Xi-Tou (溪頭)

National Taiwan University has an experimental forest located in the middle of Taiwan. It is a wonderful place and has now been developed into a “nature” study area (自然教育園區), the only one with substantial support on the island. Xi-tou means the “head” of a stream. There are a number of streams in the area, the name must come from them. It was blessed with good support from the government and the University, both personnel-wise and financially. This was the place for our first stop when we took the train ride south in 1975. My father went together with us. This was the first trip my whole family unit traveled with my father in Taiwan, three generations of us. We stayed in Xi-tou for several days, in the bamboo guest house built for the Chiang Family vacations, taking a walk every morning. One place we walked was to University Pond and our children took a picture on top of the bamboo bridge.