Taiwan Today

Unique branding for two towns encourages tourism while stoking the local economy.

What is the connection between the Italian slow food movement, a town in eastern Taiwan and snails? Not quite the gastronomic one you may have expected. A slow city may seem an oxymoron, but for Fenglin in eastern Taiwan’s Hualien County, the term has been a boon. The township of 11,000 inhabitants spread throughout 12 villages has in fact been granted the official title of “slow city.”

The designation comes by dint of Cittaslow, an Italian membership organization inspired by the slow food movement. It was established in 1999 as a catalyst to raise the quality of urban life, resist the homogenization of towns around the globe, protect the environment, promote the unique features of living spaces and inspire healthier lifestyles. Fenglin received its label in 2014, after Li Men-ling (李美玲), a local resident enthusiastic about cultural heritage preservation and community development, came up with the idea of applying for it. The township office agreed to file the application, and soon Fenglin was followed by three other towns—Nanchuang and Sanyi in northern Taiwan’s Miaoli County and Dalin in the southern county of Chiayi. It is because of this designation that sculptures and murals of snails appear in public spaces throughout the township. Speaking through a cartoon snail-decorated face mask, Mayor Shiao Wen-lung (蕭文龍) said, “Fenglin used to face a challenge in terms of identity, but the situation has changed significantly in recent years due to this official designation.”

Hoping to augment local economies and equalize tourist presence and revenue between different destinations, the Tourism Bureau (TB) under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications named 100 townships and districts “small    towns” from 2019 to 2021, based on criteria such as public transport access and the number of engaging natural or cultural attractions. Other factors were also taken into account, such as a Cittaslow label or the Cabinet-level Hakka Affairs Council designation for prominent Hakka towns with distinctive cultural legacies.

Theme Towns

The TB encourages people to explore small towns by offering themed visitor packages. For example, 2020 was named the Year of Mountain Tourism, for which the agency focused on mountain towns from Pingxi in the north, known for its scenic rail line, to Wutai in the south, rich in the culture of the indigenous Rukai people. The next year was designated the Year of Bicycle Tourism, and places featuring a network of bike trails, such as New Taipei City’s Sanxia District and central Nantou County’s Zhushan Township, were included as small towns.

Investment by the TB includes providing affordable and convenient shuttle bus services to sites, as well as organizing events like concerts. The agency also offered a NT$1 million (US$32,000) marketing budget to each selected town to finance its campaigns. High on the TB’s agenda is featuring the chosen towns in tourism industry expos abroad with invitations for overseas media and travel agencies to visit these places.

The elevated profile of small towns also owes much to proactive local governments seeking to benefit their residents. In 2019 Fenglin Township Office organized the first edition of Taiwan Hualien Cittaslow Fonglin Cup Soft Tennis Tournament, attracting 300 athletes from nine countries. “We made history in Taiwan by hosting an international sports event in such a small location, which helped raise Fenglin’s profile at home and abroad,” Shiao said. As a marketing strategy, Fenglin’s sports connection has taken off again this year as it was chosen to host the soft tennis competitions under the 2022 National Middle School Athletic Games taking place across Hualien.

A thriving local economy is a hallmark of a successful Cittaslow, and in pursuit of this goal Fenglin Township Office successfully applied for NT$25 million (US$798,000) from the Executive Yuan’s National Development Council in 2021. The grant was spent on replacing old soymilk production machines used by a local farmers’ association. With locally grown soybeans, they then produced a new soymilk branded Slow City, helping forge a local identity while enhancing economic opportunity.

The Hualien County Fenglin Township Tourism Development Association, currently headed by Li, is doing its part in marketing the town by organizing events like the Ghost Night Parade. This takes place every summer, and participants wearing costumes and makeup go on a guided night walk around iconic 1960s tobacco processing plants. Yet another visitor favorite is tug-of-war competitions in rice paddies. Li believes these activities help build a bond between people and land, especially for urban dwellers. “The plan is to hold fun and intriguing activities to pique interest from media outlets so they come to cover them,” said Li, noting that the two events each attracted over 500 people this year, including many non-Hualien residents.

A native of southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung City, Li has witnessed how the small town’s inhabitants have grown in confidence since she relocated there 20 years ago. She used to hear locals lamenting their town was not better known. “But today they’re happy that it has a unique identity,” Li said. She has also noticed former residents returning from big cities to start businesses and breathe new life into their hometown.

Success Story

Sanxia is one of the most famous small towns as it is blessed with a unique architectural heritage thanks to its prosperous mercantile past. Through concerted urban planning and investment from the New Taipei City government, this was leveraged into a valuable visitor resource, with local authorities lauching a restoration project in 2004 to refurbish shophouses built during the first 20 years of the Japanese colonial era (1895-1945). When the project was finished three years later, the historic site became a choice destination for weekend or holiday outings and a model for other restoration projects. Visitor numbers in the Old Street alone soared from around 600,000 in 2008 to 2 million in 2019. The town, close to Taipei, has gradually grown in popularity for domestic and international tourists over the past 15 years. “We have a lot to offer in addition to our famous Old Street architecture. The diversity of attractions is our strong suit, from the 255-year-old Qingshui Zushi Temple, the gallery dedicated to artist Li Mei-shu 〔李梅樹〕and a Hakka museum to a national forest recreation area,” head of Sanxia District Office Chou Chin-ping (周晉平) said.

Chou is particularly enthusiastic about indigo dyeing. “Historically fabric dyeing was vital to local livelihoods and was deeply embedded in everyday life,” he said. To revive this heritage and turn it into a tourism resource, the district office began to organize the Sanxia Indigo Dyeing Festival in 2002. The fete, which runs for five weeks in summer, provides visitors with hands-on experience and sells local artisans’ products. Some public schools in the area also teach students how to make natural dyes from local plants and produce dyed fabric items as part of the curriculum.

Nongovernmental organizations like The Can Co., a social enterprise founded by Jeffery Lin (林峻丞) in 2010, are also crucial to small town branding. Lin said that after he joined his family business, he found the town was home to many crafts like metalwork, seal engraving and woodcarving. The Can offers day trips to local craftspeoples’ studios and organizes social responsibility activities like beautifying Sanxia Creek, with proceeds supporting social projects.

Through marketing funded by both public and private bodies, Fenglin and Sanxia have built a visitor fan base, as have other small towns around the country. “However remote, small towns all have the potential to become popular recreation destinations,” Li said. “Every town has its own ambience and characteristics; size doesn’t matter. The most important thing is to focus on its unique features and bring people to enjoy them.”

Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw