China shouldn't stomp out the magic

I am not a winter guy.

Columns over the years have made this pretty clear.

Back in my younger years when I was fairly fearless about taking jumps on a mogul field, I saw the merit of cold and snow; but as I have traded my skis for a snow shovel, winter has pretty much lost any allure to me.

This winter seems to have started off strong.

There has been snow every week since Halloween.

I have found myself outside shoveling snow quite a lot these past weeks and try as I might not to, I find myself thinking about the tropical places I lived and visited.

This year, I find myself remembering a place that was really special to me when I discovered it around 20 years ago–It is a place I am sure has never seen a snowflake.

When I lived in Taichung, Taiwan there was this beach town at the very southern tip of the island which took about six hours or so to get to that I often visited. The town was called Kenting and it had awesome beaches, tropical jungle all around it with hiking trails, because the jungles had been designated a national park. In my early years, I camped on the beach or in trees near it. For some reason the beaches were fairly deserted given how excellent they were.

The temperature never went below 70 and because it was a bit of a resort town, there were places to rent scuba equipment for diving. The diving was not as great as the Philippines or Australia, but it was still really good.

December was an enjoyable month to be in town, because Taiwanese didn't really swim to begin with and they found the winter water cold. There were no tour buses then either. Kenting really felt like a retreat to me.

No wonder it comes to me as I shovel snow.

The national park was not busy like so many parks in Taiwan. Probably because it was not close to the cities up north where the bulk of the population lives.

There were few towns and villages around Kenting.

I enjoyed hiking the park as well as swimming and camping on the beach.

The crazy thing about getting to the trails for hiking at the park–you would have to go through green, lush pastures with longhorn cattle grazing all around. I guess it was private land, but there were no signs saying so.

One of my best memories of the place was when my buddy Darby Doll (Buck and Ardyce Hoem's grandson for those in the know) who hailed from the Valley, found a cow skull.

Darby was so excited. He told me it reminded him of home. I had not been to Wyoming yet, so I took him at his word. He made me take a picture of him holding it to send back home. This was prior to cell phones. Darby then decided he had to have this cow skull, so we carried it back to our tent.

Mr. Cow Skull was with him in his apartment for several years until he moved back to the United States.

He entrusted me with the skull.

When I left Taiwan, the skull went with me. I delivered it to Darby and his wife, Stefanie, in Denver where they were living. I am not sure Stef was all that wild when the skull was back in Darb's possession, but Mr. Doll was happy.

When they moved back to Asia, the cow skull did not go with them.

Darby handed it back to me when they went back to Asia and it sits on a fireplace mantle at my house. The picture of him holding it that day is next to it.

Mr. Cow Skull has been in one of our possessions for over 25 years now.

Quite the souvenir.

Anyway, back to Kenting.

Besides being this totally cool little beach town that had so many scenic attractions, the food was killer too.

The Chinese food was great–which included dumplings filled with shrimp, beef noodle soup (probably Taiwan's national dish).

Kenting was famous for its squid on a stick. I ate squid on a stick every day I was there at least once. They literally grill the squid with seasoning that is a bit spicy on a long stick. I guess in retrospect walking around munching squid on a stick might seem a little unusual to Americans, but boy do I miss being able to eat it nowadays.

There were cliffs just outside the town that were simply majestic.

China is not going to be able to invade around there, that is for sure.

These cliffs are sheer and jut out hundreds of feet from the ocean. The wind blows so strong, it could give Carbon County a run for the money in intensity.

The difference is the wind feels good in winter there.

Looking out to the sea is something I loved to do too.

Still do honestly.

Kenting in the winter was really magical for so many reasons. I went there every chance I could, whether by motorcycle, car or bus.

Taiwan put in a speed rail along the coast just before I left and Kenting can be a two hour journey now.

But back when I lived in Taichung, the second largest city on the island, it was about 5 hours by car. The weather in Taichung is most like Los Angeles, so it can get a little cold, but not often. Temps in the 40s happened and there was a lot of rain in February and March.

That was winter.

Not bad, but not like Kenting.

Kenting had rain in winter. Sometimes it had downpours, but if you are on the beach, even on a jungle hike, it was no big deal getting wet.

Little wonder those beaches in Kenting are something to focus on as I am dealing with the snow in Wyoming.

I have to admit, re-visiting Kenting really brings back some tremendous memories, not only about beaches and tropical weather, but how excellent the people were down there.

Beach towns are definitely inhabited with laid back folk and Kenting is no exception. The residents knew they had a special place and wanted visitors to appreciate it. I would hate for this awesome place in Asia to get trashed because one man decided it was time for China to take control of Taiwan even though the island has never been under a communist regime.

Never.

I realize if the Chinese attack and take over Taiwan, my magical little beach town, I remember so fondly, will probably change dramatically because of its location. It would be prime real estate in watching the waters south from a Chinese military perspective.

I don't see the Chinese being overly concerned about destroying a beach town to keep their ambitions of controlling the South China Sea and Pacific.

It is a little ironic how shoveling snow here in Wyoming really got me thinking about what is at stake when a large country tries to take over a smaller country.

I have seen the devastation Russia has inflicted on Ukraine as many have. Towns and villages have been wiped from the face of the globe.

I see a similar thing happening to Taiwan's towns and villages if China decides to invade. I know the landscape well in Taiwan and some of these towns would to have to be leveled to be captured. Towns in the mountains and coast would probably be hard hit.

These towns are also some of the most beautiful on the island.

I truly hope China and Taiwan find a way to come to terms without destroying what is so good.

Towns like Kenting are treasures to the world and should be treated as such.

I want to be able to shovel snow in these cold Wyoming winters and know that this warm, magical little place still exists and is just waiting for me to come back for a visit.

The world has enough battle scarred places.

It doesn't need another.