Changhua city's fan-shaped train garage. The historic maintenance depot is the only one of its kind left in Taiwan. (Craig Ferguson)
Time for a look back into the archives to bring new life to some old Taiwan travel photographs that many of you may not have seen before.
Dating back to the age of steam, the maintenance garage at Changhua is the only one of its kind in Taiwan. Changhua station used to be an important midway point of the western rail line, and is the southern meeting point of the mountain and coastal lines. The rails radiate out of the garage like spokes and a single turntable is used to position the trains. Today there are three old steam engines located in the garage, and it is also used as a maintenance depot for diesel and electric trains.
Coming to the end of week three in the theme competition. Some good guesses so far, keep them coming in.
Two Taiwanese men run away from exploding fireworks during the 2008 Mazu Festival in Changhua, Taiwan.
Among the many gods and goddesses worshipped in Taiwan, Mazu (媽祖), the Goddess of the Sea is perhaps the most revered. Every year, in the 3rd month of the lunar calendar, the Dajia Mazu (大甲媽祖), which is housed at the Zhenlan temple (鎮瀾宮), is taken out on a pilgrimage lasting 8 days and covering 300km. Over the course of the 8 days, more than 1 million people will come out to see Mazu as she makes her way from Dajia to Hsingang in Jiayi county and back again, visiting more than 80 temples. It is thought that the Mazu pilgrimage is one of the three largest religious festivals in the world.
Stage 3 of the Tour de Taiwan was held on March 11th in Changhua county, starting and finishing at Baguashan. Going into the day, John Murphy held the leaders yellow jersey and Merida Europe were the leading team after Wesoly Marek’s win in stage two. Unlike the first two stages, the Baguashan stage was a road stage with riders taking on a 117.4km route through Changhua county.
The race started in front of the big Buddha statue at Baguashan with a formation ride led by VIPs.
The race traveled along county route 19 out to Lugang, then headed down the coast towards Wanggong, before turning inland and moving through the towns of Tianwei and Yuanlin. Chou Po-yuan, magistrate of Changhua county government said
To do the best intention for “Changhua County walk out, the World entered in”, we [the Changhua County Government] cooperated with bicycle companies especially Merida for this [Tour de Taiwan] race to promote the best landscape in Changhua including Bagua Buddha, historic spot of Lukang, Wang-Gong Footbridge, and Tienwei Highway Garden to improve the tourism industry in Changhua County.
After two hours in the saddle, the riders returned to Baguashan for a final 21km lap.
A 6 rider breakaway formed in front of the peloton, but a crash reduced the distance. In a final climb to the finish, young Australian rider Peter McDonald of the Drapac Porsche Development Team clinched a narrow victory from Erik Hoffmann of the Giant Asia Team, in a time of 2:45:48 with an average speed of 48.45km/hr.
1 Peter Mcdonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche Development Program Team        2.45.48 (48,45 km/h)
2 Erik Hoffmann (Nam) Giant Asia Racing Team
3 Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1
4 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDR
5 Thijs Braber (Ned) Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam                       0.03
6 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team
7 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis
8 Alex Coutts (GBr) Giant Asia Racing Team
9 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Team Skil-Shimano                                  0.06
10 Mroz Mateusz (Pol) Merida Europe Team
McDonald’s win saw him climb from 24th to 2nd in the overall standings, behind John Murphy of Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis who retained the yellow jersey.
1 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis   7.04.24
2 Peter Mcdonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche Development Program Team           0.05
3 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 0.06
4 Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1
5 Erik Hoffmann (Nam) Giant Asia Racing Team                             0.08
6 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team                                0.09
7 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul City Cycling Team                           0.15
8 Thijs Braber (Ned) Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam                       0.18
9 Alex Coutts (GBr) Giant Asia Racing Team
10 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                          0.19
The green jersey points classification was also won by Murphy.
1 John Murphy (USA) Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis        39 pts
2 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 32
3 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team                                  26
4 Wesoly Marek (Pol) Merida Europe Team                                    19
5 Shawn Milne (USA) Team Type 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 7
6 Erik Hoffmann (Nam) Giant Asia Racing Team                               15
7 Emile Abraham (Tri) Team Type 1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 15
8 Peter Mcdonald (Aus) Drapac Porsche Development Program Team             14
9 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                             14
10 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul City Cycling Team                            12
In the blue jersey classification for top Asian rider, Japan’s Takashi Miyazawa of Team Meitan-Hompo GDR finished ahead of countryman Taiji Nishitani.
