Pingtung in the News 屏東的新聞 (South 南) 7

There are 29 townships, 3 municipalities and one city in Pingtung County.  It's exhausting to include news from every township, municipality and Pingtung City every time, so what I'll do instead is include news items from eleven different townships or municipalities in each entry.  This way I should be able to work my way through Pingtung County every three entries. 屏東縣包含了29個鄉, 3個鎮還有屏東市.  每次討論所有鄉鎮的新聞太累了, 所以我會每次討論11個鄉鎮的報告.  這樣子我每三篇新聞文章就會涵蓋到全縣內鄉鎮的新聞.

1. Linbian Township 林邊鄉

1a. A cool new park was recently opened near the Linbian Train Station.  The play structures in the park incorporate a giant train and wax apples. 屏東林邊特色遊戲場啟用  飛天火車 , 蓮霧森林孩子瘋玩 (1)

2. Jiadong Township 佳冬鄉

2a. An elderly woman from Jiadong wandered from her home and was unable to find her way back.  Police helped return her to her village. 屏東婦外出散步忘了回家的路 , 枋寮警查出身分助返家 (2)

3. Fangliao Township 枋寮鄉

3a. The Pingtung District Prosecutor's Office is investigating a former candidate accused of bribery.  The former candidate, who has since removed himself from the election, reportedly paid another candidate 150,000 NT to withdraw from the election, thus increasing his own chances of success. 屏東枋寮村長候選人搓圓仔湯  15萬元行賄對手棄選10萬交保

3b. A truck flipped over on Highway 1 north of the Pingnan Industrial Area. 枋寮鄉台1線戰備跑曳引車翻車

3c. With China having blocked the import of grouper and other local agricultural products into that country, grouper farmers in Xinlong Village are transitioning into local tourism, with local grouper farms conducting tourist activities. 枋寮石斑魚村轉型休閒觀光  漁民甩開石斑輸陸禁令不快 (3)

4. Chun Rh Township 春日鄉

4a. No recent news out of Chun Rh.

5. Fangshan Township 枋山鄉

5a. Zhou Chun-mi, DPP candidate for Pingtung County Magistrate, expressed her support for Luo Jin-liang, DPP candidate for Fangshan Township Mayor.  Both candidates pledged to join forces to assist local farmers. 枋山鄉聯合競總成立  周春米 : 全力以赴協助農作 , 養殖產業

5b. A temporary worker formerly employed by the Fangshan Township Office recently embezzled over 3 million NT from the township.  He was sentenced to two years in prison. 公所臨時員侵占公款3百餘萬  買車買保險還出國判刑2年 (4)

6. Shrdze Township 獅子鄉

6a. The Shansu Cultural Festival recently brought more tourists to Shrdze Township.  The area's climate and relatively low population make for a very diverse local ecology, and the township mayor is hoping that this biodiversity contributes to continued economic growth in the area. 山蘇文化節帶動獅子鄉觀光熱潮  鄉長周英傑推動文化傳承經濟基礎

7. Checheng Township 車城鄉

7a. Construction began on a new road, County Road 151, from Haikou to the Hengchun Airport through the eastern half of the township.  County Magistrate Pan Meng-an, a native of Checheng, was on hand to inaugurate this construction project. 打通屏東車城151縣道瓶頸  潘孟安向協議價購地主致謝 (5)

7b. Construction also began on a new Checheng Public Hygiene Office. 屏東車城鄉衛生所重建  動土

7c. This article promotes tourist sites in Checheng.  There are plenty of pictures.  I would strongly recommend NOT visiting the Sichongxi Hot Spring Area on a weekend. 2022屏東車城7大景點推應 !  "落山風藝術季" 登場 , "嗨 ! 營業中" 店面在這裡

8. Mudan Township 牡丹鄉

8a. A candidate for Pingtung's Aboriginal Council died recently.  Some were worried that this development would affect the upcoming election, but it was later determined that her death will not make a suspension of the election necessary. 牡丹鄉代候選人高嘉香病逝  屏縣選委會 : 選舉不受影響

