Kaohsiung Travel - Day1! Tianliao Moon World, Stone Temple

Travel Date: 2024/04/05

* It was pretty long post, thus I separated it into 2 parts - check out part 2 - LINK *

Check out also our first day travel, where we visited Shoushan Zoo and Zuoying Old Town

It's the first day of our 3-day, 2-night trip to Kaohsiung. Interestingly, it happened to be just 2 days after the strongest earthquake in 25 years struck Hualien, but most of the places we planned to visit are in the mountains. The earthquake's impact wasn't as significant here, considering the distance and the relatively small size of the mountains. Surprisingly, we encountered plenty of people traveling here as well, showing that life goes on despite natural events.

During our trip, we revisited some places that we had seen 4 years ago, and they were vastly different from before.

Tianliao Moon World (田寮月世界)

Four years ago, we went to check out Tianliao Moon World, a unique place in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. It looked totally different from what we saw when we went there recently. The pond in front of the mountains was all dried up. I suggest visiting in the summer when there's more rain. Now, it's all dry and not that nice.

It's free to get in, and finding a spot to park is pretty easy. It used to be a place where people and goats lived. Now, it's a park with temples and a mud volcanoes hiding nearby. 

The park is pretty big, it more than an hour to walk around. At night, they light up the park with lights, making it look magical.

Moon World is part of a big area in southern Taiwan that looks like a desert. It's called "badlands" because of how the land got all rough from rain and streams over a long time. The rocks there are mudstone, sandstone, shale, and chalk. Only spiny bamboo can grow there. Because there's not much growing, the rain makes the hills change a lot, and that's why they look so interesting. 

We visited here just two days after a recent massive earthquake struck Hualien, so we decided not to climb up the stones, opting instead to only walk around.

Tianliao Stone Temple (石頭廟)

Our next destination was Tianliao Stone Temple (石頭廟). The temple's story dates back to 1973 when its construction began, lasting a span of 12 years. Its origins can be traced to the ancient Putuo Mountain Temple, a small hidden temple in the grasslands.

During our visit four years ago, the temple seemed relatively unknown, with few visitors. However, it's remarkably different now. We encountered a significant influx of people, including tour buses. Additionally, while parking was limited in the past, there's now a sizable parking lot available.

The temple is structured into a front hall, rear hall, and museum. The museum exhibits various household items and crafts from earlier times.

The name "Stone Temple" is derived from its unique hall constructed with stones and shells, resembling an underwater palace. Tianliao Stone Temple venerates several Taoist gods, with the main deity being the Cundi Bodhisattva.

Address:

1. Tiaonliao Moon Wolrd: 823高雄市田寮區月球路34號

2. Tianliao Stone Temple: 823高雄市田寮區新興路2-7號

Read More

Tainan Travel: Caoshan Moon World Grand Canyon

Caoshan Moon World (草山月世界大峽谷)

The Caoshan (Grass Mountain) Moon World Grand Canyon in Zuozhen District is connected to the mudstone badlands of Neimen, Tianya, and Yanchao Districts in Kaohsiung City.

Badlands are limestone terrains composed of sandstone and shale, forming a unique chalk landform. Taiwan, belonging to the unstable crust orogenic belt and an island arc topography with strong orogenic movement and rapid uplift rate, is prone to the formation of badlands. The high alkalinity of the chalk soil makes it rock-like when dry, making it difficult for vegetation to grow. Only the drought-resistant cypress bamboo thrives here. The soil becomes soft and muddy when it rains, and the rain carves streams, resulting in the distinctive half-surface mountain valleys and cliffs.

The highest point of Caoshan is 308 meters above sea level, offering breathtaking views of sunrise and the dynamic changes in cloud formations. In winter, the green thorn bamboo leaves gradually turn yellow, and in the following spring, they change to orange and red, creating a beautiful landscape. The best time to observe the color change of thorn bamboo is typically from March to April each year.

