Trip to Hualien Part II: Blue ~ 花蓮之旅: 藍

Part II of my series on my trip to Hualien County. These photos were taken at 石梯坪 (Shihtiping), a popular travel destination right by the Pacific Ocean; it is also a National Scenery Location. There is a small fishing harbor located nearby. When I visited 石梯坪 on this particular day in late July, rain was in the air and the result was a glorious array of beautiful blues displayed in the sky, clouds, sea, and horizon.

Taipei 101 Night Shots ~ 臺北101夜景

This small collection of shots was taken from a vantage point atop Elephant Mountain (象山), one of the Four Beasts Mountains (四獸山) in the Xinyi District of Taipei City (信義區). Tiger Mountain．Leopard Mountain．Lion Mountain．Elephant Mountain．(虎山．豹山．獅山．象山) comprise the Four Beasts Mountains. It was a short but steep climb to the 400-m summit. The mountains are regarded as the "spirit beast" guardians of the city. I took these pictures using a 24-70 mm lens on my D70 camera, which was then set up on a tripod. The subject of these pictures is the Taipei 101, the former tallest building in the world (now the Burj Khalifa in Dubai)and the landmark of Taipei. It was designed to look like bamboo, which in traditional culture symbolizes life, growth, and learning. The building itself symbolizes many things. For example, its 101 floors symbolize an ideal beyond perfection (since 100 connotes perfection), as well as the "renewal of time", according to Wikipedia, as the Taipei 101 was built at the turn of the century. Moreover, the yellow light at its pinnacle symbolizes a "torch of welcome", and the tower itself displays the seven colors of the spectrum according to the days of the week (Ex. Red on Monday). As I took these pictures on Wednesday (August 8th) the tower glowed with yellow light.

花蓮之旅~ "I know that if odour were visible, as colour is, I'd see the summer garden in rainbow clouds." --Robert Bridges

This collection makes up the second part of my trip to Hualien County last week. It focuses on some of the photos I took that don't quite fit under a theme but do well to highlight the vivid colors and vitality of summer.

Taroko Gorge

Taroko Gorge, located in Taroko National Park (the part I visited is in Hualien County) is a breathtaking natural wonder--a 19-km-long canyon located in eastern Taiwan--and a popular tourist attraction. The beautiful turquoise hue of the water is due to its richness in minerals. The photos in this collection were taken at sites such as the Swallow Grotto (燕子口), famous for the holes in the rockface of the gorge that house swallows' nests, and the Lioufang Bridge (流芳橋). I captured the majority of the shots as I walked along the Shakadang Trail (砂卡礑). Further along the trail, there are a deep pool, a waterfall and other attractions. However, due to the impending rain, we didn't walk on further.