Taiwan Day 9 - Sail Rock, Eluanbi Lighthouse, Long Pan Park, Rainbow Village

23 Nov - For today, we will focus on exploring Kenting before we embark on our return trip to Taichung. First destination of the day was recommended by our friendly driver which was an iconic rock formation resembling a human face - Sail Rock.

船帆石 (Rock formation resembling a human face)

For anyone visiting Kenting, they will be sure to stop by the iconic white lighthouse - Eluanbi Lighthouse for some photo sessions. Likewise, we follow the trend. =)

鵝鑾鼻燈塔

Since we are at the most southern part of Taiwan, we might as well visit the most southern tip of the island possible.

臺灣最南點碑

Next location brings us to Long Pan Park, where we had an unforgettable experience battling gale force wind. Trust me, standing still is extremely difficult.

龍磐公園

For our last destination, we visited the Rainbow village in Taichung. The story of “Rainbow Village” (彩虹眷村) and its famous creator Mr. Huang Yong-Fu (黃永阜) has become quite well known throughout the country and is a fitting example of how a protest done right can be really effective. Mr. Huang is a military veteran who was born in Hong Kong and fought against the communists in the ROC army. After living in Taiwan for more than 60 years, the city government in Taichung decided it was time for the village he lived in to be torn down. Mr. Huang who people now refer to as the “Rainbow Grandfather” (彩虹爺爺) came up with a way to protest that was quite unique and also gave him something to do to pass his time. Rather than fighting the government - he started to paint. As a self-taught artist, he painted colorful murals all over his home, as well as the gates around it and the walkways. He used very bright colors and painted very random and imaginative figures including plants, animals, monsters, celebrities and traditional cultural heroes. The village that Mr. Huang lives in is next to Ling-Tung University (嶺東科技大學) and when students from the university noticed what he was doing they took pictures of his progress and spread them around online which quickly went viral. The “Rainbow Village” soon became a tourist destination as people from all over started to visit while he was still busy painting. The tourists offered donations and supported the by-then almost 90 year old artist. His peaceful protest fortunately gained enough sympathy from around the country that the email inbox of the mayor of Taichung quickly became so full of complaints that plans to demolish his village were quickly shelved.

彩虹眷村 (Rainbow Village)