The cows of Jhunan Township
Despite the abundance of dairy and beef all over Taiwan (even if half the population is lactose intolerant), one of the first things I noticed when I started to venture out into the countryside was a complete lack of cows.
Not that I was expecting to see them everywhere the second I stepped outside of the city boundaries but in my travels from the north end of Taiwan right down to the southern coast – I never saw as much as one pink udder.
Where were all the cows?
People told me there were dairy farms around but cows being cows, it wasn’t like the sheltered pig farms you always smell but can’t actually see into (unless you dare to creep closer and risk the ire of the owner getting upset you’re taking photos of his precious pigs as I once did).
Anyway, a few years passed and I just began to accept that there were no cows in Taiwan. I sort of adopted a don’t ask don’t tell policy. Beef was all around me but I had no idea where it came from.
It wasn’t until I started exploring Miaoli County’s Jhunan Township and nearby Toufen that I actually saw my first cow in Taiwan. Infact, in the few weeks I spent exploring the town I saw more cows than the rest of Taiwan put together (not hard considering that number was and still is “0″).
The first cow is one regular readers would have already met:
Spotted (or heard rather) while we attempted to navigate Toufen’s “culture” bike trail, this cow was mooing up a storm and sounded somewhat distraught.
After checking it was ok and not really finding any reason for it to be mooing so much (loneliness?), we moved on. But it stands as the first cow I ever saw here.
Closer to Jhunan’s coast, these next two cows looked a bit more happy under their tree:
Obviously it’d have been much nicer if they built a fence around the area and let them roam around the paddock but compared to the cow above who had no room to move at all, these cow were being kept pretty decent.
The third cow I saw was a bit of a “wtf” moment. Riding along the backstreets of Jhunan, all of a sudden we started hearing some very loud moos. Looking around and seeing no greenery, our curiosities were piqued and we began to trace the source:
How’s that for a makeshift barn. This was in the middle of the day and the cow was tied up so it couldn’t leave the area.
I have no idea if they do but I hope they let it roam a bit when the sun goes down. Poor thing.
And as much as you might like milk… what on Earth are you doing keeping a cow in urban Jhunan?
Anyway, that was a bit of a strange week what with three cows popping up randomly after never having seen one.
Unfortunately though I haven’t seen any other cows since then so I’m still not really sure where the rest of Taiwan’s cows are at…
January 24th, 2013 at 9:27 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
We have about 300 head of Holsteins over here at the dairy in Hualien. They even ostriches, kangaroos, camels, and such in a small zoo; you can hand feed many of these animals. My favorite hot springs nearby, too!
http://sinotour.com/tourguide/hualien/rueisuei-ranch.html
January 26th, 2013 at 6:42 pm chububobcat(Quote)
I got to admit in my many years in Taiwan I rarely if ever saw any cattle while roaming about however while I lived over in Hualian I saw a lot of cows mostly in really random places such as on the beach but few dozen meters from the ocean, another was standing on a sea cliff with its calf just sorta hanging out.
This cow couple I saw a few times the first time I was alerted to their presence by a barking dog that was tormenting the calf while tied down mom could do nothing.
However the oddest sighting was a heard that was wondering along a river bank in the middle of the city pretty much. All of these cows were completely unattended and in areas the leave one with the WTF feeling for quite some time after accepting there are cows where cows shouldnt be.
January 26th, 2013 at 7:33 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
@CB – Yes. It’s true, when a cow in India dies, it is reincarnated in Cow Paradise (aka Hualien)! LOL
January 28th, 2013 at 9:39 pm Oz(Quote)
Lol, love how there’s no animal pictures on that Rueisuei Ranch site. If that was the drawcard you’d think they’d put some up there.
In other news, Hualien sounds like the cow capital of Taiwan!
January 28th, 2013 at 10:09 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
Oh yes. It’s udderly a mooooving experience hereabouts. :^P
C’mon over and I’ll introduce you to “Da Chiu”, our local waterbuffalo sire.
February 4th, 2013 at 4:12 pm Tina(Quote)
I have a friend who lived in Taiwan as a military brat in the 70s and she swears up and down the “beef” was not beef, but dog. Dunno about that, it may have been true when she lived there but I am pretty sure I have not eaten dog in Taiwan, even unknowingly!
Great blog, by the way. I’m Taiwanese American, haven’t been to Taiwan in 6 years and when I start missing the island I go read expat blogs.
February 5th, 2013 at 10:22 am Oz(Quote)
Dog hey, can’t say I’ve knowingly had that here. I do keep my eyes open though but doubt I’ll ever see it. I figure the dog industry here is more of a grandma and grandpa type undercover industry. They ain’t gunna let me see it.
Thanks for stopping by and welcome aboard
February 5th, 2013 at 1:23 pm Tina(Quote)
Yeah, I think it’s different now with all the Western influence, eating dog isn’t really something that’s done much any more in Taiwan I think. It was a bit different when my mom was a kid. They had a dog that was stolen and they always suspected it ended up in someone’s soup pot. Yikes.
February 5th, 2013 at 4:01 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
Sometimes, the best finds are those that are NOT advertised… I’m sure that, in your bike travels, you have found many treasures of like kind.
February 5th, 2013 at 4:02 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
Welcome, Tina!
February 13th, 2013 at 2:22 pm Oz(Quote)
On the topic of cows, I spotted this news story a few days ago in the Taipei Times:
Good on him!
February 13th, 2013 at 9:03 pm TaiwanTeacher(Quote)
@Oz – Yes. Good on him!
Happy Chinese New Year!
I sold 100 tortillas and repaired a stranger’s bicycle after rendering first aid to the rider, all in 2 1/2 hours today!
(My fingers are bleeding.)
But!
I’ve got to keep on Moo-ving!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-oj8s1u61AM
Cheers, Mates!