A quick trip to the Penghu Islands

By Glen Bruels
This is part of a series called Northern Pacific Wanderings 2024
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Okay, how many of you have ever heard of the Penghu Islands? Neither had I, but being from an island in the middle of a massive archipelago, I wanted to see these islands. The archipelago here contains 90 islands, with the main island called Magong with a population of less than 65,000. Similar to the San Juan Islands, the four main islands make up three townships with Magong being more or less the County seat. Unlike the San Juan Islands, Magong is connected to the three other islands by bridges (gasp — you will never see that in the San Juans!). Having been ruled by both China and Japan, the culture, architecture, etc. here seems very mixed (read: eclectic). 

The first thing that we saw coming into town was the old city wall. It was the last defensive structure built built during the Qing Dynasty. The wall has six gates that provide excellent views of the port. Beyond the wall, there is a lot of hustle and bustle in the downtown area and the juxtaposition between the new and old is striking. There is a lot of new construction going on in the area as the government here has decided to move beyond their traditional fishing economy to add a strong tourism segment.  We immediately headed to the south on the main island to stop in the fishing village of Fongguei. There is a lot of basalt in the area and the constant battering they have taken over the years have eroded a long, narrow cave in the rocks. When large waves from the southeast hit them, it creates a blowhole with accompanying whistling sound. We climbed down the rocks to see the cave, but with no big waves, we saw no action. The local temple there was built after several fishermen died. It is truly beautiful and ornate — not sure what impact it has had on the fisherman mortality index.

Wandering across the basalt columns at Fongguuei.
Looking for the elusive blowhole. No luck!
This is what it should have looked like!
Inside the local temple, erected due to the loss of many fishermen.
The temple exteriors are very ornate. The local community is responsible for the upkeep of the temple.
A “mobile” butcher, chopping and selling pork outside the temple.

From there we went to Shi Li Beach, a lovely sandy beach and little village next to it. Some of our fellow travelers jumped into the water, but it was colder than I thought (around 75 degrees), so we did a bit of wading and Deb collected shells. We also sampled some of the local delicacies, including cuttlefish balls and cakes and milk pudding with cactus topping (I think it is like prickly pear). I wandered down and saw the two pagodas and mini temple by the beach. It’s there that I saw something interesting — there was a burner in the mini temple and a woman was lighting something on fire there. It turns out that people burn money there as an offering when they either need or are thankful for something. Burn money you say (I sure did)!? It turns out that you buy some fake money that you burn. But if you have to pay real money for the fake money, you still are burning money. Anyway, I don’t claim to understand these things.

Interacting with the art at Shi Li Beach.
The water was actually colder than I expected.
See the chimney on this mini temple? That’s where you burn the money as a sacrifice. It lends a whole new meaning to “watching your money go up in smoke!”
A number the buildings here have a “beachy” vibe.
Sampling the local delicacies. Cuttlefish balls — yum!

From there, we headed back to visit the old part of the city and Zhongyang Street. It is the oldest street in Penghu and dates back to the Ming Dynasty which is evidenced by the architecture (e.g., red brick walls and doors, decorated windows). We enjoyed walking around the narrow alleyways, looking into the various shops and learning the history of the area. In addition to burning money, it turns out that bathing and/or drinking from a particular well in the area would bring health. In fact, babies would be washed with the water to ensure a long life. We also stopped by a cake shop where we tried a local cactus cake that is actually a stack of crepes with cream in between with the cactus jelly topping. Yum! We also wandered around a local art gallery to see some of the artisans working.

Walking along the narrow Zhongyang Street.
Definitely a multicultural area.
Our guide,Sandi, playing tourist.
The well in the center of the old town is supposed to have healing properties— although you aren’t allowed to drink the water anymore…
More delicacy sampling — this time cactus cake, made up of layers of crepes with cream and the cactus jelly. We’re doing a lot of delicacy sampling on this trip!
The oldest temple in Taiwan. Sadly, it was being renovated and we couldn’t go in…

We thoroughly enjoyed our guide, Sandi. She was very knowledgeable and a lot of fun. We are now off to Keelung, gateway to Taipei!

This entry was posted in Cruising, Penghu Islands, Travel
Glen Bruels

I am a traveler and sometimes clay sculptor, following a long career working in consulting. My work allowed me to travel the world extensively and I was hooked. Today, I travel with my wife/best friend to explore new places, meet new people, and learn new things.

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