It is said that when elements of the U.S. Army were stationed on the island, they tried to purchase the village as a base, several times. Today, it also houses the offices of the Taiwan Provincial Government (TPG).
We arrived at the village at daybreak. Towering coconut trees, sentinels lining a boulevard, beckoned to us in the shimmering light. It was January, but a few early risers in only T-shirts and sports shorts were strolling the sidewalks. A crystal clear fountain, dancing, tried to outgrow the neighboring trees. Upon a green lawn near the village entrance, fabulous dragons, a phoenix, lions, and dogs stand in topiary splendor, each of them staring at visitors with two huge red added eyes. Several gardeners were planting flowers, shearing trees, and cutting grass.
Overlooking this expanse of lawn are the TPG offices. Though somewhat worn with age, they are kept as cozy and clean as brand new buildings. As we sat on a bench studying a map, the quiet ambience was broken by busload after busload of provincial government employees. The clock at the entrance announced to passers-by that it was 8:30, time to begin a day's work.
Chung Cheng Road, along the boundary line of the village, compares with Hsingsheng South Road in Taipei, accommodating clusters of churches, Muslim mosques, and Buddhist temples. On Sundays, when the church bells ring, the road is lined with sedans. On weekdays, both the Protestant and Catholic churches host classes for kindergarten children.
Master Pian Kuang-an of the Buddhist temple, in his 80s, said that he has watched village development since its birth. "I believe it was when former President C.K. Yen was governor, and current Vice President Shieh Tung-min was secretary-general, that this village took shape. Before that, there was nothing here but sugarcane field," he said.
Covering a land area of 477 hectares, the village accommodates 2,224 units of dorms and 1,200 private residences. The total population is 17,000. With two child-care centers, four primary schools, and junior and senior high schools, the village provides its residents convenient and suitable education facilities.
At a nursery, some mothers were bidding their kids to behave themselves; others were petitioning attendants for special attentions for their babies. Indifferent to the adults' nagging and chattering, the tots were happy to be together again after a night's separation. For a moment, they were drawn by a symphony of national anthem and flag music—time for the flag-raising ceremony. Some of the schools chimed-in their first notes sooner, some later; all six schools, close upon one another, together presented a unique chorus.
Verdant landscapes strech lazily to the horizons
After routine morning lectures by school masters, a young man wearing a judo suit, a black belt tied about his waist, stepped up to a rostrum on the Kuangjung Primary School's playground. He demonstrated some martial art routines, and the students, from first to sixth grades, followed suit, shouting "sa, sa" all the way. Their solemn facial expressions won the on-looker's admiration. Since many of the young people have left the village, first to pursue higher education in metropolitan areas, then, staying on after finding suitable jobs, some of the classrooms were closed down for lack of enrollment.
About two blocks away from the primary school is an athletic ground, terraced along a mountain slope. Quartered into three parts for basketball, tennis, and track and field, plus an asphalt track for roller skating, the facilities are inter connected by means of several flights of stone staircases. We arrived as Chung Hsing High School was staging an athletic meet in the track and field area. Girls of each class had organized cheering squads. Wearing differently colored sports suits, the cheer leaders waved pompons or tambourines as they cheered on the athletes.
On the track, teens holding sandbags on their shoulders engaged in a gruelling relay race. Some clenched their teeth, and with closed eyes, plunged forward, gasping hard. Then a fumble, and the leader changed. The racers' hissing breaths and the rooters' shouting added vitality to the otherwise dormant community. Some housewives brought along kids and dogs to witness the games. Some girls, perhaps travelling from neighboring schools to cheer their friends, put satchels aside and licked cottony sugarbars while enjoying the game. A few fervent onlookers ran along the track to cheer the athletes. In one corner of the field, a student was massaging the legs of her fellow contestant.
Getting ahead—One form of youth's major preoccupation
Indifferent to the heated competition on the track, a number of players, most of them obviously acquaintances, concentrated on tennis matches and basket ball games. Once in a while, casual village folks would stop by, only to soon grow tired and leave unnoticed. A scattering of players sat on the steps, patiently waiting for their turns to come. On the highest level, a loner skated along the asphalt track.
Though the overall tempo in the community was slow, the early markets were bustling with customers. Over a vegetable stand, a buyer and a vendor were haggling over the price of eggplants. A housewife looked suspiciously at a moving scale, calculating in her mind any petty gains. Vendors of garments, biscuits, candies, books, and sweet beancurd soup elbowed each other on the square in front of the market. Though, at present, the community has five markets, a merchandise supply center and a consumer cooperative also provide to village inhabitants the daily necessities. Director of the Department of Public Works Wu Kuo-fan informed us that the department plans to provide a modern supermarket in the future.
