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Updated: 2008-03-04 16:10

Day 3

At Hanben Station, between Hualien and Yilan, Dong met Sonja, a young Lithuanian woman traveling Taiwan. In a touching, almost romantic scene, she explains that she came to his homeland because Lithuania has no mountains; its highest point is 282 meters above sea level whereas Taiwan has Jade Mountain, East Asia’s highst mountain, at 3,952 meters. Dong reached Wuta Village, the origin of the Atayal tribe.

The name Hanben came from the Japanese “Hanbun,” which means a half, because Hanben station is between Hualien and YilanThe Atayal tribe is one of Taiwan’s nine aboriginal tribes. The first record of Atayal inhabitance is found near the upper reaches of the Chosui River. Some time during the late 17th century they crossed the Central Mountan Ranges into the wilderness of the east, and then settled in the Liwu River valley. Seventy-nine Atayal villages can be found here.

They practiced many forms of food production including slash and burn agriculture, hunting, fishing and gathering.

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