Saturday, November 7, 2015

November 16, 2014: A Sea of Flowers brought to you by Taichung's Xinshe area

Garmin activity: no Garmin record

Once every year, there is a big flower exposition in Taiwan and it is organized in Taichung's Xinshe area. The show runs three weeks every year in the end of October until mid November. The expo draws a huge amount of visitors every single time. My friends told me that I absolutely had to go check it out, so that's what I did.

Xinshe is located at the east of Fengyuan and Shigang but at the West of Dongshi. So I headed to Fengyuan. My friends were kind enough to tell me that this place would be sacked with cars and tourists from all over Taiwan and that there would be huge traffic jams on the main ways. That's why I decided to go to Xinshe via Wanli Changcheng, Taichung-88. I had done this section several times and I knew exactly how this would bring me to Xinshe.


Early in the morning, Taichung-88, tranquil as always


Another nice ride for my E5 buddy



Almost at the summit of this climb


This is where Taichung-88 is flat for a full mile



Wanli Changcheng, a ten thousand miles long wall. It wasn't actually 10k but it was a nice climb. I saw a few people standing outside of their homes, so I took the opportunity of asking them where to Huahai Sea of Flowers was. They told me to take a right, which was basically Taichung-93 all the way down to Zhongxinling and then back up again.


Just a wild guess, but does that pink bike belong to that woman?


Turn right here, Taichung-93 in the direction of Zhongxingling 


Interesting for future rides...


I took the time to enjoy the views, I just had to


That road down there is the 129 coming Taichung's Beitun area. I did it several times. It has a fun 3km climb at the end which then leads to where I am: Zhongxingling


The entrance to the Sea of Flowers with an officer regulating traffic. As a bike rider, I was privileged and did not have to wait a lot. There were incredibly many cars. Luckily the road was just wide enough for me being able to pass by.


The entrance, with many people here. No ticketing, this was a free event. Impossible in Europe!


I went inside and I started to enjoy the display of many colors on my iris.



This place even had Wifi.


Welcome to the 2014 Xinshe Sea of Flowers


Nice images of bicycles here. It was a joy to be able to walk in with my bike. So many advantages over driving a car.


Muchas flores por aquí!



Flower beds in various color settings


A smile to display how happy I was beholding this beautiful sight



Someone kind enough to offer me to have a picture taken.



My bike in a yellow flower bed






Flowers as far as the eye could reach


So beautiful!


I know someone who would have liked being here. Maybe she was here... I will never know




Dongxing is a small village within Xinshe township



Purple rain, purple rain








There was also room for true love


I spent about one hour inside, more than enough to see it all. Then I headed back to Fengyuan. A short ride, but today was not about the mileage. Rather was it about experiencing a local tradition, which happens to be eye-stunning! See me again next year I'd say!

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