blogs wuhe-fuli-guanshan.docx

7/29/2019 Blogs Wuhe-Fuli-Guanshan.docx

1/29

Tour for Ruesuei

We woke up early in the morning and leave the Rice School at 7:30 a.m. toward Ruesuei Dairy by bus. We pick up

some friends in the neighbor towns and then we arrived around 9:00 a.m. in Wuhe Villages Leisure farm. Ruesuei

Dairy is located on the lower reaches of the Siouguluan River, where clear water from other streams come

together to swell its flow. In Rueisuei Dairy farm we could breathe the clear air and feed the healthy cows that

produce milk for a variety of dairy products that are acclaimed for their purity and quality. They have a milk shop

where you can savor the rich taste of fresh milk and other products made of milk like candies and milk pudding.

Other famous agricultural products of the area include pomelos and tea. Rueisuei Dairy farm was a top high

profile farm in Taiwan about 10 years ago. As the number of visitors gradually increased, the fields have gone

from merely grazing cows and providing dairy products, developing into a diversified tourist dairy farm; adding a

visitor center and outdoor coffee shop. You can also you can try the piping-hot steamed milk buns and the

flavorful milk candy, a top-seller and popular gift as well as cheesecake, iced dairy treats, and other deserts.

Ruesuei Farm also has ostriches that visitor can feed, making it a fun and exciting destination for the whole family.

View for the main entrance of the Farm,

a very peaceful place with an natural environment

Coffee Shop offering a wide variety of milky flavored candies in Rueisuei Dairy


2/29

Xiomara feeding the cows of the farm

One of the two Osteriches in the farm

After having a rest for almost an hour and a half we went directly to the next visit, which was the Soil and Water

Conservation Bureau in Wuhe Township. There, we met the high qualified personnel who explained us some

technical details and part of the history of the place. The agricultural development of Wuhe started since the

Japanesse colony era in Taiwan as a coffee plantation company. Then during 1950 s Citronella was a rising star but

it briskly disappeared from Wuhe to reflect the fall in market value. Pineapple took over the market in 1960`s by a

group of farmers from Changhua county. The investment in pineapple failed.

The plantation took over the platform in 1973, under the promotion from government agencies. The tea business

finally, improved the living quality. It also brought wealth to the farming community. Various slopeland

conservation projects carried out by Soil and Water Conservation Bureau were there launched at Wuhe in 1984

followed by Rural Community Development Project in 1989 that lead Wuhe to a modernized village.


3/29

This Government farm has a very big extension, about 120 hectares, and has a very beautiful and traditional

entrance with gardens and ponds with many colorful fishes where we could breathe the clean and fresh air of the

country side again. We visited with the technicians of the area the Tea Specimen Yard, where we saw a wide

variety of tea trees, as the famous Oolong Tea produced through a unique process including withering under the

strong sun and oxidation before curling and twisting. The taste of oolong ranges hugely amongst various

subvarieties. According to the specialists it can be sweet and fruity with honey aromas, or woody and thick with

roasted aromas, or green and fresh with bouquet aromas, all depending on the horticulture and style of

production. Also they show us the green tea, which is not fermented and the Black Tea with a darker color red

fermented.

This Tea Yard contains some varieties of Tea which are not commercialized anymore but still very useful to create

new blends and high yield varieties that keep the ancient flavor of the original Chinese leaves. Then in their

experimental plots they explained the demonstration of simulation rainfall, which shows soil erosion run offs

plots clearly demonstrate the effect of vegetation in soil and water conservation.


4/29

Gardens in Soil and Water conservation Bureau in Wuhe

Specialists explaining the different types of tea plantations in Wuhe

Simulation of Experiental camp in Wuhe

After having an interesting trip in the Soil and Water conservation farm we went toward a Coffee farm where we

met Mr. Zong, a friendly farmer from Wuhe, who invited us to experience the collecting of coffee beans directly


5/29

from the trees. There he explained us the coffee breeding process; then he invited us to his house where we had

great moments with him sharing a real coffee cup, making jokes and having fun while experiencing by ourselves

the washed coffee process with the beans we collected before in the plantation, that was amazing!!!