See also: Tianliao Moon World

Zuozhen Fossil Museum (左鎮化石園區)

Additionally nearby you can explore the Zuozhen Fossil Park, which houses a collection of land and sea animal fossils such as mammoths, Formosa sika deer, crocodiles, and shellfish. The park's primary exhibits consist of a rich collection of land vertebrate fossils unearthed in the region. The park also features exhibits like the Zuozhen Man skull and the restored skeleton of Hayasaka Rhino. With its various exhibition halls, interactive activities, and educational resources, the Fossil Park serves as a unique combination of a school and educational museum. It has become a valuable treasure trove of fossils in Taiwan, contributing to fossil studies and promoting scientific knowledge and cultural appreciation in Zuozhen District.

Address:

1. Caoshan Moon World: 713台南市左鎮區草山里草山月世界大峽谷
2. Fossil Park: 713001台南市左鎮區61-23號臺南左鎮化石園區

Read More

Kaohsiung Travel: Wushanding Mud Volcano Natural Reserve

Wushanding Mud Volcano Natural Reserve (烏山頂泥火山自然保留區) 

Wushanding Mud Volcano Natural Reserve (烏山頂泥火山自然保留區) is located in Yanchao District of Kaohsiung. In my country (Poland), there are no mud volcanoes or badlands, so the landscape in Taiwan is very interesting to me. The road through the mountains is not very wide, so it's easier to drive a scooter to get there. Before entering the reserve area, it's necessary to fill in an application form for entry to this natural reserve. Protected since 1992 as part of Taiwan's smallest nature reserve (less than 5 hectares in area), the mud volcano is the largest and most impressive among the fifteen or twenty examples found around Taiwan.

In the nearby area, you can also see Yangnyu Mud Ponds (新養女湖) and a landscape similar to Tianliao Moon World. 

This area is the most densely populated with mud volcanoes in Taiwan and is also the most developed area for the mud cone. Due to the spectacular and highly active nature of the cone-shaped mud volcano, the Wushanding Mud Volcano was designated as a natural reserve. The revised area is 3.88 hectares. However, over the past year, the terrain of this area has been damaged due to its special landscape. In order to protect this special scenery, the reserve area has been specially established.

To protect the natural landscape and precious resources of the mud volcanoes, the Agriculture Committee has announced that collecting natural mineral mud in the park is prohibited, and igniting fires is also forbidden. This natural reserve has two mud-cone-type mud volcanoes, with symmetrical cone-shaped appearances and a special landscape of muddy flows and dry mud cracking. They are the main subjects of the landscape and feature a typical and beautiful spray cone that can reach up to 3-5 meters. It is the most complete and spectacular mud volcano in Taiwan.

A mud volcano (mud dome) is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water, and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes do not produce lava and are not necessarily driven by magmatic activity. The Earth continuously exudes a mud-like substance. Mud volcanoes can range in size from merely 1-2 meters high and 1-2 meters wide to 700 meters high and 10 kilometers wide. The mud produced by mud volcanoes is mostly formed from hot water that has been heated deep below the Earth's surface, mixed and blended with subterranean mineral deposits. The temperature of any given active mud volcano generally remains fairly steady and is much lower than the typical temperatures found in igneous volcanoes. Mud volcano temperatures can range from near 100°C to occasionally 2°C. Some mud volcanoes are used as "mud baths". There are approximately 700 known mud volcanoes in the world.

See also: Tianliao Moon World and Mud Volcano

Address:

824高雄市燕巢區燕巢泥火山

Read More

Kaohsiung Travel: Exploring the Otherworldly Landscapes of Tianliao Moon World

Travel Date: 2019/07/19

Moon World (月世界)

This time we visited Tianliao Moon World (田寮月世界) located between Chongde Village and Gutin Village in Tianliao, Kaohsiung. The entrance to the park is completely free, and finding parking space here is quite easy.  Upon entering, you can find some food and drinks available, and along the nearby road, there are many shops selling chicken. 

