I joined a trip to Hualien and Taitung on May 18, 2011. Here is the recp for the first day of the trip.
There were total 78 pax (including 2 kids) in our batch and divided into three groups for buses allocation. We all met first in Taipei Train Station at 6:40am on Wednesday then took the train to Hualien at 7:30am. The travel agent was requested to provide breakfast service for all the participants, so no one had to worry about suffering from hunger in the early morning. It was always a better and faster way to take train instead of bus to travel in a long distance. We arrived Hualien around 10:30am then got on buses based on the assigned groups. The buses were our transportation tools whilst we moved around between Hualien and Taitung.
The first spot we explored in Hualien was the Ji’an Chin-shui Yuan, which was a third-degree historic site located at the Ji’an Township. In the early period, most of the inhabitants in this area were from Amis (aborigines) before occupied by Japan. Due to so many Japanese immigrated into this area at that time, therefore, one of the Japanese decided to build this place for their people to worship. This place was also served as a medical center, classroom and funeral ceremony venue, etc. We didn’t stay too long in this place but had enough time for us to take photos. Then we left for lunch.