Tuesday and today have been pretty chill. We left Meifeng yesterday and spent some time at Sun Moon Lake. Before we got to the lake we stopped at a sub-farm of Meifeng and got to pick Golden Sweet tomatoes. We got to eat them right off the vine. I found out that these tomatoes are resistant to ToMV or Tomato Mosaic Virus. Once we got to the lake, we had lunch, saw a traditional Thao tribal dance, and had a tour of the lake. The Thao tribe only has 600 members left in the whole world, that’s crazy! After the lake we headed to Shueili Wood Utilization and Practice Center. We had dinner and then we learned how to put together a traditional Chinese puzzle toy called the “Luban lock.” We sanded the pieces and then wiped them down with Vaseline to bring out the natural color of the grain. We assembled the puzzle and then had a competition to see who could put it together the fastest.

Today we went through the Exhibition Center and learned about the different woods they use to construct their products. The Center was established three years ago in 2009 and its main objectives are to promote green construction, use of driftwood and bamboo, and demonstrate thinned wood utilization. We got to see how they cut the logs into thin planks, how they sharpen the saw blades, how they carve objects, and how they engrave the wood using a laser. It was very surprising that we were allowed to get so close to the equipment without wearing any protective gear and the workers weren’t wearing any either! After walking through the shop we were able to make our own bench. We had to sand it first and then we got to use the laser to engrave it. I decided not to assemble mine because it would be too bulky to take on the plane.