Lukang: Preserved red and brown
Last week I moved to the last community in Lukang, Changhua.
I was told, I will like this township because of its preserved historical construction and authentic feeling. Well, I see what they meant.
Despite my not very huge interest in historical buildings ( that brings me back to the second sentence and to those who said I will like this city), I find this place adorable. The first picture I had in my mind when I came to Taiwan was a place full of lanterns and older brick or wooden houses. And surprisingly I have just found it here. A reason will be soon explained. Every second house is over 100 years old built of bricks and inside, inside there are usually high ceilings made with pine beams. The old type house used to have front room for business and back for the living. Also, I could notice those houses have still tunnel which served for families to hide in the war between Japanese and China.
Lukang used to be a port city. The main import was a wood ware from China. So Lukang ancestors used it as an important material for building their houses. That's how you can differ old house from new one. The other things what differ Lukang from other cities I have visited are super ultra narrow aisles. I mean, are you slightly chubby? You have no chance, sorry.
Also, this town used to be a second largest city in Taiwan, after Tainan (which used to be a capital in the 19th century). But since the city refused to allow railroads to pass through the city led to losses in trade in commerce and also in population and modernization. Lukang preserved as it was in its heyday. So this is why it's quite hard to find original Taiwanese houses in Taiwan.
And there is additional thing what makes this town even more historical and beautiful. Temples over 200 hundreds years old. Oh.
And I need to say in the first week I already found my favorite places. Book and record shop. I will tell more about them later. I work for the community called Molly (Jasmine in English). The moment we stepped on the lawn I knew I am going to be alright here. A cozy wooden brick place with 2 months old kitty Momo and friendly and quiet atmosphere. Molly's owner hobby and passion are to maintain and recover old buildings (which can now be easily tear down If there's nobody to take care of it) adhering to the old style of construction and reuse them for another purpose. Molly's purpose is to provide the local tours for tourists.
When it comes to traveling, I am "no tour guide needed" person. But this is a different story, once you find yourself in a place where the only thing you can say is Shiao latte and Xie Xie with a desire to know more about the history, you obviously need a guide. But I could write about pros and cons being a foreigner in Taiwan and can't speak Chinese separated article. Actually, that's what I am going to do. That's the thing what is a quite new discovery for me.
