Taiwan Day 434: Campus Notes - Nov. 8, 2014

My Taiwan Day Adventures not only covers various trips in different tourist spots in Taiwan. It also includes campus visits to different universities in the island. My last campus visit was in National Taiwan University which I visited in Taiwan Day 224 (Pride of Formosa). It is Taiwan's UP and I called it the “Pride of Formosa”.

Each university has their own story and National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) has a unique one. The conference that I was attending has some Chinese sessions and as it was happening I took the chance to sneak out and looked on what this university has to offer.

NCKU is locally called as Cheng Da, the word Cheng comes from Cheng Kung while Da comes from Daxue (meaning university). It is located in Tainan City which is Taiwan's oldest city. It was established during Taiwan's Japanese colonial period in 1931 and was known as the Tainan Technical College. The Japanese were the first teachers in this university and it's like an engineering school on those days.

NCKU is divided into many campuses but they are adjacent to each other. I find it weird at first but it made NCKU unique. The oldest and original campus is the Cheng Kung campus. I did my homework before I went to Tainan and I have with me a printed map of NCKU showing the interesting places to see so going around was so easy.

I love the campus! As I wandered around the university, I noticed the brick-style buildings. The old buildings were located in the Cheng-Kung campus. The Double Courtyard Faculty of Engineering and Gerchih were some of those. Tainan City is a walled city like Manila and I saw the remnants of the Small East Gate and Small West Gate inside the campus. The Japanese tore down the wall to make improvements in the city just like what they did in the Hsinchu and Taipei.

I learned a lot from the NCKU Museum especially about the exhibit about the life of a teacher in NCKU in the 1930s. A mineral exhibit was also ongoing and I saw large crystals while I could not forget the lock exhibit. It was a collection of unique and rare locks. I didn't know that locks could come in different forms and sizes. The most striking to me was the puzzle locks. How difficult would it be to open your house if you have this kind of lock! You have to first solve the puzzle in order to unlock the lock. haha!

The Cheng Kung Lake was a lovely sight. It has a bridge and an island at the center. Beside the lake is the Banyan Garden and there were many people. The banyan trees at NCKU were very big! I never knew that banyans could grow very big. It is said that the banyan trees in NCKU came from Kagoshima prefecture and some were planted by Crown Prince Hirohito of Japan. I marveled at the radiant branches of one beautiful giant banyan tree. The seed that was planted by the Crown Prince decades ago was now a giant tree and I was in front of it. It was an amazing moment.

My campus notes were full of beautiful memories with this university. As the two-day ISEGB 2014 ended, I exited NCKU with full of excitement. My tour of Tainan has begun! A great adventure awaits me at the “Ancient City”.

Sakura Series - Taiwan

2026 Forecast

Taipei 101 first flowers

Tianyuan Palace backyard

Taipei Flower Test Center

Pingjing St. Lane 42

Broadwood Park

Sunshine Sports Park kawazu sakura

Wuling Farm (武陵農場)