Collecting coffee beans in Wuhe

Coffee farmer in Wuhe explaining the washed coffee process

Photo group with the Coffee farmer in Wuhe


6/29

Sharing friendly moments in Mr. Zhongs house

After the unforgettable visit to the home of Mr. Jong, we headed to one of the main centers of tea- making, Wuhe

town, where we met some of the most famous tea tasting centers of Taiwan. We had a wonderful experience

there savoring the different aromas and flavors of the different varieties of tea grown in Wuhe, for example green

tea, oolong tea, we learnt that black tea is actually red, and taste great. Testing different varieties, flavors and

aromas of tea grown in Taiwan, has been one of the most wonderful discoveries in my life, because in my home

country El Salvador, this drink is not widely known and it is less consumed than coffee. The variety of delicious

flavors and complexity are worth experiencing!

DIY Tasting many varieties of Tea grown in Wuhe

Finally we had the experience of preparing a tea dessert with one of the hosts. The dessert was again a treat for

our palates; and we enjoyed learning to make it.


7/29

DIY in Wuhe making a dessert prepared with Tea

This first visit was an enjoyable introduction to the tea culture, flavors and ideas to drink it.

Visiting Fuli

We were looking forward to this visit; we have heard nice things about the area and its farmers association. We

were taken to the visitor information center, an impressive one we must say, big, new looking. It was shown a

video about the East Rift Valley. The images shown were outstanding; the whole idea of a country side living that

gets along with environmental protection as well as with growing a variety of crops is really appealing. The

journey pictured in the video makes you feel like wanting to know east Taiwan a lot better, and experience living

in harmony with nature.

According with the video thanks to its fertile land and abundant production of rice, the area has been known as

the granary of eastern Taiwan. The rice grown here is known throughout Taiwan for its top quality, and it is even

exported to Japan.


8/29

Visitors center in Fuli at the beginning of the trip

Our second stop led us to have and amazing glance of the valley as we went to the Mud Volcano. Mud volcano

tofu is specially food the Yanping area in Luoshan. Its history traces back to the end of the Japanese occupation

period, when farming was largely manual and neighbors often helped each other with the work. At that time,

transportation in the mountains environment was difficult, making it hard to reach markets to buy food. The

farmers therefore used to make their own tofu. As a result, tofu making became a specially skill of this area. It is

no longer known when the locals first starting using mud volcano water to congeal the tofu, but the tradition

today survives in mud volcano tofu.

View of the Mud volcano area

What we found particularly interesting about this site is that local people actually use its gases to cook, as we

found out this was the first site in Hualien that did this. Ideas like this show that people can live in a sustainable

and rational manner without exhausting natural resources.

Then we visit the beautiful Luoshan Big Fish Pond, called Dapitang by locals, which is a silted lake formed by


9/29

water slurry oozed from fault zone of the mud volcano with an area of a about 1 hectare. It was very interesting

to know that nearby residents in early days used the water of the pond for irrigation. However, nowadays, the

pond is used only for recreational purposes.

Luoshan Big Fish Pond, called Dapitang by the locals

Our third stop: Lou Shan Organic Village; it is the first organic farming village in Taiwan.

We stopped at this village to make Mud Volcano Tofu. What an interesting process!! They showed us the

traditional way of grinding soy beans, get soy milk, and finally tofu. We all participated making tofu and also

eating it! The village owners pay special attention to detail and they have ready a nice table for their guest to try

the DIY tofu. Very nice experience and very kind hosts. The traditional milling process of the soybean was a very

interesting way to know more about the Taiwanese rural living in the past, which has been almost forgotten in

recent years with last decades of more industrialization and urban areas growth in the country.