8b. A food bank was recently opened in Mudan. 牡丹鄉社區食物銀行啟用  解偏鄉缺物資困境

9. Manzhou Township 滿洲鄉

9a. Local elections in Manzhou will be very close, with candidates likely to win by a handful of votes. 滿洲鄉代4號陳榮華陷入苦戰  懇求援手保最後一席

9b. This article (with video clip) introduces a local singer and musician keeping old songs from Manzhou alive. 國寶 "日貴阿嬤" !  傳唱滿州歌謠 , 傳承鄉土記憶

9c. This article introduces a business making sun-dried noodles in Manzhou.  The noodles they make are very unusual, incorporating ingredients such as dragonfruit and mushrooms. 在滿州 , 遇見彩虹麵飄揚 !  "小農麵攤" 打造100%本土日曬麵 , 紅龍果 , 雨來菇都入麵

10. Hengchun Municipality 恆春鎮

10a. The proprietor of a local mung bean dessert shop passed away recently, and many Hengchun residents lamented this occurrence. 恆春綠豆蒜傳奇阿伯殞落  當地居民哀悼不捨

10b. Residents of Hengchun have been complaining of noise from the local military base.  The army plans on compensating residents of the four villages closest to the base. 國軍演順影響居民  恆春擬申請睦鄰補助 (6)

10c. DPP candidate for Pingtung County Magistrate Zhou Chun-mi recently visited Hengchun's vegetable market on a campaign stop. 周春米 -- 早衝恆春市場  支持者笑說買菜還送 "米"

11. Liuqiu Township 琉球鄉

11a. Ballots for the upcoming election were delivered to Xiaoliuqiu by boat over a two-day period.  There are over 1000 registered voters on the island. 屏東選票昨 , 今運送  琉球選票運抵 (7)

11b. This article promotes the Qingxin Homestay on Xiaoliuqiu.  It has a cute swimming pool. 小琉球清新民宿推薦 , 海風拂面住宿太宜人

11c. Several shirtless men attempted to enter an elementary school on Xiaoliuqiu for the purpose of exercising on the campus, but the principal sent them away.  The men later complained to the Bureau of Education, claiming that their being shirtless had something to do with "sex equality education," but the Bureau came out in support of the school principal. 打赤膊想進校園遭校長勸穿衣  男子竟扯性平教育投訴教育部 (8)

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Pingtung City, Pingtung County 屏東縣屏東市遊記

Pingtung in the News 屏東的新聞 (Central 中) 7

1. Why so little news from Linbian?  Part of the reason is that it's TINY.  It's the smallest township on Taiwan's main island.

2. There was another article about a stabbing incident in Jiadong, but it was on Yahoo News, the link to the video was broken, and there were few details in the article.

3. Not really a new thing.  They've been doing it for at least two years now.

4. Seems to be a higher than average level of corruption in this township.  Linluo, east of Pingtung City, is another problem area.  Both areas are very rural, the average age is high, and both areas rely on agriculture to the exclusion of almost everything else.

5. It's a perplexing development.  The article talks of this new road relieving some kind of "bottleneck" in the area, but I can't figure out how it's going to help.  Tourists will still need to drive down Highway 26 before reaching Haikou, and a wide detour through the farmland east of central Checheng doesn't seem like it would be any faster.  Why not just stop people from parking along the highway through central Checheng?  Wouldn't that be a faster and cheaper solution?

6. I live some distance from this base, but even so I can still hear the training exercises at times.  They must be deafening in those four villages.

7. Won't you be glad when this election is over?

8. This seems to happen relatively often on Xiaoliuqiu.  "Strange guys enter school campus and attempt to do something strange."  There was another recent story about tourists trying to use a school's bathrooms to wash their feet and/or diving equipment.

