Shihmen Reservoir and Seafood Lunch on Dragon Boat Day

Our first stop was at the Shihmen Reservoir. This project was officially dedicated in Jun, 1964. The site is a "multipurpose hydraulic engineering project that provides irrigation, power generation, public water supply, and flood control." It has become a scenic attraction as the urban areas have grown out toward it. Rex could remember coasting his bicycle down the steep hills when he was a boy growing up in the Jongli area. We walked around the "after bay," then drove the car up to the top of the dam to the tourist's center (please note the "alien" in the garden). We then walked across the Shihmen Bridge and climbed the stairs to the pavilion. The view was amazing, and it is no wonder that people enjoy the outdoors here. I declined a boat ride, but the Mas bought a cake of special tofu that is only offered in this area. It was black on the outside, but cake-like on the inside when sliced. It was bagged and soaked in a soy/garlic sauce. I, who do not like most tofu, enjoyed this tofu when I finally built up my nerve to taste it!

We drove down the hill at noon past many, many seafood restaurants professing to sell the reservoir fish cooked any way you liked it. They took me to a very lovely restaurant that had cloth tablecloths, covered chairs, and small petitions around each table. It was the quietest and most intimate Chinese restaurant I have ever been in! It had won prizes for their seafood, and bragged on a very large poster that they could fix fish in 100 ways. The food was outstanding...shishimi, sweet and sour fried fish, sichuan-style fried fish and tofu, a vegetable dish featuring early leaf sprouts from sugar cane, sea cucumber and vegetables, clam soup, and fresh fruit for dessert, of course. No wonder they won prizes! The fruit plate featured guava and watermelon which you could dip in a salt/plum powder mixture. I had never tasted the dip before, and I said I thought my family would like to taste it. They immediately decided they would stop on the way home to make sure I had it...embarrassing, but, yes, I have it in the suitcase.
Next stop: Cihu, Chiang Kai Sheck's mausoleum and statue park...