The 228 Park

Gunshots thundered through the city and cries and screams were scattered here and there. Innocent people executed were dumped and left out all over the JiaYi roundabout fountain. After more than three generations, people are still trying to uncover the hidden stories or maybe forgotten tragedies. With the help of documentaries, books, political activities, and social campaigns, more and more people are aware of 228 Event in Taiwan.

To unfold the tragedy is not to determine who to blame but how to make up for those suffered, and pay respect to those murdered.

In Taiwan there’re quite a few parks built in memory of this event and those sacrificed. Standing in the crossings of main roads and being crawling with tall trees, the 228 park in Jiayi isn’t difficult to be spotted. As far as parks of Jiayi are concerned, 228 Park is the only one where you can find the thick and really tall trees. The short wilding path running through it leads to a tiny slope where I can overlook the roads surrounding the park. Strolling in the path I felt the breeze cool. Instead of shooting down the heat, the sunlight just glittered through the leaves. Those trees isolated me from the busy roads trampled by vehicles. I felt like running, running the way the Alice in Wonderland does to chase the rabbit. Then I realized I started to believe how important those warm-up activities are before you do any exercises especially something extreme like sprint.

I sprained my left ankle at the point when I rush up the slope.

Before this happened, everything was so perfect that I thought it would be awesome if a set of table and a cup of coffee are served right in there. But there’s something more important waiting for me than this tiny forest. This small accident came right in time to navigate me to another stop: 228 exhibition.

Next to the micro forest, I came to an exhibition room, where instead of historical documentation is displayed, only a few framed pictures hanging over the room. There’s another room in that building, but it’s for non-periodical exhibitions or display only. The interior of this building is a real shame to the façade and the whole park. Though it cost nothing to get in the exhibition, it shouldn’t be like that. Honestly, that is really one of the most crappy exhibition I’ve ever been.

Finally I went home with disappointment. Except for the exhibition, the park is quite well designed overall compared with other parks in Jiayi. In the end I would like to pay my condolences to those sacrificed and suffered in the 228 event.

Min Sheng Park

Once upon a time, there’s a little dreamer who was not familiar with the hometown where she grew up. Why? Well, practically she spent almost her school life in home and school. At that time, her life was ALL about studying. But anyway, now she is a 23-year-old young lady and she can’t be more ready to take a closer look at this city, with all the gears one needs to explore: a mobile phone with built-in camera, a city map, and scooter.

One day during the break between works, she felt sooooo sleepy and decided to head home on her scooter. But then even though with a 1:54 map of a 60 kilometer square city, she lost her way. When she finally got back on the main road which leads home, there’s only one hour left. (It takes her half hour to drive home from where she works) She gave up the idea of going home. But she ends up landing on a small and sort of deserted park.

Her journey all begun with it. It was a crisp winter afternoon. She started to walk from the very north end of this park and all the way she could hear the twittering made by the fallen leaves which were dragged all over by the breeze. This park is more like a path sandwiched between two rows of trees. She took out her cell phone and started to snap shots of the withered trees. To her surprise, they look gorgeous and strong in her camera. With this energy they conveyed to her, she took more. Passing several crossings of streets, she came to a micky mouse pool, whithout water in it. Then something distracted her attention from the gaze at the pool to the eavesdropping of birds chirpping. This is the only busy spot in the whole park. She quietly observed them and bore their images in her mind in order to check up what they are later. Though they are all black in feather but they can definitely stand out from the crowd with those tiny red beaks and elegant long tail. They're Black Bulbul. In spite of their lovely and adorable body, their taste preferences turn out to put them on the blacklist of farmers.

On the other end is a little playground for kids. Thanks to this park, she enjoyed a short escape from the day and got to touch nature one step closer. As a jia-yi-er, this a park she would recommend to all of you who come to JiaYi city. It's absolutely not among one of the best, but if you wish to enjoy a piece of quiet, then this is a pick.