. Some City sights thrown in for good measure.. Added some Yeh Liu Proper photos in 2007. It was a dreary season so apologize for the grey photos

Unequivocally Taiwan
Taipei 101 on a clear blue day...

XiMenting
Ximenting's summer posters... Shopping haven for the young...conveniently...

Price for beauty
Part of the Rauhe Night Market... with deft skills and thread, this master is...

Food @Rauhe Market
I believe this is chicken?

More Food
Braised stuff..pretty standard stall for night markets.. taufu,...

Good Ol' Buffalos
these folks have retired.. no longer toiling in fields.. they just...

Field Of Gold
Ahh... summer.. meadow of marigolds .. a flurry of colors everywhere you go...

Marigold Closeup
Double petal Marigolds..

Stalk of Gold
Cannot resist another shot of this golden beauty...

LilyPads
Part of the Matai'an Wetland's attraction.. the lotus was not in...

Fair waterlily

Closeup of the yellow lily
u hvae no idea how much i had to stretch to get this shot.. without getting...

This is how we catch freshwater prawns
The locals showing us the traditional way of catching fresh water prawns.. if...

Basin and net
This is what they'll need...

Lift and shake
One of them will lift the tightly bound sticks from the water and shake the...

Yes.. we got definitely got some
strong applause from the audience spurred them on.. the live jumping...

look what i got
A snake head fish found its way onto the metal bowl.. causing quite a commotion

Got to get rid of it
We have very little need for this fish...

A gift
They threw it right up to the spectators as a gift.. all the kids had a ball...

Lush Weeds

shades of Green

Lunch At Matai An wetlands
their signature dishes. yam rice, salted freshwater fish, mountain wild...

Freshwater Prawn
yea. i dove under the water and took this shot.. not.. this was taken at an...

Luye River
Next stop the Luye plauteau... We needed to relax after a long day..

Hongye Hot Spring
What better way to chill than to dip urself in hot boiling water ......

We're ready to be cooked alive
u can tell from our sheepish grin we were really happy to be here.. the sign...

Bunun Tribe village
the aboriginal country side.. most of everything is grown here..really...

Mataian Wetlands Panaromic View
Wooden planks pave the way to get close to the flora and fauna of the...

A rose by any other name.....

Spinning the web of love
Hairy caterpillar building a cocoon?

This is how u spin a web
The master at work...

Sun kissed Sunflower

Tree on fire
This Flame of the Forest had such a fiery streak...unbelievable summer...

crimson wonder
Look at the blooms.. literally stuffed with a flurry of intense reds...

jam packed with fire power
could not resist a second shot..

Carps
gapping mouths.. what visit to a chinese city would be complete without a...

Small Yeh Liu
I never had the chance to visit YehLiu of Taiwan.. with its interesting rock...

Jagged area
I was told it's much smaller than Yeh Liu but the rock formations...

Class in session
Looks like a teacher in Princess Leia buns conducting a class to a bunch of...

Giant Peanut rock?

Mushroom Rock?
or anvil?

The locals at small Yeh Liu

Blue yehLiu
Constant Pounding waves help shape those interesting rock formations

ChihShang Rice Box
Next stop.. chihsang.. famous for its rice box and fabulous rice.. what u see...

Mmmmm
i think my friend's facial expression says it all.. it's as...

Cycling through the fields
Ah.. this is the life.. nothing is better than a leisurely ride through the...

Hyacinth Galore
this purple field of hyacinths chocking the river was an exciting find...

zillions of purple blooms
No wonder some countries hate this plant.. nothing else survives with...

bed of hyacinths
The flowers seem to pour out from the river mouth...

Rice Fields
Golden green fields

Grains of life
staple food of the east.. they look good enough to eat just like that..wish i...

Golden Shower
looks like harvesting season is not too far away

Huffing and puffing
Hot summer day and cycling outdoors? are you crazy???

Parting Shot

Taiwan's best export
pretty girls.... Taiwan has some of the most beautiful women in the region if...

ATI girls

Fairies

Intel Girls
hey ladies.. look over here!!

Intel girls2
yeah. that's right.. give me a big smile...

Kingston Girls

Queen Nefertiti's profile
The actual yeh liu visited in 2007

Coast of Keelung

Rock Erosion

Colorful Stones

Someone famous? Didn't read the inscription

Splash

Still waters

Smooth

Silky

Waves

Wave rocks

Pounding waves

Flow

Wet Taipei 2007

article published 6/15/2005

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Looks like a great place to visit.....very green and soothing......I love all the flower shots......isn't God amazing......Keep the great work flowing......I truly enjoyed every bit of it like any other previous artwork of your....It's the next best thing to be there myself.....How's our Secondary School fren YS & JS doin?....still keep in touch?
— KS Phan, June 21, 2005

everytime i visit twn have no time to go for east side of the country. really looking for it.
— The Explorers, June 17, 2005

Yep, it does indeed sell!
That was a nice touch to end the collection of photos and -- yes -- you've convinced me that it was just an experiment. As always, I enjoy your photos (particularly the food and the flowers) and your adventures, Jon, and I'm glad to see more of them -- I was wondering where you had gone. Cheers!
— Fred Perry, June 15, 2005

Thanks
I was trying out an experiment.. to see if sex sells? if adding pics of pretty girls will elicit more comments :-) Rainy: did not check the buffalos' sex either.. the hyacinths were a surprise find for us.. SooRyun: no.. did not touch the yam rice.. i think i am still allergic.... my fren had an allergic reaction after eating that rice..
— Jon J. Tan, June 15, 2005

Jon,great photos..half of it are now in my collections. did u take that yam rice??..will forward this collection to 'Yellow Lion'..SooRyun
— SooRyun Cheah, June 15, 2005

wow... ur skill really improve a lot
— leng lui, June 15, 2005

Jon - these pix are great, as usual.... another reminder that Taiwan should be on my list of places to visit... ;o) The "Rift Valley" conjures up images of Africa where there is another famous Rift Valley.... My fav shot was the Buffalo "couple".. she with the red hat ;o) oops, I never checked closely, maybe they were both hes or both shes LOL. Also loved the wet red rose, the class in session & peanut formations, they are awesome.... I have seen many hyacinths before, but not in bloom like this.. it's hard to hate something so beautiful..
— Lorraine Brecht, June 15, 2005

beautiful countryside and people. wow wow... hyacinth ! cool!
— Gwen, June 15, 2005

Wow, great photos. Wow..lovely girls.
— Dawnblazer, June 15, 2005

Perhaps the chinese name is more familiar? 花東縱谷.... it's a long stretch from Hualien County right up to TaiTung County..
— Jon J. Tan, June 15, 2005

Hey, beautiful photos and beautiful girls:) Haven't heard of East Rift Valley, looks like I have missed this place! .....Ping Chuin
— Ooi Ping Chuin, June 15, 2005