Abstract :
It was a Saturday in late October 2009. I was on a business trip in Taipei and had to stay over the weekend. A few local friends decided to take me hiking on the scenic Tianmu Gudao (Ancient Tianmu Trail), located in the Shilin District and bordering an area best known as an enclave for Taiwan´s expatriate community. The Tianmu Trail is also known as Shuiguan Trail (Water Pipe Trail) since a big water pipe lies along most part of the trail. The water pipe is part of a waterway system built during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan. Today, the pipe supplies 19,000 tons of water per day to residents.
