Bandoh, Let's Folk Rock!: A Weekend in Pintung

This weekend, the cohort took our first overnight trip outside of Kaohsiung, traversing the coastline to a small town in South Taiwan called Checheng (車城). The purpose? A five-day folk-rock concert which calls Checheng home! 

As soon as we stepped foot into the quaint city, I was struck by the still, calm sounds of the ocean. Having not left Kaohsiung for the past 5 weeks, the faint drone of car honks and city life had become expected background noise. We were quickly escorted into the town’s cultural center right as a duo of musicians began performing a series of traditional Taiwanese songs for a hoard of onlookers. The instruments at the epicenter of their performance are Yueqin (台灣月琴), a popular folk instrument similar to a guitar. However, unlike a guitar, the yueqins only have two strings. What I found most fascinating is the way that the festival’s artists incorporated modern, rock tunes with the traditional folk instruments. Artists from Nini and Sauljaljui to Japanese folk-artist Noriko Tadano combined upbeat, rock tunes with traditional melodies, something I’ve never seen before on stage! 

After an afternoon at the Cultural Center, listening to both traditional Taiwanese and Italian artists, the cohort walked into town along the old city wall. Wrapping around the city, we walked along the walls until it became so dark we couldn’t see where the edges of the wall ended and and drop off began. The evening ended with more live music and dancing!

The next morning, we woke up early to drive along the coastline as Taiwan was waking up. Our next adventure was a semi-submarine trip through a coral reef. After the waves died down, we were able to climb into the boat’s interior, where two rows of chairs lined the glass walls surrounding us. At first, there were only faint corals and a few small fish, but the farther out we went, the bigger the corals became. The trip ultimately culminated in a sea turtle spotting!

Afterwards, our second outing of the day was to a local Deer and Capybara farm. I was completely unprepared for how giddy the dear would be surrounded by people, but as soon as we stepped into the enclosure, their eyes and ears shot up! I only entered with a small bucket full of lettuce, but I humorously watched as some of my friends were chased around by 10+ happy deer at their heels. While the capybara were significantly calmer, they also enjoyed the company of the cohort. 

In a split second decision after leaving the farm, a part of the cohort took a 5 minute Uber ride down to the South Bay. We managed to arrive just as the sun was setting, and the beach lit up in shades of red, orange, yellow, blue, and pink, in one of the most radiant sunsets I’ve ever witnessed. Taking this trip out of the urban concrete jungle opened my eyes to just how breathtaking Taiwan’s natural landscape is, especially the coastline where rolling mountains overlap with the sprawling oceanside. As a note to myself, I truly hope this is the first of many trips into Taiwan’s countryside. 

Sincerely,

Zara