Runes

We will stay on last week’s path a little bit longer.

From close up, these signs look like old runes – with moss reaching towards the rock’s wound and red paint filling it like blood. 象山崗, xiǎng shān gǎng means Elephant Mountain Hill. Whoever carved the signs here probably knew how flimsy the 山 (mountain) must sound in a country dominated by almost 4000m high mountain ranges.

Taking a step back, it becomes clear they are much more mundane in nature. They are mere markers, probably installed a couple of years or a few decades ago by the local tourism bureau. Nonetheless, this doesn’t look like something you expect to find a mere 15 minutes by foot away from Taiwan’s highest skyscraper.