Additionally, you can also visit the Moon World Mud Rock Geological Center. Inside, you can see pictures of Moon World in the past before it became a tourist attraction. From these pictures, you can notice that people and many goats used to inhabit this area. Now, it has been transformed into a landscaped park with temples nearby and a hidden mud volcano in the vicinity. At the visitor center, a friendly man treated us to some mango juice and gave us two postcards. He also took pictures with us and had a notebook where every foreigner visiting the place could write their name and country of origin.

The park is quite large, and it took us over an hour to walk around. Near the entrance, there is a larger pond, creating a beautiful landscape with white bare hills in the background. On the right side of the trail behind the pond, there was some construction taking place, so the entrance to that area is currently closed. However, you can follow the road on the left, which leads you behind the hills where there are stairs that take you to the top. From there, you can see a smaller pond as well as a panoramic view of the park from above. At night, the park is illuminated with lights, creating a magical atmosphere.

A similar landscape to Moon World can be seen in other places near the central mountains, such as Tainan or Taidong.

See also: Caoshan Moon World

Tianliao Moon World is located between Chongde Village and Gutin Village in Tianliao, Kaohsiung. This place is a barren land tract and has the beauty of a desolate desert. It is famous for its similarity to the landscape of the Moon.

This unique terrain is called "badlands" in geography, which is an adverse landscape caused by strong erosion from rain and streams over the years due to the "rejuvenation" of the Earth's crust. Tianliao Moon World is situated in the valley of a small tributary of the Erren River and used to have a dam for sediment storage during the rainy season. The harsh mudstone terrain has been eroded by rain and river water for many years.

Moon World is part of a stretch of badlands that cover a large area of southern Taiwan near the central mountain range. Typical badlands are found in drier climates and are composed of sedimentary rocks. These hills usually have very little vegetation and feature deep valleys or ravines. The badlands in Taiwan are unique because they are found in a tropical rainforest.

The rocks in this area are composed of mudstone, sandstone, shale, and chalk. Mudstone is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that can split into layers called shale. Shale is composed of mud, clay minerals, and other minerals like quartz and calcite. Sandstones are composed of quartz and are highly resistant to weathering. Chalk is a soft, white, porous sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite (calcium carbonate).

Due to the high alkaline levels caused by chalk in the soil, trees and grass cannot grow, and the only plant that can thrive in the soil is spiny bamboo. The lack of vegetation, combined with high rainfall, leads to the rapid erosion of hills, creating the unique badlands landscape. The Caoshan River and the Ganglin Rivers have also played a role in carving out the landscape and creating the bare hills.

Mudstone Ice Creams

Mud Volcanoes (月世界泥火山)

Mud Volcanoes (月世界泥火山) can be found in the nearby area, although not within the park itself. A mud volcano (or mud dome) is a landform created by the eruption of mud, slurries, water, and gases. Several geological processes can cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Unlike regular volcanoes, mud volcanoes do not produce lava and are not necessarily driven by magmatic activity. The Earth continuously exudes a mud-like substance, which contributes to the formation of mud volcanoes. They can range in size from a few meters high and wide to several hundred meters high and kilometers wide. The mud produced by mud volcanoes is mostly formed by hot water, which has been heated deep below the Earth's surface, mixed and blended with subterranean mineral deposits. The temperature of an active mud volcano generally remains fairly steady and is much lower than the typical temperatures found in igneous volcanoes. Mud volcano temperatures can range from near 100 °C to occasionally 2 °C. Some mud volcanoes are even used as "mud baths."

In the nearby area, there are two mud volcanoes, a smaller one and a larger one, and their activity can be seen from time to time. The mud volcano is composed of faults, natural gas, and mud, which create an outward eruption force. The gushing mud, accompanied by a water-like sound, is a spectacular and interesting sight. The mud has also formed a pond in the area. The sign on the road also mentioned the presence of hot springs when following another road, although we walked for a while and didn't see anything.

See also: Wushanding Mud Volcano Natural Reserve

Address:

1. Moon World: 823高雄市田寮區月球路34號田寮月世界遊客中心
2. Mud Volcanoe: 823高雄市田寮區小滾水泥火山

Read More