The Tropic Of Cancer, Taiwan

One of the frustrating features of blogging is the location of the posts.  Each post comes after the previous post until many are buried and begin collecting cyber dust.

For instance, this post is the 12th and last publishing of a series done with the photos taken by Tom Jones in 1957-58. 

After receiving Tom's permission, I picked groups of his pictures and tried to tie them together.

All of the photos not wanted were left to others, including Kent Mathieu of taipeiairstation.blogspot.com who comprised a solid journey Tom took through Matsu.

So, thank you, Tom,  for all of the wonderful pictures. If any of you would like to see the previous 11, or any other post,  just click "Older Posts" at the bottom of each page.

Our last posting in this series is about the Tropic of Cancer, an imaginary line, which passes through Taiwan.

Kent Mathieu and friends have been to the monument in Hualien County. To read Kent's post, click HERE.

With a flat world, the Tropic of Cancer location is indicated by the red line.

As it passes through Taiwan in a couple of locations, tourist attractions have been erected. About the lower 1/3 of Taiwan is considered to be tropical.

In the United States, the line passes through the Bermudas, but doesn't touch Florida. So, Miami is just a few miles north and is actually not considered officially tropical.

Cuba is just south of the line in the Florida Straits. So, Havana is considered to be in the tropics.

Out in the Pacific, the line comes close to Necker Island, northwest of Honolulu by over 400 miles. That puts the state of Hawaii firmly into the tropics.

South of the Tropic of Cancer is the Equator. South of the Equator is the corresponding area of the tropics in the southern hemisphere called the Tropic of Capricorn.

As indicated, the Tropic of Cancer coordinates put it out in the middle of some field, just as it was in 1958.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Here is a picture of the Chiayi City square. The picture of President Chiang is clearly visible. As with the case of other villages, this area is now heavily populated.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

So, in 1958, Tom walked outside Chiayi City and took this picture. Later, the monument was moved when a railroad was built, but it is still in a township in Chiayi County.

Photo by Bernard Gagnon

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

This plaque at the base of a monument gives the coordinates for the original monument which appear to be different to those used at the beginning of this post.

The Tropic of Cancer actually shifts positions as the years  pass. These other monuments add to the park's attractions.

What looks somewhat like a flying saucer is a very new addition to the Chiayi Monument Park. It attracts tourists and students.

This Tropic of Cancer monument is part of the Hualien County Park

Map from World Atlas

From top to bottom we have The Arctic Circle, The Tropic of Cancer, The Equator, The Tropic of Capricorn and The Antarctic Circle. These are major measurements for latitudes.

The Prime Meridian splits the world in half at 0 degrees longitude. It passes through Greenwich, England which gives us the world standard as to time.

Zulu time is, therefore, always the time it is in Greenwich, England which also goes by GMT or Greenwich Mean Time.

Not surprisingly, because of the earth's uneven rotation, all lines of longitude and latitude are not always exactly the same.

Two-Way Traffic On A One Lane Road

Blasting through granite and other stone was sometimes a necessary part of initial road construction throughout Taiwan. 

Tom Jones came across a now-famous road called the Suhua Highway (Provincial Highway 9).  It is called by many as the most beautiful highway in Taiwan.

Today it's about 73 miles long (118 km). The Japanese built it and it was open for traffic in 1932. However, not all of it was 2-lane.

The northern part was one lane only and getting from point A to B was tricky. Cars traveled in bunches of 6, and pulled off the road onto areas where they could wave to cars coming the other way.

The entire road was widened in the late 1980s into 1990. Michael Turton has a wonderful article on the highway as it looks today. To read the text and see the photos, click HERE. 




East and south of Keelung is the beginning of Suhua Highway in Suao Township.



Some 73 miles later is the southern terminus in Hualien City.

                                          

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

For many of us who lived in Taiwan in the 1950s and 1960s, the site of men actually constructing and paving roads was not unusual.

This picture was taken in Matsu, but could easily have been in almost any other province of Taiwan.



Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Look to the immediate left of this picture and notice the footpath leading up from the road. Made in Taiwan by Taiwanese



Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

One of Tom's best pictures, the highway, with its single lane, makes its way around the bend.

Our apartment in Yangmingshan had clouds blow by occasionally, but this system seems stationary on this mountain.



Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Look closely and you'll see a car in the distance. This may have been an area to pull off to allow opposing traffic to pass.





Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

This section of the gravel-covered road had a concrete barrier which was unusual.



Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Whatever the sign indicates, let's hope it says " STOP!" With the power lines overhead and a tunnel in the distance, it looks similar to many other pictures.



Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Years later, at approximately the same site with the tunnel, Jeff Wang took this picture of an abandoned section of the old road. Just compare it with the photo above.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

There are some pictures that we take that mean so much more than just a still shot. This young Taiwanese aboriginal woman stands proudly in front of her earthen hut.

Isolated for so many centuries, these people were a reason why the Japanese built the Suhua Highway. To me, she looks very dignified as she pauses from her chores.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

In her native attire, she poses again for another picture. Taken over 50 years ago, don't you wonder what this area looks like now.  It could be in one of many places in Taiwan.

As for the native Taiwanese woman, here in her flip-flops, what became of her and her family..

Photo by Fred Hsu 2009

The Suhua Highway is still prone to mudslides. Heavy winds and rain can saturate most any steep surface with a soft underground.

