Then and Now: Anping and Yangmingshan

The top image of Sekkan Fortress (Anping Fort) I got from the East Asian Image Collection at Lafayette, in their collection of Taiwan Photographic Monthly imagery. The shot of the ruined fortress in the upper right inset is taken from the land side. In the main image, shot from the harbor, you can see that the fort has been restored, with the small white building still there and housing the small museum, but without the silly observation tower. The modern harbor is below, same angle but much farther away. The area behind the fortress is now developed, of course, and a major tourism disaster.

A reader sent me these two shots, the top from 1931, the bottom from 2012, of a building on Yangmingshan. Which building?
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Chasing the Sun in Anping

Out to Anping harbor in Tainan on a gorgeous November afternoon in southern Taiwan with John from the Real Taiwan and his wife and kid.

First stop was this old traffic tower for the fishing port, now enveloped by art. It did improve the look a bit.

The tower's door is unlocked, so we slipped under the art and headed up for a look. Unfortunately the art blocks the view....

John clambered up to the roof for a better view....

Out in the harbor the fisherman worked in the afternoon sun.

John captures me sliding nimbly under the art.

Welcome to Danger Wharf.

A pan of the harbor area. The observation tower to the extreme left sits atop the well-known historical site, the Anping Fort, while a modern Matsu statue overlooks the harbor on the right.

We hopped in the car and drove around to the other side of the harbor to have a look at the statues there. First stop was the stylized chicken.

John talks music with Zack, a former longtime resident of my own Taichung, and the aptly-named Divine, who were sunning themselves in front of the chicken statue.

Across the harbor, dozens of small fish boats rest under the protection of Church and Temple.

Frameworks for oyster cultivation?

A large tour craft.

Next we visited the Matsu statue overlooking the harbor. Here a fighter jet trains above the Goddess.

John's daughter motors across the grass.

Local youth lounges in front of the statue.

No matter where you are, there's a butterfly.

Leaving his wife and daughter to enjoy the open space, John and I went to look at the bust of Matsu. Because we both love a really big bust.

[Taiwan]