1 Takashi Miyazawa (Jpn) Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 7.04.30
2 Taiji Nishitani (Jpn) AISAN Racing Team                                0.03
3 Sung Baek Park (Kor) Seoul City Cycling Team                           0.09
4 Kam Po Wong (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                           0.13
5 Yoshiyuki Abe (Jpn) Team Skil-Shimano                                  0.15
6 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team
7 Shinri Suzuki (Jpn) Team Skil-Shimano
8 Hayato Yoshida (Jpn) Japan National Team
9 Hari Fitrianto (Ina) Polygon Sweet Nice Racing Team                    0.20
10 Wang Yip Tang (HKg) Hong Kong Pro Cycling Team                        0.21
The contest for best local rider saw Kuan Hua Lai of Giant Asia Racing Team take the honors.
 1 Kuan Hua Lai (Tpe) Giant Asia Racing Team                           7.04.45
2 Shu Ming Liu (Tpe) e-MA Cycling Team                                   0.20
3 Wei Chieh Liu (Tpe) Kinan CCD Team                                     3.19
4 Wei Cheng Lee (Tpe) Taichung County Team
5 Li Yao Chiang (Tpe) MAO Asia Team
6 Chun Kai Feng (Tpe) Kinan CCD Team
7 Kao An Li (Tpe) Taichung County Team                                   3.28
8 Yu-Wei Huang (Tpe) e-MA Cycling Team                                   3.39
9 Po Hung Wu (Tpe) Kinan CCD Team                                        3.57
10 Shuai Chun Chiang (Tpe) Taichung County Team                          4.08
Finally the teams classification saw Giant Asia on top.
 1 Giant Asia Racing Team                                             21.14.06
2 Team Skil-Shimano                                                      0.15
3 Japan National Team                                                    0.31
4 Ruiter Dakkapellen Wielerteam                                          0.34
5 Merida Europe Team                                                     0.41
6 Hong Kong Cycling Team                                                 0.47
7 Seoul City Cycling Team                                                0.56
8 The Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis                    0.58
9 Team Type1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 1.07
10 AISAN Racing Team                                                     1.09
11 Polygon Sweet Nice Racing Team                                        3.05
12 Team Meitan Hompo-GDRÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 4.35
13 Drapac Porsche Development Program Team                               5.39
14 Malaysian National Team                                               6.33
15 KFS Special Vehicles                                                  6.55
16 a-MA Cycling Team                                                     7.42
17 Kinan CCD Team                                                       10.18
18 Taichung County Team                                                 11.04
19 MAO Asia Team                                                        11.25
20 Jet Fuel Coffee Cycling Team                                         12.34
The full gallery of photos from stage three can be seen on my portfolio site here. A report on stage 1 is here. I’ll be covering stages 7 and 8, so don’t forget to check back in a few days.
]]>
A couple of weeks ago Ashish from Tumbling in Taiwan posted about a recent trip he made to Changhua. In it he mentioned seeing a sign at the train station that said “fan-shape garage” and was wondering what it was. So, with today being a beautiful winters day with clear blue skies, I decided to take a walk down to the fan-shape garage and take a look around.
Dating back to the age of steam, the maintenance garage at Changhua is the only one of its kind in Taiwan. Changhua station used to be an important midway point of the western rail line, and is the southern meeting point of the mountain and coastal lines. The rails radiate out of the garage like spokes and a single turntable is used to position the trains. Today there are three old steam engines located in the garage, and it is also used as a maintenance depot for diesel and electric trains. I was unable to find out any more information about the garage, so I’ll leave you with the pictures.
A couple of weeks ago Ashish from Tumbling in Taiwan posted about a recent trip he made to Changhua. In it he mentioned seeing a sign at the train station that said “fan-shape garage” and was wondering what it was. So, with today being a beautiful winters day with clear blue skies, I decided to take a walk down to the fan-shape garage and take a look around.
Dating back to the age of steam, the maintenance garage at Changhua is the only one of its kind in Taiwan. Changhua station used to be an important midway point of the western rail line, and is the southern meeting point of the mountain and coastal lines. The rails radiate out of the garage like spokes and a single turntable is used to position the trains. Today there are three old steam engines located in the garage, and it is also used as a maintenance depot for diesel and electric trains. I was unable to find out any more information about the garage, so I’ll leave you with the pictures.