10/29

Milling the soybeans in a traditional stone

Boiling the soybean milk in a traditional stove

Filtering the tofu in a traditional way


11/29

The group, finally eating the tofu traditionally handmade

Then we went for lunch at the farmers association. They have big facilities with a restaurant with nice view to the

flower fields; it made the lunch experience enjoyable in beautiful lunch boxes, traditionally made in the area with

colorful food inside, so cool!!! Besides that it also had a show figures by the flower fields that seem to attract

more visitors. According with the visitor s center, years ago, Fuli Township Farmer s Association imported

advanced milling equipment to process embryo rice into a type of organic white germ rice that retains all of the

nutritional essence of organic rice. Since the level of milling is higher than that of most embryo rice on the market,

the rice has a lighter color, lower yield, and better taste. The precision milling process preserves all of the dietary

fiber of the rice germ, without sacrificing the sticky and chewy texture of the rice. For consumers unaccustomed

to eating brown rice, the result is delightfully surprising.

Having lunch in a beautiful lunch boxes in the farmers association


12/29

Bamboo lunch boxes in Farmers Association in Fuli

In the backyard of the Farmer s association we took some pictures with nice figures like dragons, big birds and

aborigine houses made of straw. We had enjoyable moments with the figures which formed part of the

harmonious and attractive landscape of the flower fields that surround the area.

Figures made of straw in backyard of the Farmers Association building in Fuli

For the afternoon we went to bake our own bread! Interesting experience because we got to give our own design

to a loaf of bread and the eating part was the best, the bread was warm and crunchy in the outside and soft in

the inside so good!


13/29

The bread dough after kneading and ready to bake

The bread was baked and ready to eat. It was so delicious!

To close the day, we went to see Loushan Waterfall. The view was amazing even though it was raining, and the

sky was cloudy. We could see the huge rocks, the clean water of the small ponds created by the waterfall and the

impressive view of the mountains!!! What a beautiful landscape! So impressive, because you feel surrounded by

unpolluted nature. It was nice to see such a place and share it with the group. The nearby Loushan Waterfall,

located in Loushan Village in the coastal mountain range is visible from the highway, as it presents an imposing

sight as it plunges downward in 2 tiers. Below the waterfall, mud volcanoes erupt all year round from a number of

small hills as we checked at the beginning of the trip in the morning.


14/29

Loushan Waterfall near Fuli Muds volcano

Bridge in the Loushans Waterfall in Fuli


15/29

Beautiful view from the Bridge in Loushan Waterfall

The group taking pictures of the beautiful landscape

The day came to an end and left with the feeling of amazing landscapes and rational use of natural resources.


16/29

Visit to Guanshan

All the group of the project was very excited at the beginning of the trip in Guanshan when the bus arrived to the

Guanshan Farmers Association at 8:30 a.m. The group in charge of this town was Michelle, Winny, Xiomara and

Gabriel, the last two from El Salvador, Central America.

Taking the bus to start the trip in Guanshan Township

We went directly to the downtown in Guanshan experiencing the Old Style houses from the Japanese rule time,

where we could see now how the time has change and these houses has been adjusted to the modern needs, but

always keeping the same spirit and old design. We went also to the Old train station where many years ago there

were probably many people waiting for the train, now is it has been arranged as bike selling place because

nowadays there is a new train station. In front of the old train station there was a hotel where the visitors could

take a shower and sleep while they waited for the train. Now you just can see the building which should be

improved in the future. Then we continue with the tour and we also visit nearby this place an old store where you

can see still old people selling some clothes. There we chat a little with its owner, who was drinking a special kind

of tea.


17/29

Old style house in Guanshan

Old train Station in Guanshan


18/29

Old store in Guanshan

After walking through Guanshan downtown we went directly to the Police Station, and we took a guided tour to

the Guanshan Police Museum. There we saw some sculptures of aborigine workers made of wood carrying logs to

their homes. All of us were interested in the quantities of logs, and the guiding person explained their secret

meaning, which was related with the quantity of responsibilities of the worker. Then we went behind the police

office and we enter to the museum built with a Japanese design made of wood, as intact as decades ago. Inside

was a very interesting place! With many tools used in the Japanese rule era. For instance, there was an old typing

machine with hundreds of keys with old Chinese and Japanese words, it looked so complicated!!! I couldn t

imagine using those typing machines today! But actually they really existed before the computers! Also we could

see many interesting old weapons and shields used in the past by the Japanese police, and we had some funny

moments playing these old things and learning more about history.

