21 October 2006: Neiwan and Beipu

Francoise, Jasmine and I went for an excursion to Neiwan（内湾）and Beipu（北埔）organized by the International Student's Office of the National Taiwan University. The objective of this excursion is to allow foreign students like us to experience the Hakka culture in Taiwan. Both places are populated by many Hakkas, and much traditional crafts and food can be found there.

In Neiwan, we ate rice dumplings that were not oily at all! I was very surprised at this, because I had thought that rice dumplings can shorten our lifespans tremendously. Later, we were told that the entire process of packing and steaming them involves only water.

We had lunch at a restaurant that screens old films in a dining environment. The restaurant was a theatre house before its overhaul, and we watched this 70s' movie that shows the cast clowning around in old-style humour. Rather fresh for modern people like us.

In the afternoon, we headed for Beipu and for once after watching some episodes of 周日八点党 back in Singapore, I had a taste of making my own 擂茶 and drinking it with my fellow companions. Frankly speaking, I was not very used to the taste and most certainly, I did not like the idea of going through so much work before settling for some good brew. Not my style of afternoon tea, pounding and smashing tea leaves, peanuts, and some spices to a powdery gruel and then pouring warm water to it, an entire process that takes a probable 40 minutes or so. Nonetheless, I was still very happy to have undertaken the tea making process! I shall elaborate on Beipu in a later post.

Finally, we arrived at a persimmon farm at dusk. I had never eaten a persimmon prior to this, and after tasting some samples of it I doubt I will ever like it. No offence to anyone; just my personal preference. Anyway, we saw how persimmon dried foods are processed and produced, and had received some free products from the farm operators.


The day had been long but fun. Need to thank the dedicated Taiwanese volunteer helpers for this!