Another point bustling with activity was the Chung Hsing Hospital. Though, at present, the hospital is limited to divisions of internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics & gynecology, E.N.T., and ophthalmology, it provides suitable health care for the village people. Chen Cheng-shen, spokesman for TPG's Department of Information, said that in the future, the community hospital will actively cooperate with such large hospitals as the Veterans General Hospital branch in Taichung and the Taiwan Provincial Taichung Hospital in order to upgrade community standards and to extend services.
Yuan Tze-ming, 30, a dentist at the hospital for two years, told us that unless there is an emergency call, she works from 9 a.m. 10 noon, and 3 p.m. to 5 p.m., enjoying the leisurely life of the community. After work, she may take friends or relatives for a spin in her car.
In the yard—Time for growing
Wang Su-hui, 62, a physician specializing in internal medicine, has been working at the hospital for the past 25 years. In spite of tempting offers, she has never wanted to leave the village, because there she witnesses her babies grow up, organize their own families, and pursue their careers. "If there is an emergency call in the middle of the night, my daughters drive me to the hospital, and then sleep in the car while they wait for me. My grandsons live several blocks down the street and visit me from time to time. I have a great lime here."
Residences, all of them one-floor bungalows, feature spacious courtyards in front. Hedgerows, or bamboo or twig fences, form boundary walls. One hedgerow runs 85,200 meters. Though constructed a quarter of a century ago, none of the residents find either private or public facilities outdated. TVs, refrigerators, microwave ovens, and hi-fi systems in the homes are convenient; and the homes themselves, designed to let in a maximum of sunshine and fresh air, are pleasurable.
"Our tap water has long enjoyed a reputation for good quality. Also, look around, and you will see that the village is surrounded on four sides by mountains. Water and soil conservation work and drainage and sewage facilities have been maintained so well, that this basin has never suffered any calamities from floods or typhoons. Nor have there been any landslides," said the spokesman.
To provide the village with green areas, TPG has opened four parks, a botanical garden, three children's play-grounds, and an eight-hole golf course, connected in a belt by numerous flower beds and small meadows. A lotus pond, covering 20,000 square meters, is the village folks' favorite summer resort. Films, concerts, and scholarly lectures are regularly presented at the Chung Hsing Assembly Hall.
As we passed a children's play ground, some primary school students stopped to play on their way home. Two groups of children were measuring their weigh is on a sea saw board. Some preferred to swing away a day's hard work. A tot's feet were blistered from the rubbing while slipping down a slide in a crouching position. Tottering up, he rejoined his friends, dusting dirt off his trousers. Nearby, some more withdrawn children sat idly, like little professors. In a park area, two senior citizens sat on a bench, discussing some apparently serious matter. The setting sun gave their complexions a blurred, vague look, and their verbal sounds seemed far and distant.
A contrast in contemporary forms of transportation
At a bus station, students and government employees waited for buses to neighboring towns and cities. Though located in the mountainous region, the landlocked village has regular service to Taichung and Nantou Counties. The spokesman pointed out that after the new six-lane speedway connecting Changhua and the village is completed, within two years, travel will be really convenient.
Though there are three police stations in the village, during our five-day stay there we found we didn't have to lock the door when we left our residence.
The village is able to offer travellers room and board at a low price. In addition, there is easy access to a library, a postal office, a telecommunications bureau, two banks, a public service center, and even a computer center.
After dinner, when the night is still young, a group of women gal her al a basketball court for dancing. We went along. The group meets three times a week, regularly. Mothers bring their daughters. Most of them are housewives, just trying to keep in good shape. The dance music selections for the group— whose members run from the 20s to the 60s-ranged from traditional folk dances to popular New Wave. Though some of the ladies moved quite awkwardly, they all danced until they were soaked to the skin.
On our way home, the mercury lamps cast a silver white light in the pitch dark over the asphalt road. Some of the residents had turned off the lights and gone to bed. Some street cleaners were still tending to their jobs. The community also has them to thank for its cozy ambience.
We woke up the following day at 5:30, and hastened to one of the playgrounds to view the morning exercises. Some practiced shadow dancing, or deep breathing; others were playing tennis, bandminton, or pingpong. Trucks had al ready started to collect garbage. Amid the good morning greetings, the dawn again descended on Chung Hsing New Village, which looked on to the tranquil ages to come.