The good guy at Guanziling 關子嶺的好漢坡

20th July 2020 0 By livinguktaiwan

WHAT IS GUANZILING?

Today I want to talk about the good guy at Guanziling. Guanziling is located in Tainan and is one of the four famous spa areas in Taiwan. It is well known for its natural mud spa. These mud spas are said to be available in only Italy, Japan and Taiwan in the world.

位於台南的關子嶺，是台灣四大溫泉區之一。它獨特之處是有天然泥漿溫泉，聽說世上只有日本，義大利和台灣才有。

THE GOOD GUY

I went to Guanziling at the beginning of 2019 as part of my trip to the east coast of Taiwan. This area was developed in 1920 as a spa area by the Japanese when they colonized Taiwan. Back in those days, the Japanese sent their wounded troops here to recuperate. As part of their treatment and road to recovery, the soldiers had to run up and down a steep staircase that consisted of 293 steps (not 299 as I mentioned in my video). Those who completed this grueling exercise was known as a good man, hence the name of the staircase Haohanpo. This literally translates to good man slope. The staircase was later shortened to 234 steps when they had to build the road at the bottom of the staircase.

日治時代早在1920年已經開發關子嶺溫泉區，而且日軍更把傷兵送到這裡療養。當傷兵在復原期間，他們會在一條名叫好漢坡的階梯鍛鍊身體。這條階梯又陡又長，一定要很好腳力才可以跑上跑落。如果可以完成的話，就是真正一個好漢，所以名為好漢坡。

I walked down Haohanpo when I visited, and I can tell you, it was a bit more tiring than I expected! Check out my video to see how I did. Luckily I didn’t have to walk back up as I walked around the area to explore one of the spa sources, and afterward took an alternative less strenuous route back. You can see the spa source at the beginning of the video which shows the temperature of the spa water. It’s nearly sixty degrees!! Apparently the water can be 10 degrees above that shown, which is HOT!!! Hope you enjoy the video.

好漢坡原本有293階梯，後來因為要建設馬路減少到234階。在影片中你會看到我從階梯頂部往下走，已經是很吃力。可想而知，如果是往上跑要有多好的體力！