Zoo Signs

This is another posting about signs. The photos of the signs were taken during a visit in the Taipei Zoo, situated in the district of 木栅 (Mù zhà), at the southeastern outskirts of Taipei. It is hence also commonly referred to as "Muzha Zoo" (木柵動物園). The zoo encompasses over 160 hectares and is famous for its modern way of keeping the animals in spacious enclosures. Amongst many others, it has a Formosa Animal Area displaying animals endemic to Taiwan.
The generously designed park offers a nice opportunity to watch all the different animals during an extended walk .... and on week-ends crowds of Taipei families with their little children - again a special sight seeing opportunity! ;-)

But before showing you the signs, I want to share this photo of perfect relaxation with you:


Dangers in the zoo are manifold: ferocious panthers with sharp teeth, unwanted showers by elephants,...













... greedy hairy hands ...

...or unpleasant droppings from above!


Our picture riddle for this time: to which animal does this belong?

A Snake in Hell Valley

Micha's parents came for a visit to Taipei - our first visitors!!! So we tried to organize an interesting and diversified program for them, to spend as much time as possible together and to squeeze our work's duties in between... Not always an easy job, but we managed quite well and our parents enjoyed their stay very much!


One agenda highlight was a stay in one of Beitou's hot spring resorts (- thanks to all friends from the Basel Geology Department for their wonderful gift voucher!). Beitou is just in the northern periphery of Taipei in the foothills of the volcanic area of Yangmingshan.

The spring area in the center of Beitou is called Hell Valley, and indeed, the billowing clouds of sulphurous clouds and mists inspired one's mind to imagine that this could be the entrance to the nether world.


But before we relaxed in the hot water, we climbed Mt. Zhongzheng.
On the way up, we met an exceedingly nice Taiwanese couple who insisted on offering us part of their lunch packages: sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves! Yummieh!


We next encountered the Beauty of Taiwan. This unfortunately is not "Miss Taiwan", but an about 2 m long, thick, attractively patterned, tree-climbing snake. Only later we found out that it is not poisonous. Had we known this plus that the snake is famous for its delicious meet, archaic hunting spirits would probably have risen in the male participants of our hiking squad...


It is the season of the cherry blossoms, so here and there, pink specks of blooming cherry trees embellish the countryside.


The rhododendron bushes are fully flowering at the moment, too, and do not only beautify nature:


After coming back to the hotel, we relaxed our tired limbs in fantastic hot water whirl pools and bubble baths... hmm... and had a delightful Japanese dinner!

復活節 - Fù huó jié - Happy Easter

Wonderful Colleagues

My birthday was some days ago. (Again, one year older and now striking the 30ies... Ouch!)
The incident, which prevented me from falling into sinister reflexions about what little I achieved in my life so far and why my hair is turning gray so rapidly now..., were my wonderful colleagues here in the office! They organized a surprise coffee (and tea - of course!) break, so here are some pictures of the yummie cake and of some happy faces enjoying it! Thanks guys, you saved my day!

The Perfect Taipei Biking Style

By now, we also practice the perfect Taipei Biking Style, where the man pedals and the woman stands in the back giving the right directions. ... But to be honest, it's not really comfortable to stand on these small handles on the back wheel. Micha's answer to Kamil's question about the comfort in the back (after another calf-killing, sole-of-foot-torturing ride): "I bin doch ka Hendl! (engl.: Terrible, I'm not a chicken!)"

陽明山 Yang Ming Shan

We started to dedicate our week-ends to exploring the greater area of Taipei - besides waging a never-ending fight against the dust in our flat... living in a big town has definitely some draw-backs, too. Therefore, we happily accepted the offer of Urs, our Swiss friend in Taipei, to join him for a hike in the north of the city in the Yang Ming Shan National Park (陽明山, yang2 ming2 shan1).


The area was named in honor of the Ming Dynasty philosopher Wang2 Yang2ming2 (王陽明). It offers many interesting attractions for hikers and, yes! also for geologists.

So we did never walk alone....


The tallest peak, (which we hiked, of course!) Seven Star Mountain (七星山, 1,120 m) is an extinct volcano!!!

On a clear day, one could see Taipei City from the top of the mountain.


The area is still "hot" as many hot springs and sulfur fumaroles testify.


The area obviously still is an igneous place ... or what is this sign's intention? ... Don't stand in the fire? Devils not allowed? ...


On the one hand, the hydrothermal activities led to the erection of highly scientific warning signs...



...on the other hand, they inspired the staff to write philosophic admirations about acidic clouds (a reverence to Mr Wang!?).


Nevertheless, the local people have a much more relaxed and profane attitude towards these phemomena, and utilize the boiling ponds to cook their lunch eggs.

Tea and Temple

The area of Muzha and Maokong in the South of Taipei are famous for the tea gardens, the temples and the Maokong Gondola. The latter transported of 3 Million visitors since its opening about 7 months ago ! We decided to contribute to this vast amount of visitors. (We were joking that this was also an act of compensation - if we have no opportunity to go skiing, at least we can enjoy a ride in a gondola...)

After enjoying a pleasant gondola-ride over green deep jungle, we visited the Zhi-Nan Temple.

This temple is a superbe proof that peaceful interreligiosity is possible. Gods and goddesses of Buddhism and Daoism are worshipped in the very same hall.


Kamil found a cat made of solid granite.


After these spiritual impressions, we turned to more profane matters - the tea gardens. The tea bushes grow in neat little rows.


At the Taipei City Tea Promotion Center, we learned about growing and making tea. It needs some imagination and fantasy, but eventually you can understand the various steps in producing tea.










After all this intellectual challenges, we granted us a cup of tea, appreciating what we just learned.

After a several cups of tea, Kamil started to feel very Chinese:


We ended our little excursion waiting in line for 45 minutes to go down again with the gondola... But the people here are very disciplined and waiting is not such a hassle. And nobody pokes you with his ski pole! (Always look on the bright side, eh?!)

Monkey Mountain 猴山岳

Last week-end we escaped the big city and went hiking in the hills south of Taipei. The mountains we hiked were Monkey Mountain (猴山 岳) and Er-Ge Mountain ( 二 格山) . The first one deserved its name - you have to be a monkey to climb it!


Nonetheless, the outlook from Er-Ge Mountain was rewarding, although a bit hazy.

The trails are marked with plastic bands in different colors and with chinese signs. Thus, we did not get lost in the dense and green jungle. For us geologists it was a bitter realization that in these forests, there is no way to walk but on existing paths. The vegetation is incredibly dense covering everything - regardless how steep the slopes and cliffs are. Moss, lichens, grass, bushes and trees will form a dense curtain over every rock surface. In Taiwan, fieldwork is thus restricted to roadsections and rivers.

And beware, in this jungle, the unexpected is waiting for you!

Don't worry, it's not a giant jungle-squid, but a branch of a tree fern.