![[ Water X Fire! ] ChiaYi History Ride 嘉義白河歷史騎](https://modernblackhand.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/chiayi-history-ride.jpg "[ Water X Fire! ] ChiaYi History Ride 嘉義白河歷史騎")
- ChiaYi History Ride Ride Summary
- Background
- Start: Kano Baseball Field
- LanTan & RenYiTan Reservoirs
- WuFeng Temple 吳鳳廟
- Provincial Highway towards GuanZiLing
- GuanZiLing 關子嶺
- Water-Fire & HuoShan BiYun Temple
- Back to ChiaYi City
- ChiaYi Park & Old Prison
- Verdict:
- Also Recommended:
- Taiwan Bike Routes Map
- [ Oysters Everywhere! ] ChiaYi Land and Coastal Ride Part 1 嘉義老廟蚵港騎之一
- [Water of Gray, Green and Black] Great TsengWen Reservoir Loop 環曾文水庫
- Like My Posts? Subscribe below!
ChiaYi History Ride Ride Summary
- Self ride.
- Starting/ending Location: Kano Baseball Field Parking, ChiaYi City (嘉義市棒球場)
- Bike Length: ~ 102 km.
- Total Elevation: ~ 1000 m.
- Hill profile: Rolling.
- Good for: Training.
- Route Highlights:
- ChiaYi Park (嘉義公園)
- Old ChiaYi Prison (嘉義舊監獄)
- RenYiTan (仁義潭)
- WuFeng Temple (吳鳳廟)
- GuanZiLing Hot Spring (關子嶺)
- Hot Spring with Fire (水火同源)
- HuoShan Biyun Temple (火山碧雲寺)
Background
The ChiaYi History Ride explored various historical elements near ChiaYi City, and GuanZiLing (關仔嶺) hot spring region which we previous explored by car at TsengWen Reservoir Ride.
Start: Kano Baseball Field
Our ChiaYi History Ride started at ChiaYi City Baseball Field. The term “Kano” referred to a local baseball team during Japanese Occupation era, which successfully entered Japanese High School Baseball Championship.
Main KANO sign.
LanTan & RenYiTan Reservoirs
Starting from the baseball field, we first visited two reservoirs close to ChiaYi City: LanTan (蘭潭) and RenYiTan (仁義潭).
LanTan northern part.
Part of LanTan’s route was closed for cars, thus great for cyclists and runners.
Between the two reservoirs was ChiaYi University.
ChiaYi University entrance.
RenYiTan statue.
Nice hat and tie.
Reservoir in dry season.
Reservoir wall. We would follow the road towards the mountains.
WuFeng Temple 吳鳳廟
After visiting RenYiTan, our ChiaYi History Ride took a detour to WuFeng Memorial Temple.
WuFeng was a person previously advocated as a “Chinese noble who sacrificed himself to stop aboriginal people’s head hunting practice” by Taiwan government. Now the story was removed from text books because of exaggeration and stereotyping aboriginal people.
WuFeng Temple Entrance.
Red Santa Clause.
Provincial Highway towards GuanZiLing
After WuFeng Temple, our ChiaYi History Ride followed Provincial Highway #3 towards GuanZiLing.
Pineapple fields.
Elementary school with baseball playing.
…not gonna comment on the taste.
Left towards TsengWen Reservoir, right to GuanZiLing.
TsengWen Reservoir will be on the other side of the mountains.
GuanZiLing 關子嶺
Soon we reached GuanZiLing, a hot spring resort area famous for its muddy hot spring. I was quite surprised that though now the weather was too hot for hot springs, there were still lots of visitors.
Welcome sign.
To add more mileage and climbing, we continued south on Route 175 to a local hillside temple.
The beginning of short suffering.
The temple (崁頂福安宮).
A romanticized portrait of couples picking oranges.
Water-Fire & HuoShan BiYun Temple
After the short climbing detour, our ChiaYi History Ride headed towards a local point of interest, Water-Fire from Same Source (水火同源).
A hot spring source together with burning fire from gases.
Some strange fruit.
Not far away below Water-Fire from Same Source was an over 200 year old temple HuoShan BiYun Temple, with great front and back views.
HuoShan BiYun Temple
The pointy mountain at the temple back.
Back to ChiaYi City
After the temple, our ChiaYi History Ride descended down to plain area and headed back to ChiaYi City.
BeiHe DaShien Temple (白河大仙寺), a more than 300 year old temple and the origin of HuoShan BiYun Temple.
Temple under renovation.
Oven roasted chicken stores were popular at hilly area.
Temporary steel plate bridge crossing.
Next to NeyJia Elementary (內角國小) was a memorial plate in memory of detained solders during WWII.
Netted papaya trees.
Back to ZenYiTan!
ChiaYi Park & Old Prison
Our ChiaYi History Ride finished with a stroll through ChiaYi Park and Old Prison, both had lots of historical elements from Japanese Occupation era.
ChiaYi Park entrance.
Route to the main icon: sun-shooting tower.
ChiaYi Historical Record Center, formerly part of ChiaYi Japanese Shrine.
The Sun-Shooting Tower.
Instead of traditional stone lions used in temples, the Sun-Shooting Tower used two Taiwan specific animals as guardians: the now extinct Taiwan Leopards.
Confucius temple.
The green Manneken Pis.
ChiaYi Old Prison entrance, built in Japanese Occupation Era and now a museum.
Verdict:
The ChiaYi History Ride was a fabulous ride with a variety of historical elements, decent climbs, and relatively safe route. This route was highly recommended for people who want to know more local Taiwanese history.