The Southernmost Tip of Taiwan

by Lin Hsin-Chen

The entire February can be seen as the continuation of Chinese New Year in Taiwan. Planning for excursion becomes an important thing for every family. Sometimes it makes me confused about the significance of holidays. Approximately one-third of a year is holiday in Taiwan. I wonder if it’s necessary to have so many days off. I was puzzled about Europeans’ "slow living", but now I understand why people are yearn for it. If we have more holidays, we can slow down our pace to see the beautiful world and ‘digest’ our life experience. However, as a pragmatic person, I don’t like to dream away my time. For holidays, more is not always better!

I took a trip to the southernmost tip of Taiwan in mid-February, a good chance for me to relax, release pressure and see Nature. It’s one of the only national parks of Taiwan that limits the number of visitors, 200 people a day. What a happy policy that allows us to enjoy the beautiful scenery solitary and maybe find sea beans on the beach. Unfortunately, we encountered a fire that burned away the coastal plants in a few hours. It was horrible. Fire and water have no mercy.

The burnt plants make me curious. How fortunate to encounter such a rare learning opportunity. We found that the plants are still alive after being burned. Their roots and stems retain a lot of water, so only the leaves and skin are damaged. It’s hard to imagine that they are costal plant, screw pine. Taking off the beautiful appearance, they show their glorious light of life. Thanks to this special class.

The "Hahn" that deep in the heart might just like those burnt plants. It might only be transient “once”. All things will pass.

p.s. I started to appreciate black color, so I am going to make a black piece for this challenge.