> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.taiwanquest.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 45 kilometers for ice-cream - URL: https://www.taiwanquest.com/45km-for-ice-cream/ - Published: 2023-07-14T15:55:00.000Z - Updated: 2025-03-29T08:56:43.000Z - Description: Plus a side of heat exhaustion… - Author: Zhen-Kang Over the past couple of months, converging evidence has suggested that [Moose Peanut (迷路麋鹿)](http://www.moosepeanut.com/), a ‘spring roll ice-cream’ shop in Qishan township, sells exceptionally good ice-cream. The first clue was the YouTube video [*Americans Try Weird Food In Taiwan* by Cole Fogle](https://youtu.be/SJFa-El%5FV60), which I saw in early-June. The second clue came from a local friend, who one day mentioned he and his partner had just traveled three hours (return) for ice-cream. When he described peanuts in a black charcoal wrap, it sounded immediately familiar… Then, clue number three came two weeks ago: the YouTube video [*He Experiences Something New After 20yrs In Taiwan* by Get Up. Get Out. Get Gone.](https://youtu.be/rsf6YgTjszk) Today, 45km from home, I also experienced something new: ![A man standing in the shade outside Moose Peanut ice-cream shop, wearing a mask and sunglasses, and looking at his phone.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/waiting-at-moose-peanut-qishan-1.jpg) Quietly queueing in Qishan, expectations set to high. I ordered a matcha ice-cream with strawberries, peanuts, and cilantro in a signature “bamboo charcoal spring roll skin” for NT$80 (NZ$4): ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/moose-peanut-qishan-ce-cream-1.jpg) Moose Peanut’s Chinese name (迷路麋鹿) comprises two words with the same pronunciation (“milu milu”), directly translating to “lost moose”. Here’s their logo on a paper wrap around my strawberry matcha peanut ice-cream with cilantro… ![Half-eaten green ice cream with chopped peanuts and cilantro, and frozen strawberries, in a black wrap.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/moose-peanut-macha-ice-cream-qishan-2.jpg) …Which was an easy five stars. Feeling satisfied with one ice-cream each (but also understanding why the YouTubers wanted two), my friend and I wandered down Qishan Old Street for a look. It was 34ºC, sunny, and very humid at 12:20pm: ![Qishan Old Street, with scooters parked in the foreground and three-story buildings lining either the side. The road is almost empty, with only one car visible in the distance.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/qishan-old-street.jpg) Qishan Old Street is popular with weekend visitors, but it was quiet during the hottest part of Friday. ![A two-story historic building covered on top by a metal roofing structure, which has been installed approximately three meters above the building’s roof.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/two-story-historic-building-on-qishan-old-street.jpg) The street has many historic buildings, including this one protected by a second roof… ![A historic three-story brown brick-and-concrete corner building with four scooters parked outside. Cars are parked on the street to the right, and a delivery van on the street to the left.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/three-story-historic-building-in-qishan.jpg) …And this taller one on a corner. ![Three drinking water machines on the side of the road. Each looks a little like a petrol bowser, with a rectangular smiling face on the top. The machines are coin-operated.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/taiwan-roadside-water-dispensing-machines.jpg) Elsewhere in the town, we saw these water dispensers which I hadn’t previously seen up close, and which I had—very wrongly—guessed were air compressors for scooter tires. (A misunderstanding that could’ve been awkward.) As I took this photo, my friend called out “she’s waiting!”. Immediately behind me there was an unimpressed lady on a scooter. (If I’m reading the signs correctly, the water costs NT$15 (NZ$0.75) for 20 liters.) Around this time, my phone displayed a government warning that the “feels like” temperature would soon reach 38ºC. I was already overheating in my black shirt—moderately good at hiding sweat; not so good at keeping me cool—and suggested that we look for some shade. Approaching a leafy neighborhood park, which may or may not have been part of an elementary school, I felt dizzy and looked for somewhere to sit while my friend wandered away to take slo-mo videos of butterflies. I was sweating excessively. This was despite drinking the iced green tea I’d bought 10 minutes earlier, then stealing and drinking the one I’d bought for my friend. Feeling progressively worse, I moved to a shaded bench where I could lie down before passing out. ![A large green tree, viewed from below.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/green-tree.jpg) Waking up to a blurred memory of the previous 10 or 20 minutes, I reached for my phone and took this photo of what I saw above me. The timestamp is 1:17pm. At this point I was no longer sweating, and it felt like my body temperature was back to normal. ![Five short granite benches around a tree, with a public toilet building (and security camera) a few meters away.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/park-in-qishan.jpg) I’d been lying across two of these granite benches. (I’ve just realized the camera on the toilet block was pointing directly at me.) Feeling okay, I got up off the granite. We walked to a 7-Eleven air-conditioned paradise we’d seen earlier on Qishan Old Street. Half an hour and multiple bottles of ion water later, we got back on our scooters and started a cautious ride home: ![A scooter parked beside a small shrine and a swing-bridge over a green lake, with a forest on the other side.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/neimen-shunxian-temple-swingbridge.jpg) We detoured past Neimen Shunxian Temple, where there were turtles swimming beneath this suspension bridge… ![Neimen Shunxian Temple on the far side of a green lake.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/neimen-shunxian-temple-1.jpg) …Nice views of the temple… ![Statues of four colorful dragons beside a lake, with water spraying out of their mouths.](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5e/e3/5ee3f160-68a0-49ef-af6f-ec70abc1d13e/content/images/2023/07/dragons-at-neimen-shunxian-temple.jpg) …And dragons, impervious to heat exhaustion, spraying water into the lake. ---