Food for Them and Food for Us 他們的料理跟我們的料理

Every tourist spot has two kinds of restaurants: the restaurants local people visit and the restaurants for tourists.  This is just as true for Taiwan as it is for other places.  If you live somewhere like Taipei, Taichung or Kaohsiung you won't notice it as much, but in smaller cities and counties it's very obvious. 每個觀光地區都有兩種餐廳 ， 一種是當地人喜歡的，另一種是觀光客喜歡去的 。 臺灣和其他國家沒有兩樣 。  你如果是居住在台北 、台中或高雄那種大城市，你不會明顯的感受到區別 ， 可是在比較小的城鎮裡，這個現象超級明顯。

In Taitung very few local people go to Blue Dragonfly, "Under the Banyan Tree" or Beinan Pig's Blood Soup.  Most local people don't frequent the Gaya Hotel or the Sheraton, or visit the newer, trendier places up the coast.  Sure, once upon a time many local people tried these restaurants, but after a while the novelty wore off, and they stopped going. 在台東，當地人比較不會去藍蜻蜓 、 榕樹下米苔目跟卑南豬血湯。  也不常去潮度假酒店或是桂田的餐廳 ，或是東海岸比較流行的餐廳 。  當然很多當地居民去過這些餐廳 ， 可是那股新鮮勁過了之後， 就不再去了 。

It's the same in Fangliao, where I lived up until last June.  There are a few fancier restaurants in and around central Fangliao, and these restaurants serve tourists to the exclusion of almost everyone else.  There's the A-da Seafood Restaurant, Pi Coconut and Kasuga's Kitchen.  There are most of the places along the highway through Shuidiliao.  Fangliao is still a very rural place, and locals - if they eat out at all - prefer cheaper meals. 我住過的枋寮也一樣 。  枋寮市區有些較高級的餐廳的主要客人是觀光客，  阿達海鮮 、 椰門還有春日廚房 ， 和 台1線在水底寮那一段大部分的餐廳也是  。枋寮是個偏僻的地方 ， 當地人會選擇比較便宜一點的餐廳 。

Since I moved to Hengchun I'm discovering the same thing.  I'll ask coworkers about certain local restaurants, and they'll greet me with blank stares.  "What's that, you say?  What restaurant?  Where?"  Quite often they'll have no idea that a certain restaurant even exists, and discussions of where they eat invariably veer toward tinier places, down alleys near the main road through town. 我搬到恆春之後也發現這個現象。  我問同事當地某些餐廳好不好吃的時候， 他們就會用奇怪的眼神看著我說 : "哪一家 ?  餐廳在哪裡 ?"  他們通常沒注意到那家餐廳的存在 ， 跟他們討論地區餐廳的時候，他們都會提到一些小巷子中的小餐廳，靠近市區或中正路。

Me being the American that I am, I spent a couple months looking for good pizza and burger restaurants in the area.  This was done without any help from those I work with.  It's not that I'm blaming them; they simply didn't know.  Many times I'd visit some Western restaurant  outside of central Hengchun, and after returning to work the following Monday I'd tell them about where I'd been. 從美國來的我花了一、二個月尋找恆春的披薩跟漢堡餐廳 。 我的同事幫不了我， 因為他們根本不在乎那種餐廳 。  好幾個周末我去市區外的西式餐廳後， 在周一跟他們分享那家餐廳的經驗時， 他們每次這麼說 :

"What?" they'd say, "Where's that?" "什麼 ?"  "那家餐廳在哪裡 ?"

...but you know what?  I'm starting to share their lack of interest in the fancier restaurants.  A lot of the tourist-friendly places really are too expensive, and the food they offer really isn't that good.  The service is often terrible, and on weekends you have to make reservations far in advance. 可是你知道嗎 ?  我的想法越來越跟他們一樣， 很多友善觀光客的餐廳真是太貴了 ， 料理也沒有那麼好吃 ， 通常服務很差 ， 周末時也要很早就先訂位 。

Don't get me wrong, I still love pizza and hamburgers, but I'm finding that they're often not worth the effort.  Drive down to Manzhou to get a slightly better pizza, or just order from Domino's?  Wonder if that burger restaurant near my elementary school has a free table, or just go to McDonald's?  More and more I find myself going for the cheaper, easier option, and I'm sure most of those living in this area feel the same way. 不要誤會， 我還是很喜歡披薩跟漢堡 ，  可是我開始覺得它們不值得我花費的心力。  開車到滿州吃好一點點的披薩，或是去達美樂就好 ?  擔心在我國小附近的漢堡餐廳找不到位子，或是去麥當勞 ?  我發覺自己越來越傾向選比較便宜、方便的餐廳 。 我相信大部分的當地居民也是這麼想吧 !

