，In Haulien, meet Marble, Pebbles and Jade
About 50 years ago, when I was a senior in the college ,I joined a group of young people hiking on The Central Cross-Island Highway at a summer vacation. We were shocked by the spectacular scenery and appreciated the hard great work of veterans. At that time , Taroko Gorge was a mysterious valley, the home of native Taiwanese.
At the end of May in 2014, we joined Taoyuan Hiking Team to visit Taroko National Park, and to go hike on Sakadang Trail. The trail was a narrow path which had been dig through the hard and tough rocks and along the river cliffs by aboriginal to use in the past. 1940 , it was widened by Japanese to transport hydro-electric power equipment for Liwu Hydropower plant. Now ,Sakadang is a most famous and glorious trail in Taroko Gorge. Because it was filled with beautiful giant marble , a surprising work by nature. The tourists can enjoy a nice walk to admire the colorful marble and clear crystal river water.
Facing the Pacific Ocean, the coast is covered with numerous little stones carved by waves to become smooth and round pebbles. They lied on the eastern of Taiwan for thousands years until Suhua Highway was finished and brought the tourists to find the pretty and colorful pebbles. We took a walk step by step on the pebbles to massage soles of the feet and enjoyed the light touching by the Pacific Ocean wind.
Up Bai-Bao stream, we were excited to search for beautiful stones and played in the water, according to the local resident said when Typhoon and heavy rain hit Hualien, then lots of mud and stones rolled down from mountains and stayed behind some bright and shine jade in the bed. The small country,Fong Tien ,is a home of famous Taiwan Jade.
You can't say you had been to Hualien without meeting marble, pebbles and jade.
在花蓮遇見大理石，鵝卵石和玉石
大約五十年前，當我是大學高年級生時，在暑假和一群年輕人徒步走中部橫貫公路。我們震撼於雄偉壯觀的風景，也激賞退役軍人艱難偉大的成就。在那時代，太魯閣峽谷是一個神秘的山谷，是原住民部落所在。
2014 年五月底，我們參加桃源健行隊去拜訪太魯閣國家公園，健行於沙卡噹步道。這個步道原是一條狹窄的小徑，是舊時土著在巨石懸崖間一刀一斧開鑿出來使用的山徑，1940年在日據時代擴建為立霧水力發電廠的運補電力器材設備的小道，現在成為太魯閣峽谷最著名最壯麗的一條步道，由於大自然令人驚豔的傑作，峽谷中佈滿了巨大美麗的大理石。現在遊客可以享受美好的健行，一面走路一面欣賞美妙多彩的大理石和清澈晶瑩剔透如水晶般的溪水。
面對太平洋，海岸覆蓋了滿滿的小石頭，被海浪沖刷琢磨成圓滑的鵝卵石。它們靜靜的躺在台灣東海岸幾千萬年，直到蘇花公路完工開通，帶來遊客，發現這些漂亮彩色的鵝卵石。我們一步一步的踩著鵝卵石散步去作腳底按摩，並享受太平洋的風輕輕撫觸。
上溯白鮑溪，我們興奮的玩水並尋找美麗的小石頭，根據當地居民説，當颱風和豪雨襲擊花蓮，大量泥沙石頭從山裡滾滾而下，會在河床上留下一些閃亮的玉石。豐田村這小小的村莊是著名的台灣玉的産地。
如果你沒有遇見大理石，鵝卵石和玉石，你不能説你到過花蓮。
