Taiwan Today

A Hakka community and forest economy legacy contribute to rich recreation resources in northern Taiwan’s Zhudong Township.
 

When Kuo Yuan-chang (郭遠彰) was sworn in as the head of Zhudong Township Office (ZTO) at Shuqilin Culture Hall in northern Taiwan’s Hsinchu County, he highlighted the area’s rich and varied natural and cultural resources in his inaugural speech. Kuo, who is also founder of Shuqilin Hakka Culture Association, noted three geographic, historic and economic areas: the southern mountainous and agricultural area; the northern high-tech district home to the headquarters of state-backed Industrial Technology Research Institute near Hsinchu Science Park; and central downtown, the scene of urban regeneration and regional revitalization showcasing historical and cultural nuances. As the county is home to Indigenous tribes and a large Hakka community, it is a rich mix of intangible and tangible heritage, which Kuo and other administrators are leveraging to form a vibrant recreation industry.
 

Toward the end of Japanese colonial rule (1895-1945) and into the post-World War II era, the construction of a branch rail line was launched to meet growing freight and passenger demand. It extended from what is now Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) western mainline to Zhudong. Access to the historic center today is convenient for visitors via a short train ride from Hsinchu Station to Zhudong Station, followed by a five-minute stroll to Hsinchu Forest District Office’s (HFDO) Zhudong Workstation. This downtown area is the site of a number of heritage structures including the Japanese-era Zhudong Timber Industry Exhibition Hall and has benefited from the Forestry Bureau’s (FB) Conservation and Redevelopment Program of Forestry Cultural Resources.
 

The program funded additional refurbishment of the exhibition hall last October, which is scheduled for completion in March 2024. The structure was listed as a historic building by Hsinchu County Government in 2006 and has since been managed and maintained by ZTO as one of 168 sites of its kind with national conservation recognition in the business category under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act. It was originally built by the Japanese in 1940 as a management center for the logging industry around Jianshi Township in   Hsinchu County. In its industrial heyday in the 1950s and ’60s, the business employed around 500 workers, and its timber processing and residential area featured a range of facilities including transport links. For decades, Zhudong prospered as one of Taiwan’s busiest lumber hubs before the government’s policy shift and eventual halt to all logging in natural forests in the early 1990s.

Refreshing Space

Now, a host of old residential buildings survive as a repository for Zhudong residents’ collective memories and as a testament to local history, according to HFDO Secretary Wu Hsueh-ping (吳學平). While some lumber industry workers continue to live there, many others moved away and left properties empty. Major conservation attempts started in the mid-2010s following interest from local activists and community groups as well as the county government’s Cultural Affairs Bureau and most recently through the FB’s redevelopment program. Its Zhudong project, with a NT$22.31 million (US$0.73 million) budget allocated for 2021 to 2023, funded restoration of two former residences with several others to come. These will be used as venues for exhibitions, environmental education, leisure activities, local cultural experiences and a forthcoming forestry personnel training center. The latter, Wu said, is part of the HFDO’s plan to set up a facility in Zhudong in line with the government’s 2017 policy to encourage the use of locally grown lumber and reduce reliance on imports.
 

To incorporate various cultural assets into a museum on Hsinchu’s former forest economy, surveys and research into the historical background of Zhudong’s worker housing have been undertaken since 2020 by New Taipei City-based Laboratory for Environment & Form. Its president, Kuo Chung-twn (郭中端), is a landscape designer who won the National Award for Arts in 2021 in the architecture category. Kuo’s team found residential buildings that were constructed in three time periods: during Japanese rule, immediately after the end of WWII and in the 1970s. They are all potential candidates for restoration projects, which are required to preserve the original structure and style uncovered by the team’s research so that conservation work meets governmental standards for historical building group recognition.
 

Wu said that the restored residential area will be connected to Zhudong Station by tree-lined paths to shape a corridor of green space through the township. There are other legacy structures in the vicinity, which are now used as Zhudong Creative Park, Central Market and a park honoring Xiao Ru-song (蕭如松), a celebrated Hakka watercolor artist. In the town center is the Hakka Song and Dance Park, which hosts performances and competitions in the art form. HFDO cooperates with local groups and community development associations to organize a variety of activities using the newly viable spaces. These include an ongoing workshop that offers training courses for local forestry tour guides. The 15 participants attend 10 weekend classes on collecting and sorting data, carrying out field studies and conducting interviews with residents on their recollections of the place in its heyday. They will jointly design a central Zhudong forestry route as an educational social history project that HFDO hopes will expand both residents’ and visitors’ knowledge. Wu said that this public-private partnership approach is a continuation of the FB community forestry outreach campaign that came into effect in 2002.

Perfect Position

“Further work to integrate recreational and transportation resources will result in more tourist access,” Wu said. Since 2016, Taiwan Highway No. 3’s northern 150-kilometer section from Taoyuan City through Hsinchu and Miaoli Counties to the central city of Taichung has been at the heart of the government’s Hakka renaissance initiative called Taiwan Romantic Route 3. Along the way are 16 Hakka districts and townships strung together as a tourism region spotlighting their environmental, industrial and lifestyle characteristics. Wu pointed out that Zhudong is also located midway along Taiwan Highway No. 68, and there are other roads connecting the plains to mountain sites such as the Syakaro Historic Trail between Jianshi and neighboring Hsinchu County’s Wufeng Township, as well as the HFDO-overseen Guanwu National Forest Recreation Area that spans both Hsinchu and Miaoli Counties. Wu said that the TRA’s local rail link, Zhudong Station, is at the midpoint of the Neiwan Line, which is one of three very popular Japanese-era branch lines. In Zhudong, vestiges of the former forestry industry are an indispensable part of the mix of local attractions, and Mayor Kuo has vowed to integrate all recreational resources during his term in office, from legacy forestry facilities that “flow in the blood of the township,” to manifestations of the Hakka culture he holds dear.

Write to Pat Gao at cjkao@mofa.gov.tw