There must be some kind of "happy medium" between the restaurants for tourists and the restaurants for local people.  Sure, people like "fancy," but people also like consistency and affordability.  A fancy place with a view of the ocean will always make money, but I often wonder if the less fancy places aren't actually making more money over time.  When all of the costs of starting a business are calculated in, how much money is that fashionable homestay, restaurant or resort really making over a 10-20 year period, minus monies paid to workers, landlords and suppliers? 應該有餐廳是介於以上二種餐廳之間，並且是當地人喜愛的 。  每個人都喜歡漂亮高級餐廳 ， 可是人們也喜歡固定時間會開門及划算的餐廳。  有海景的高級餐廳會賺錢 ，可是有可能以長時間來說， 一般的餐廳賺的錢更多 。 算一下開業成本，及員工薪水、租金......等， 那些新潮的民宿 、餐廳或是渡假村能在一、二十年中賺那麼多錢嗎 ?  

A steak dinner at Bossa Nova?  Sure, I'd enjoy that.  But if you're not that hungry maybe we could meet somewhere cheaper instead.  After all, how often is a 700 NT meal seven times better than a 100 NT meal?  And how many of us can afford to spend that much on dinner? 去巴沙諾瓦吃牛排嗎 ?  當然可以 ， 可是也可以選比較便宜的餐廳。  話說回來 ， 七百塊的晚餐跟一百塊的晚餐比較 ， 七百塊的晚餐真的比一百塊的晚餐好七倍嗎 ?  有多少人負擔的起這麼貴的晚餐呢?

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Gangshan District, Kaohsiung City 高雄市岡山區

Gangshan District is north of Ciaotou.  It's a very industrial area, and has been so for a long time.  At the time of writing it's the farthest north you can go using Kaohsiung's MRT system, though there is talk of extending the red line farther north. 岡山區位於橋頭區北部 。 這個地區成為工業區已經很久了 ， 高雄最北邊的捷運站在岡山區 ，市政府還在討論是否要把捷運系統延到更北邊的地區 。

For a slightly fanciful bit of local history, click here, just be aware that the origin of Gangshan's old name, "Agongdian" is far from clear.  There's evidence that the "Agongdian" was derived from a local aboriginal language. 這地區有傳奇色彩的歷史故事在這裡 。  但是岡山的舊名阿公店來源就不清楚了，  有可能這個名稱是從平埔族語來的 。 (2)

According to the last census, 95,159 people live in Gangshan. 上次的人口統計表示 ， 岡山的人口是95,159人 。

This is Wanwangye Park in Gangshan.  It's just across the border from Ciaotou. 岡山的萬王爺公園很靠近橋頭 。

The Taiwan Soya-Mixed Meat Museum has appeared in this blog before.  It's on the other side of Gangshan, across the border from Luzhu. 台灣滷味博物館在這個blog出現過，  它在岡山另外一邊  ，比較靠近路竹 。

I assume this "restaurant" is used for DIY activities.  It feels like the kind of place local kids would visit on field trips. 這個餐廳大概是DIY活動用的 ，很像這附近地區的國小戶外教學會來的地方。

This factory processes many different kinds of food, everything from fish to tofu, and their products can be purchased all over Taiwan.  The first floor is a store where you can buy their products. 這個工廠加工的食品很多 ， 從魚到豆干都有， 臺灣到處都買得到 。 一樓的商店賣工廠生產的產品 。

Central Gangshan is in the middle of the district.  This pond is in Gangshan Embankment Park.  As you can tell from the photo, the air quality in this part of Taiwan was not good that day. 岡山市區在岡山區的中心 ， 這個水池在河堤公園裡面 。  你從照片可以看出來那一天的空氣品質不佳。

The playground here looked really fun.  Subtract 40 years from my age and I'd be all over it. 這裡的遊樂器材看起來很好玩 ， 可惜我的年紀太大了 !

This is Jungshan Road near the center of town.  Nearby Highway 1 is where the train station is, though the South Gangshan MRT stop is actually south of here, on the other side of Embankment Park. 市區的中山路 ， 在台1線附近，也有岡山火車站 ， 然而南邊的南崗山捷運站在河堤公園的另外一邊。

Don't bother with Gangshan's old street.  The market near there is interesting, but the old street itself isn't worth visiting. 岡山老街沒有什麼特殊的， 但是附近的菜市場很熱鬧。

Mutton is popular in Gangshan.  This picture was taken at Daxin Mutton Restaurant next to the Wenxian Market.  You can order the meat stir fried or served in a hot pot. 羊肉在岡山很受歡迎 。  這張照片是在文賢市場旁的大新羊肉店拍的 。 你可以點熱炒羊肉或是羊肉爐 。 (1)

Central Gangshan still feels very much like a small town.  Yes, it's in Kaohsiung City, but downtown Kaohsiung is very far away. 岡山市區感覺很像個小鄉鎮 ， 它在高雄市沒錯 ，可是高雄市區離這裡很遠 。

"The Eye of Gangshan" sits atop Little Gang Mountain near the eastern edge of the district.  Again, air pollution was heavy that day. 岡山之眼位於小崗山上 ， 岡山區的東部 。 那一天的空氣很差 。

Visitors to this place should park their cars at the foot of the mountain and take a shuttle bus to the top.  We didn't know this at the time, got slightly lost on the way up there, and ended up taking a small but terrifying road to the top.  My advice: take the shuttle bus. 遊客要在山下的停車場停車 ，然後坐小區間車到上面 。  我們到的時候有點迷路 ， 不懂狀況 ， 最後開車走一條恐怖的農路上去 。 我的建議:  坐區間車上去一定比較好 。

This is looking south toward Ciaotou.  I think going there at night or early in the morning would have been a better choice.  As it was we couldn't see much. 往橋頭的方向看過去 ，  早晨或是晚上去應該更好 ，中午看不到風景 。

I will say, however, that parts of Little Gang Mountain are surprisingly scenic.  Up until visiting this area I thought Gangshan was all factories, but the parts near Yanchao have a lot more trees. 我最驚訝的就是小崗山部分的風景很不錯 。 我以前以為岡山都是工廠 ，現在發現它靠近燕巢的部分還有森林 。

This pond is near Agongdian Reservoir.  There's a suspension bridge near here that's locally famous, but we decided to skip it.  I've been to a lot of suspension bridges. 這個水池靠近阿公店水庫 。  附近的吊橋很有名 ， 可是我們決定不要去了 ，  我已經去過很多的吊橋了!

That hill in the background is Little Gang Mountain.  If you're driving around this area be careful.  People get lost and do crazy things on the road. 背景是小岡山 。  在這附近開車要小心 ， 很多駕駛迷路後會亂開車 。

Agongdian Reservoir.  It reminded me a bit of Sun Moon Lake.  The land begins to rise up on the other side of the water, and the mountains aren't far away. 阿公店水庫讓我想到日月潭 。  水庫另外一邊漸高的山丘離中央山脈不遠 。

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台灣地名故事 Taiwanese Place Name Stories 10

1. Is "mutton" lamb meat or goat meat?  Or sheep meat?  "Mutton" is defined as meat from older sheep, whereas a sheep in its first year is defined as a lamb, and thus its meat is lamb meat.  It depends, in other words, on the age of the sheep/lamb when it was slaughtered.  To make things more confusing, the "mutton" served in many parts of Asia is actually goat, and you'll see goats both pictured on the sign and kept near the restaurant.  In the case of goat it's better to say "goat mutton," but not every restaurant observes this practice.

2. https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%B2%A1%E5%B1%B1%E5%8D%80