Dawn.
Sunday, September 30, in the year of our Lord 2012, was a day that I, Kevin, have anticipated since moving to Taipei at the end of July, 2007. For five years, I have waited patiently, yea, sometimes impatiently, but always waiting, for the opening of Dongmen Station.
What is this "Dongmen Station" of which I write? It is the MRT (Mass Rapid Transit, or Metro, or Subway, what have you) station which was under construction since before I moved to Taipei to my apartment near the intersection of Jinshan and Xinyi Roads. I lived there for two years and it wasn't finished when I left in 2009 for the Wanyou building, in which I continue to reside.
In fact, Dongmen Station was under construction before the previous tenant, Teecy Christmas, moved in the year before.
In fact, it was begun before the tenants before her, the McKenzies, moved in, way back in 2005!
The day had come.
I slept in, though, but Erin got this picture of the dawn. ;-)
I suggested that we go to the Jianguo Holiday Flower Market (under the Jianguo Expressway, between Xinyi and Renai Roads) by MRT on this new connection on the Orange Line. We got Ruby ready and away we went to our nearby MRT station, Taipower Building Station. It's named for the largest building in the neighborhood, the headquarters for the national electricity company.
Our MRT line goes directly under Roosevelt Road (yes, Taipei has a Roosevelt Rd., named for FDR, who helped Chiang Kai-shek during World War II) from the south end of the city to the north end (for now). It's the Green Line.
One station away is Guting Station, named for the overall part of town we live in, which used to be a village distinct from Taipei proper. Taipei gobbled it up, then made it one of Taipei's then-16 districts.
Having only 12 districts now, Taipei made some go away. (It got split between the district we live in, Daan [also named for a village that got swallowed up in Taipei's post-1949 Waishengren-influx-induced growth] and Zhongzheng, named for Chiang Kai-shek -- it's a long story.)
In the above picture, we're transitioning from the Green Line at Guting to the Orange Line, right across the platform. How convenient!
Now, here we are on the ride that was impossible just the day before, but anticipated for years!
What a pretty girl, that Ruby is!
Above is Erin's picture of the newly-joined orange line route map above the opening doors and the announcement that we are at Dongmen Station! Hooray!
Here we are on the platform! We have arrived!
Behind me you can see where the Red Line will go in the near future. It used to be the Red and Green lines were pretty much the same: from Xindian northbound to Danshui it was Red and back southbound it was Green.
(Simultaneously, the Orange Line used to use the same track between Guting and another northern station, Beitou [named for another of Taipei's 12 districts, the one at the north end of the city], being Red when northbound and Orange when southbound. This meant one had to be careful when southbound at any MRT station between Guting and Beitou to get on the one that was actually going to the right place.)
For those who are unaware, Dongmen means "East Gate" in Chinese. The following is another brief history lesson, so for those bored by such, please skip to the next picture.
Taipei used to be a small city surrounded by a roughly-rectangular wall, a wall built in the 1800s by the local governor sent by the Qing Empire (the name of the country when the Manchurians occupied China). This wall had a main gate on each side, North, East, West, and South.
(Each gate will have an MRT stop named after it soon, by the way:
- first Ximen [West Gate] was the first, along the Blue Line, then with the Light Green [but soon to be Green] Line;
- then Xiaonanmen [Small South Gate] was the second, also on the Light Green [but soon to be Green] Line;
- now Dongmen [East Gate] on the Orange Line;
- and, in a couple years, Beimen [North Gate] on the redirected Green Line as well.)
In 1895, the Qing and Japanese fought a war and Japan won easily. (Japan won all the time back then, till they attacked the US at the end of 1941, of course.)
Among other prizes, Japan got the island of Taiwan and kept it until the end of World War II. These 50 years changed the island immensely, if for no other reason than the island avoided
- the Chinese Revolution,
- the Warlord Period,
- the Nanjing Decade,
- the Civil War,
- most of WWII's destruction (though the US did a fair job of bombing Taiwan and trying to free the many prisoners held by the Japanese),
- and the Communist Revolution
During that time, the Japanese gave many names to neighborhoods, names which remain to this day written the same (for Japanese used and often still use Chinese characters, much as the Manchurians did once they conquered China and created the Qing Empire) but pronounced and spelled in English with Mandarin pronunciation.
One of those neighborhoods was "Dongmen," which is east of the East Gate. The Japanese tore down the walls, but kept the gates. The East Gate itself still stands, surrounded by a traffic circle that often has multitudes of protesters nearby.
Back to 9/30/12!
Here is the sign indicating the chief draw of the greater Dongmen neighborhood: Yongkang St.! This is the home of much good food, particularly Dintaifung, a restaurant with excellent dumplings and more.
Above is the sign indicating that we were almost out of the Dongmen Station. To the right (out Exit 4) is where I lived, nearer to Lishui St. than to Yongkang St. but still west of both. To the left is the direction we want to go: east, past Daan Forest Park, to the JHFM. Also, Exit 4 is just a staircase, while Exit 5 has an escalator. No contest!
One of the wonderful things about the Taipei Rapid Transit System (TRTS, another name for the Subway, or MRT, or Metro) is that they make maps that are oriented in the direction you are facing if you are looking at the map directly. For the above map, if I were looking at it (back to the camera), then I'd be facing south. Therefore, south is up. Even when it's like northeast or something, whatever way you're facing is up.
It's great for getting out of the "up is North" or "ahead of me is North" (really, some people think like that!) habit. As a geography teacher, I approve this map.
"Enough of the boring stuff, Daddy, let's move!"
"Okay, Ruby. Out we go!"
Just outside the exit is a helpful direction marker. Either the "N" is in English and means "North is in the direction of the 90-degree angle of the triangle part of the partially-circumscribed, partially-completed arrow" or the "N" is in Chinese (Hanyu Pinyin) and means "Nan," which means "South" in English and on which half of the tile the "N" lies.
Pretty ambiguously genius!
The work is not all done, but a nice wide sidewalk's tiles draw the pedestrian's line of sight toward the tall building in the distance on Xinyi Rd, Taipei 101, the tallest building in the world from 2004 to 2010. Just two years later, and it's already only #3. (It's still #1 in the Free World.)
Above is the Jianguo Expressway. Beneath it is the Holiday Flower Market. Beyond it is a local post office, all of which are painted or tiled postal green. They're very recognizable.
This is a major intersection with lots of foot traffic on the weekends, so there are dedicated parts of the traffic light cycle dedicated to non-motorized travel. You can walk kiddy-corner at those times - what fun!
"Daddy, your walk and talk, your amble and ramble, your breath and hot air - all combine to put me into a nap."
After our shopping, we went back to the MRT and entered Dongmen Station from a different direction. The map on the wall was now to our north, so it faced the customary northerly direction.
Here is a sign for the Nanshijiao-bound MRT Orange Line at Dongmen Station. We only had to ride it one leg until we got back to Guting, at which we switched back to the Green Line.
"I'm awake again, Daddy. Hi, Mommy! Let's go on an adventure again the next time the MRT grows!"
Ok, Ruby.
