Shitousan - Lion's Head Mountain

Started the morning with an early phone call from US - I guess "Bedside mode" on my BlackBerry does NOT mean the ringer is off.. Since I'm up, might as well get up. First stop - the concierge desk. I asked them about going to Shitousan. What they said followed what my Lonely Planet book says: take bus to Jhudong, then a different bus to Shitousan. The Shitousan bus is not very often (4 times a day) and he got the schedule for me (I tried to go to the website myself, but it was only in Chinese). I ate breakfast quickly and then waited for the bus - fortunately, the bus to Jhudong passes in front of the hotel. I had to stop 2 buses that says "Zhu Zhong" before getting to the correct one (NO bus numbers make it really hard to figure out the bus system here). I got off at Jhudong where MOST of the people on the bus got out - but I have NO idea where I was suppose to catch the other bus - I only have about 10 mins to figure it out. I randomly asked a girl that was passing by. Fortunately she spoke a little English and walked me to the bus station (just one stop before the one I got off at).
Right on time, the bus left the station. The bus driver wasn't very friendly but an old woman knew what I was trying to say and said it to him. Bus ride took about 40 mins. EVERYONE left the bus one stop before mine. Eventhough it's Saturday, I guess no one goes to this park??? Or at least not using public bus :)
I went to the visitor center where they greeted me in Chinese (like everyone else so far). At least I know the phrase "I don't understand Chinese" - which I utter multiple times in a day. She gave me an English map and called on another person that barely speaks English. She told me where to go and I insisted that I wanted a circular route instead of to and fro and she was surprised. Kinda laughed at me and told me good luck. I went to an off-site cave temple nearby first. The stone steps going down is covered by moss and pretty slipery - all I can think about is how this would create a lawsuit opportunity in US.
I started walking and it was all uphill. I'm definitely out of shape! First temple is Wanfo, which is a welcome relief so that I could pretend on taking pictures instead of walking uphill. This uphill continues forever. Walking through trees with beetles chirping and the occasional birds too. Occasionally there's a break in the trees where you can look out but it's very hazy. Wind blows occasionally which brings a welcomed relief from the slightly humid weather. There are a bunch of different caves temples, pavillions along the route - I think I visited them all although none very impressive. One in particular seems brand new and looks so austere - unwelcoming concrete. I reached the peak where Wangyue Pavillion is - there's also a stone block marking the Hsinchu-Miaoli county borderline. I started up the side trail to the weather station 700 meters away, but turned back halfway when I realized no one goes on this trail and it's not maintained very well. There were some sketchy slippery sections where I could've fallen off 10s of feet down. Maybe wearing my Chaco sandals today wasn't such a good idea afterall.
It's pretty much downhill from here. I finally reached the other side of the mountain where the most famous temple lies - Cyanhua Temple. It's definitely the biggest and nicest looking one. Very ornate roof that seems new. This side of the mountain is where the big parking lot where the tour buses go. I considered having lunch here, but there's no English and I didn't know what to order. I started going back through a side trail to see Kaishan Temple. This trail eventually meets with the first trail I was on. About a mile on the same trail, it branches off to a different trail that pass by Cising Sacred tree - basically a big tree or 7 trees together making one big one. Nothing too interesting on this trail, although I could see the river along side it once in awhile. I hurried down so I won't miss the 2:45 bus because the next one after it is 5:35. The bus came on time. The bus driver is a cheerful old man that tried his mightest to converse with me. It's kinda funny how people would repeat what they're saying louder in the same language even when I said I didn't understand. But my few Chinese lessons helped a little. He asked where I was from and whether I was traveling alone. He bought some oranges from the vendor for WAY cheaper than the sign posted says. The sign says 10 for NT$100. He got about 30-40 oranges for the same price. He insisted that I took 2. I decided to stop by the town Beipu on the way back. The middle of Beipu is crowded with people going to the market. Food is everywhere, which was my main reason why I wanted to stop by here. I saw a long line and decided to try this gooey thing filled with mushroom. It's pretty tasty but has too much MSG to be enjoyable. I also tried ban ciao, which is the wide noodle famous in this Hakka food area. And finally, I tried their lei cha (literary "tired tea") where they pounded tea, nuts, etc and brew it. It's kinda tasty, especially the cold kind. After the food tasting, I took a bus back to Jhudong. When I entered the bus station office, the old bus driver was there and start telling everyone how he met me before and that I'm from US. I was directed to the correct line for the bus back to Hsinchu and I managed to get off at the correct stop. The GPS function on my BlackBerry seems very useful so far. I was so tired that I just took a nice long shower and went to bed.