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Sunday, December 14, 2008

Snake Kiln in Shueili - 水里蛇窑

On the way to thesouth end of Sun Moon Lake, after the town of Shueili, ( 水里 ) there's a place called the "Snake Kiln". We've driven past it many times, but never stopped. This time we decided to stop the car and go see what it was all about.

The Shueili Snake Kiln ( 水里蛇窑 ) gets its name from this long earthen
tunnel that serves as a kiln to make pottery. Many parts of this kiln
were reconstructed after the JiJi earthquake. It is reportedly the
oldest kiln in Taiwan.


A fire at the bottom of the tunnel, three separate stoking
boxes heat up the kiln and the fire is not wasted as it is used a
long ways in the tunnel before reaching the chimney at the end.

An old time wagon used to carry the pots to market.

Pot Wall. Pottery is everywhere outside and inside the Snake Kiln Museum.
Pipes, bowls, all kinds of pots and live demonstrations are available.

The walk from the road up to the Snake Kiln area is pleasant.
Even if you don't pay the entrance for the museum, its a nice
place to stop off for lunch. We stopped and enjoyed a yummy
plate of fried up Mountain Pig . I guess they re-use the skulls
as decorations. That does it for the stop over at the kiln. Now
we know what's on the side of the road!


3 comments:

Fotozon said...

I added a few more photos here

Taiwanrox said...

I missed this place because my father thought 水里 wasn't important...looks interesting here.

Anonymous said...

"pot wall" photo is really amazing. Interesting place.