We headed to Nantou, in the county of Nantou, the second largest county in Taiwan. On the main drag, vendors line the street.
These carnivorous plants were interesting.
And so was this wasp nest. The wasps were long gone, however.
There are little private temples all over Taiwan, and this one was next to some kind of repair shop.
One vendor was selling miniature plants.
This is what we came to see – the famous Paper Dome.
What? That’s not paper!
We walked around to the rear to see the paper structure.
These columns and seats are made of paper.
But I cried “foul!” when I saw the chip-board ceiling.
The rear sides and entire back are opened up. The outer building protects the paper structure from the elements, obviously.
This is a wider view.
Behind the Paper Dome is some interesting works of art.
The dome itself is not paper, but plastic sheeting.
This sheeting gets pretty hot, so it’s cooled with spraying water.
I thought this Japanese looking bell looked interesting, so I took a shot of it right after someone rang it.
Next to the building is a lily pond.
With lots of little fish.
Speaking of fish, this heron caught a nice one in the river beside the Paper Dome.
After we had enough of the Paper Dome, we walked back to the car to head toward our next destination. Before we go there, let me just say that had I known just what the Paper Dome really was, I probably wouldn’t have gone to see it.
Stacks of Taiwan Beer crates, full of empty bottles, can only mean one thing: we’re at the TTL Brewery in Nantou.
There are huge vats basically right out in the open.
We went inside the main building and found it to be a madhouse of vendors selling all sorts of things.
I don’t know why, but flavored eggs are a big deal in Taiwan. There was no shortage of them here.
Hui-chen wanted to take a tour of the place, so we went upstairs and took a look.
This is the beginning of what turned out to be the shortest tour I’ve been on.
That’s right – a liquor urn tunnel. Don’t ask me – I have no idea.
Before we hit the tunnel, there were several examples of classic liquor urns designs from the past.
Then we entered the Liquor Urn Tunnel.
Looking back from the end.
Around the corner are some examples of ingredients used in the factory to make the various liquors and beers.
This old-fashioned liquor cart was cool.
This is the Liquor Urn Tunnel from the outside. The urns are held in place by pipes.
One last look….
“The House Of Drunk Experiencing” is supposed to give people a feeling of being drunk, by having them walk on a tilted surface. I didn’t try it to see how authentic it felt, though.
The above 2 shots are of deceptions of old style liquor urns used in the past.
HC wanted to by some wine for cooking purposes.
After the tour, we took a look at this listing of all the local spas and HC pointed out her selection for our next spa.
Photos by MJ Klein
Former field engineer MJ Klein now lives in Taiwan, and writes articles that primarily feature photographs of travels of MJ and wife Hui-chen, plus daily goings on in the bustling island nation of Taiwan, and other places in Asia. Articles feature people, culture, food, situations and sometimes the trials and tribulations of traveling in places such as China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Laos and of course Taiwan.