Visit to Guanshan Police Station


19/29

Japanese style building in Police Station

Guanshan Police Station Museum


20/29

Tour in Guanshan Police Museum

Playing with a old shield inside the Guanshan Police Museum


21/29

Garden inside Guanshan Police Station

During the afternoon we had lunch together and rested for a while. Then we continued with another interested

DIY (Do it Yourself) activity where we could learn more about the honeybee production process in the Rice

Farmers Association. Honey bees transform nectar into honey by a process of regurgitation and evaporation. They

store it as a primary food source in wax honeycombs inside the beehive. The worker bees raise larvae and collect

the nectar that will become honey in the hive. In Guanshan rice farmers association you can see many hectares of

beautiful flowers were the bees can pick up the nectar needed for the beehive. Leaving the hive, they collect

sugar-rich flower nectar and return.

Beautiful flowers grown in Rice School backyard

Colorful Flowers where the bees can collect nectar


22/29

Beekeeper explaining techniques of extracting

honeybee in Guanshan Rice School

Collecting honey is typically achieved by using smoke to pacify the bees; the smoke causes the bees to attempt to

save the resources of the hive from a possible forest fire, and makes them far less aggressive. The honeycomb is

removed from the hive and the honey is extracted from that, often using a honey extractor. The honey is then

filtered. The beekeeper in this activity removed some frames from the beehive, so we could see inside how the

bees live and take care of the larvae that would become in new working bees.

A beekeeper removing frames from the hive


23/29

The farmer showing a frame with a lot of bees

Then the beekeeper gave us some wax extracted from some useless beehive frames for the next activity. In this

activity we melted these frames and obtained the liquid wax and everybody poured the hot liquid wax in a small

crystal little cups so we got beautiful candles at the end!!!. The bad part is that the bees were still restless

because of our presence in the place and bite a couple of classmates!! Fortunately it was not serious but I think it

hurts a lot!!!!.

It is important to say that many different products can be obtained from the beekeeping besides honey, as we

could see in the place. For instance, delicious candies, rolls and cookies made of flower powder collected by the

beehive, royal jelly which is highly nutritious for the bees and the human beings, some kind of natural medicine

and lip balm, among other products.

Cooking the beewax to making an DIY with the team


24/29

Cooking the beewax in a DIY

Making candles with the beewax

Final product of the DIY activity and flower powder picked by the bees


25/29

All products made from the bee hives

Afterwards, we went directly to a traditional store where we made another DIY so we had the opportunity of

polishing a cup and chopsticks made of bamboo. Everybody was very entertained with this activity, but it took at

least an hour to finally have the products finished. At the end we could write our names in the cup giving a

personal touch to our handicraft creations. Finally we used our souvenirs to eat a delicious soup traditionally

made by the owner of the store. One special thing I can also tell is my surprise when I saw the paddy field in front

of the store and I could also capture a funny image of a dog joining his owner while the farmer was driving his

truck in the paddy field!! What a beautiful example of loyalty! Wow, I couldnt believe what my eyes were

watching at that moment!!

DIY making bamboo aboriginal products


26/29

Writing our names in the beizi cup

Funny and cute dog joining his owner at work in the paddy fields


27/29

The whole group and the end of the bamboo DIY

Finally, we went to visit Chishangs Farm, we arrived to a beautiful farm connected to the bike road. At this farm

there were explained the interesting changes on the crops as the seasons revolve, where the farmers are idle,

flowers and butterflies dance in the fields like paintings appearing one after another. Also, there are some others

crops grown in this area as we checked in the lovely Chichang s farm. There we had the experience of planting

strawberries in some pots, and learn more about the manure used in this crop, which is made of coconut.

Visit to Chishang farm in Guanshan countryside


28/29

DIY picking up some strawberry plantings

Planting the strawberry plantings in the pots

Afterwards, we could harvest some radishes directly from the field. This was a nice activity directly connected

with the farmers way of living; so we got to learn more about the agricultural activities, which we usually forget

when we taste a delicious food served on a table and cultivated by our farmers all around the world. So even

when life has changed over the decades, being linked with nature in a respectful manner has to be central in our

minds.


29/29

Collecting radishes in the plantation in Chishan farm

blogs wuhe-fuli-guanshan.docx

Documents