This happened to us once at Grass Mountain. The main road going to our work station was blocked for a week.

Then And Now Pictures Of Northern Taiwan

Some of Tom Jones' pictures lend themselves to a theme.

This one might be associated with some of Tom's commenters actually finding the approximate spot where he took pictures over 50 years ago.

Along with Cherry Ho, who previously tracked down the Four Roses Bar, we have others who have taken photos recently.

This is the northern coast of Taiwan, heading toward Keelung. 

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

This area is near the Yehliu Cape. Many unusual onshore formations are nearby.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

In 2012, Jeff Wang lined up the cape from the first photo above and took this picture of Yehliu with a temple visible in the distance.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Here is Tom's photo of a simple dirt road which was taken in the 1957-58 time period.
 

                                                                           

Photo courtesy of George Lane

There must be something special about this stretch of highway. George Lane took this picture in 1968.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Here is the same general area today with the road paved and marked.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Either Cherry Ho or Jason Chen or both stacked the previous two pictures together.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

A picture of the northern coastal plain is shown in the distance.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Joseph Wang took this picture which shows the same coastal area as it appears now.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Here is the stacked photo of the two pictures above done by Joseph Wang.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

When Tom took this picture, the power lines stand out prominently.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Cherry Ho found the bottom picture somewhere and made a stacked photo of it with the picture above with all of the communication lines.

Two Old Dutch Forts, Tainan, Taiwan

Near Tainan City, the ruins of two old forts from the Dutch Colonial Era still stand.  They both are now well-known tourist attractions. This was not so in 1958.

Fort Zeelandia was built on a peninsula on the western edge of Tainan for protection from a direct attack by ships moving up to the port, itself.

This was during the time of the Dutch East India Company, a trading enterprise of The Netherlands . The fort took nearly 10 years to build from 1624 to1634.

Fresh water had to be transported to the very island-like peninsula, a problem that became magnified shortly after its construction.

At that time, round shot cannonballs didn't explode, but were used to batter and destroy ships and fixed structures. They were made from solid lead or iron.

For them to explode, the round shot balls were hollowed out and filled with gunpowder. An embedded fuse made for an explosion upon impact. To be technical, these were called artillery shells.

Any pictures not labeled are public domain and we are simply posting them to our blog.

Map courtesy of Larry Barton

Kaohsiung on the southwest coast, Keelung on the north coast and Tainan were major ports of trade at this historical time.

                                                                                   

Print picture courtesy of Taipics.com

With the actual fort at the right of the peninsula, we can get a better notion of the actual isolation of Fort Zeelandia. The flag of The Netherlands is red, white and blue.

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

A scale model of the fort shows not only its height, but also its thickness and complexity. Physically, this made it a virtually impregnable fortress.

                                             

Print courtesy of Taipics.com

A naval assault, using round shot cannon balls, was easily absorbed. The Chinese invaders then began a siege, knowing that time was on their side when it came to supplies..

For 9 months in 1661 to 1662, the Chinese attacked almost constantly, but the lack of water and mounting deaths led to the eventual surrender.

An analogy would be the Siege of Vicksburg during our own Civil War.



Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

In 1958, this was one of the first sites that Tom and his friends had of Tainan.



Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

A circus happened to be in town during Tom's assignment in Tainan. It doesn't appear to be permanent.



Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Finally, this beautiful park with a large lake was worth a picture by Tom.



Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Getting back to Ft. Zeelandia, a huge wall surrounding it can easily be seen at the left. At the right side of this picture can be seen a Japanese pillbox.

These pillboxes were used to protect soldiers inside who then could fight approaching enemies. Could this be from WWII?

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Inside the fort, these 3 cannons make for a great tourist attraction.

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

Sure enough, here are the 3 cannons from another angle

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

As we can see, this section of the fort was well preserved in 1958.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Having said how well it was preserved, this picture indicates that the fort was not yet a great tourist attraction.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Tom indicated that this was a memorial to the Dutch who occupied Taiwan for 38 years, beginning in 1624 and ending in 1662.

The Dutch were allowed to keep personal provisions and leave, but this was, essentially,  the end of any attempt to establish a permanent trading area in Taiwan





The thickness of parts of Fort Zeelandia and its elevation are shown here. Many of the surrounding walls of the original fort still stand.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

Looking from the side, this was what Tom saw of Fort Zeelandia in 1958.

The photo below is current.

                                    

                                  



Photo by Benjiho, the license holder

This is an official entrance today of the old Fort Zeelandia, now called Fort Anping.

A wall surrounds much of old Fort Zeelandia.

Photo courtesy of Tom Jones

This is the base of Fort Provintia, the other fort, located east of Fort Zeelandia toward the center of Tainan City.

It appears similar to the other fort in its materials used for construction.

East of Fort Anping, stand the remains of Chihkan Tower. This monument on the grounds of the old Fort Provincia depicts the Dutch surrender to China in 1662.

Taken from its opposite side, the surrender monument gives more of an idea of the size of the entire attraction now called Chihkan Tower.

Today,  this is what remains of Fort Provincia. It is now another beautiful tourist attraction in Tainan with an inviting entrance.

As is the case with many of Taiwan's formerly isolated structures, the old Fort Provintia takes up a block in downtown Tainan.