This past weekend, I went with my aunt on her company vacation. Every year, Taiwanese employers give the company a certain sum of money that the company must use on their employees. Most companies use the money for company vacation in which most or all of the expenses of the employees are already paid for. My aunt’s company decided to go to 溪頭 [xi tou]. We left early Saturday morning and took a small rented tour bus down. There was karaoke and movies on the bus. I was surprised because we watched Thor. That movie recently just came out in Taiwan so I didn’t think it would be out so soon. I think the tour guide PPS-ed it. Hahahahahaha!

We stopped by 紫南宮 on the way to 溪頭. It’s a temple that’s famous for bringing wealth to the people who go there. Those who go can borrow money, around 600 NT (around $18-ish), from the 土地公 to invest in some kind of money making business or investment. When a profit is made with that money, borrowers will repay the sum along with a little offering. Generally, the rule is whether you make a profit or not, you should repay the money within a year. When my aunt’s co-worker went to borrow some money though, she found out that she didn’t repay her debt from about 10 years ago. So she had to repay that debt before taking out another loan.  While we were there, we saw a man who would take sticks and knives and beat himself, drawing blood out. Where his blood fell on the ground, people would spread paper money which would later be burned. I forget what you call the people who do this but basically, they believe that while they’re doing this, they aren’t completely themselves, there’s a spirit or someone else that’s within them so when they get beaten and cut, they aren’t really hurting themselves. It was a little hard to understand but it was something like that.

The place where you can borrow money from the 土地公

After the temple, we visited the 5 Star Restrooms of the area. The building was built to look like bamboo shoots because the area is famous for the bamboo and sweet potatoes. I didn’t think there was anything particularly special about the bathroom besides the architecture and design of the building…and that it was cleaner than most restrooms in Taiwan.

Later that day we went to 竹山天梯. We had to climb a million stairs and climb a billion hills to finally get to the 天梯 which was basically a suspended bridge. It started to rain when we were halfway to the bridge. Though very uncomfortable, the whole trip was an adventure and I like adventures. The view was also a sight to behold. I was unable to capture the beauty of it all on camera but these things are usually best experienced in person anyways. I almost died on the bridge though. It was amazingly slippery on the bridge so I almost fell twice. I’m surprised people were still allowed to go out with such bad weather but I’m glad I did.

That night we stayed at 米提大飯店, a 5 star hotel in Taiwan. The moment we pulled up in front of it, it felt so familiar to me though I was sure that I never stayed there before. It looked a lot like the hotel in a drama I recently watched called “幸福最晴天.” I wasn’t sure the whole time I stayed there even though the feeling kept getting stronger and stronger. I finally confirmed it when I came home Sunday and checked online. So if you ever watch the drama, well, I was there. 🙂

Location: Xitou, Taiwan