Sunday, September 9, 2007

Museum MADNESS

Ok, not really. But I did visit two historical houses this past weekend.

One Museum, which was about a 15 minute walk from my apartment, was the historical seat of the Yilan County government. It was a recently restored Japanese-style house and was positively beautiful inside. The teak wood (a local crop that's been exploited for years, especially during Japanese occupation) smelled wonderful! It had a mix of historically accurate living spaces and exhibition space with a timeline of the government and culture in Yilan County. And I taught the friend I was with the word “restoration.”

...which she then used during our outing the next day to the historical center of the lumber trade in Luodong (the city I had been living in until this month). The most remarkable thing about the site was the large, perfectly still artificial lake on which the lumber used to be floated. Since it's not used for lumber any more, it's become a protected bird habitat. And it was a perfect mirror of the evening sky when we stopped by.

I also visited a great scenic lookout (with a very romantic cafe on top of it).

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