SYS kawazu sakura

Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village

CKS Memorial Hall

Shibafen Yoshino Sakura

Hope River

Dongfang Temple

Tianyuan Palace

Neicou Stream Trail

Orange Garden Cafe

Yangming Park Visitor Information Center

Yangming Park Service Center Bus Stop

Huashan Road

Qianshan Park

Zhongshan Hall Entrance

Tenglong Sakura Farm

Flower Test Center Shōwa Sakura

Neihu Creek Trail

Shulin Land Office

Xióng Kōng Cherry Blossom Forest

Lung Yen Sakura Forest

Yangming Park cherry stream

Yangming Park fountain

CKS Memorial Hall Tairyō sakura

Wugu District Tianyi Road

CKS Memorial Hall yaesakura

Loving Farm

Yong Long Farm

Zhongbaling Sakura Road

Sun Link Sea

Tai'an Police Station

Cherry Hill Slope

Hsinchu Park

Taipei 101

Kāng Gào Kēng Creek

New Garden City

Broadwood Park

Tianyuan Palace backyard

Pingjing St. Lane 42

Alishan Ranger Station

Alishan House

Alishan Police Station

Alishan Forest Railway

Alishan Station

Alishan Entrance

Alishan Gou Hotel

Alishan Magnolia Garden

Wulai tour

Wun Chang Elementary School

Bishanyan

Sanzhi Sansheng Trail

Sakura Series - Taiwan

Nei Cuo Stream

Orange Garden Cafe

Sansheng Trail

Tenglong Sakura Farm

Yangming Park Cherry Stream

Yangming Park Fountain

Flower Test Center

Broadwood Park

New Garden City

Yinghua Park

Pingjing St. Lane 42

Yangmingshan Visitor Center

Taipei 101

Tianyuan Palace backyard

Sakura Series - Japan

Kamonyama Park

Near the Nippon Maru Memorial Park

Shinko Park

Minato-mirai 21 area

Tokyo Tech Suzukakedai Campus

Onda River

Tenryuji

Byodoin

Kiyomizudera

Himuro shrine and Yakushi-ji Temple

Hōryū-ji Temple

Nara Park attractions

Tokyo Tech Ookayama Campus

Sumida River

Tsuruma Park

Gion

Maple Series

Taipei Aowanda

Shimen Dam

Alishan

Aowanda

Shanlinxi

Taoyuan Valley Garden

Fushoushan Farm

Yehliu to Jiufen? Yehliu to Shifen? Cheaper than yellow taxis

The "Taipei kong mahal" (My beloved Taipei)

Always in my heart

MRT birdman

Valentine's Day

Tulips Festival

2018 Taipei Lantern Festival

City of Azaleas

Linji Huguo Temple

Nanjichang Night Market

Gudetama Chef restaurant

Dalongdong Bao'an Temple

Shilin hollyhocks

Ningxia Night Market

Ximending graffiti

Discovery Center of Taipei

Chunghwa Postal Museum

Double-Decker Bus

Shilin Cold Balls

Jingimoo

GomanMango

mud volcanic ice

Fire and Ice Dumpling

Opium Fen-Yuan

Ichiran Ramen

Liu Shandong Beef Noodles

hydrangea flowers

National Palace Museum

Other attractions in Taipei

Taipei on a budget

Japanese buildings

Dāoxiāomiàn beef noodles

Presidential Office Building

Yongkang St. and Elephant Mountain

CKS and SYS Hall

City tour

Beitou ramen

MRT Monopoly Game

Winter city tour

Zhicheng Park

Shilin Plum Blossom

Art museums

Shopping in Taipei

Summer desserts

Qingtiangang

Qixingshan hiking

2015 Calla lily

2016 Calla lily

Beitou tour

Beitou-Zhuzihu tour

NTU

Confucius Temple

2015 Dadaocheng Festival

Puppet Museum

Fantasy Ice World

2016 Bread Show

Strawberry picking

2015 Rose Garden

Modern Toilet

Shilin Night Market

NASA Exhibit

Raohe Night Market

Longshan Temple

2013 Taipei Zoo

Maokong Gondola

Lupin flowers

Taipei 101 day visit

Taipei 101 night visit

Tiger Mountain

Din Tai Fung

Taipei Story House

2014 Flower Show

Chrysanthemum Show

Miramar Ferris wheel

Miniatures Museum

Archery

1600 Pandas

Wulaoguo hot pot

Upside Down House

2016 101 Fireworks

New Taipei

Pingxi Sky Lantern Festival

Elephant Rock SUP/kayaking

Meteor Garden school

Tamsui Pumpkin Tunnel

Shifen Waterfall

2017 Sand Sculpture

Dragon Caves

New Taipei tour

2016 Kite Festival

Pingxi Crags

Bitou Cape

2016 Sand Sculpture

2015 Christmasland

Juming - Jinshan

Houtong - Pingxi

Sandiaoling Waterfall

Jiufen foodtrip

Guanyinshan hike

Yehliu Ocean World

2014 Kite Festival

Pingxi Rail tour

Jinguashi tour

Vigor Kobo Pineapple

British Consulate

Yehliu Geopark

2014 Sand Sculpture

Paragliding

2014 Christmasland

2014 Pingxi Lantern

firefly watching

Yingge Ceramics Street

Jiufen tour