It’s baaaack. That soul crushing Taiwanese summer heat that transforms rational, even-tempered people into a beastly state of irritability has made its unwelcome reappearance. As an adult I realize that complaining about the weather is childish and unseemly, but the sheer oppressive nature of the heat here defies all logic, so I refuse to be rational. That’s why I decided to stick it to Mother Nature this weekend. That’s right, I wasn’t about to let the 95 degrees with 90% humidity forecast scare us off from more adventures. Ha, bring it sister!
Jules and I hopped on a quick half hour train ride going west of Taipei proper to the town of Yingge (鶯歌), the center of ceramics production in Taiwan. Around 200 years ago Chinese immigrants brought tea from the mainland but couldn’t find proper tea sets to serve the tea in. So, they started making pottery and porcelain tea sets and before long an entire ceramics empire was born. I was looking forward to testing out my newly purchased super duper zoom lens for those long range photo shots until my heat-addled brain remembered that I left the lens and the camera back at home. Round 1: Mother Nature.
We had visited Yingge five years ago with my godparents, but Jules was too young to participate in any of the ceramics workshops at the time, so I thought it would be fun for us to take a class together. Yingge is a popular destination for both locals and tourists, so I’ll give you one guess as to why the main street looked like this while we walked to the ceramics studio.
I booked a class where we could throw on a potter’s wheel at Shu’s Pottery. The space inside and the staff were all wonderful. We were given two hours to create and design a plate, a mug and a bowl. I don’t know about you, but the last thing I need is another mug, so of course I raised my hand and asked if I could make a vase instead. The all-Taiwanese crowd looked slightly horrified that I would suggest something contrary to the teacher’s instructions, but I think I got a pass due to my American-accented Mandarin.
I had taken two semesters of ceramics in high school, and I had forgotten how good and meditative it feels to work with clay. Uh oh, speaking of the last thing I need, what I really don’t need is another hobby! Jules had also taken ceramics in school, albeit more free form than working on a potter’s wheel, so he had a fun time trying out something new. After we added some designs to our pieces we chose the glaze we wanted, and in two months we should be receiving our finished products.
We were ready for lunch at this point but too hot to go on a hardcore foodie adventure, so we settled for the first place we found with air conditioning and relaxed with a meal of braised beef noodles and iced honey lemon tea. Afterwards, we headed to the famous Yingge Ceramics Museum, the first professional pottery museum in Taiwan established in 2000.
This museum left a nice impression on me five years ago, and I wanted to show Jules around and perhaps partake in one of the many workshops the museum offers. The museum is not only beautifully designed, but the exhibits are informative and interesting, providing a good history of ceramics production in this area. As we stepped up to the ticket counter we were told that the air conditioning in the museum was broken and asked if we wanted to proceed with admission. My body actually sank a bit into the ground at this point, but I reasoned that since we were already there, then we might as well go inside. Although I was not expecting cool air when I opened the doors I certainly wasn’t prepared for the hot air either. All those lovely glass panels you see in the photo above turned the museum on this hot, broken air conditioner day into one giant greenhouse. Fill in your expletive of choice. We headed downstairs to check out the workshop schedule but discovered that all classes were canceled due to the lack of air conditioning. Jules and I braved it for about a half hour before surrendering. Round 2: Mother Nature.
As we headed back to the train station we were struck by the ingenuity and boldness of a man who rigged up a pour over coffee stand off the back of his moped, serving crazy people who were paying for hot coffee. I was tempted to buy a cup just to reward this man’s chutzpah. Instead, I chickened out and Jules and I hightailed it for the first bubble tea joint we could find and enjoyed our icy beverages in the comfort of an air-conditioned train back to Taipei, aaahhhhh….
