Weidy Lin (林家志), a tourist from Hong Kong, finds Yilan a fascinating place to explore. “I visited Lanyang Museum this morning and saw interesting artifacts, had fresh seafood near Su-ao Port at noon and now I’m at a recreational farm, drinking tea and sampling sweets,” he says. “I especially like the fresh air and the tranquil environment here, which I can’t experience in Hong Kong. Next time, I’d like to stay longer because I know there are many other things to do.”
In recent years, Yilan’s tourism appeal has grown as awareness of its diverse activities and natural landscape has spread. Moreover, improved accessibility following the inauguration of the Hsuehshan Tunnel in 2006 has cut travel time between the county on the northeast coast and Taiwan’s capital city Taipei from approximately three hours to one hour.
The most anticipated event in Yilan County in summer is undoubtedly the Yilan International Children’s Folklore and Folkgame Festival (YICFFF). The annual event, first staged in 1996 at the county’s Dongshan River Park, was endorsed by the International Council of Organizations of Folklore Festivals and Folk Arts under the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2010. It is also designated by Taiwan’s Tourism Bureau as one of the country’s top 12 festivals.
“Our idea in holding the YICFFF is to turn Yilan into one big playground to provide fun and entertainment for children and adults of all ages,” says Yilan County Magistrate Lin Tsung-hsien (林聰賢). “We also promote international exchanges so that local residents can appreciate traditional dance, theater and musical performances from different countries without having to go abroad, while foreign performers can get to know Taiwan during their stay here.”
Bringing the World to Yilan
Over the years, the YICFFF has developed into an international cultural event, Lin Tsung-hsien says. The Yilan County Government seeks innovative ideas when planning the festival to give visitors a fresh, new experience every year, he says.
For instance, this year’s festival, which was held from July 7 to August 19, offered a wide selection of activities, exhibitions and performances for visitors. In addition to 11 Taiwanese performance groups, 23 troupes from 20 countries were invited to the festival. They included performers from six first-time participating countries—Ecuador, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
Children and adults alike have fun at the water park set up for the Yilan International Children’s Folklore and Folkgame Festival held this year from July 7 to August 19. (Photo Courtesy of Yilan County Government)
The festival site featured a mini water park including a new 10-meter-high water slide, and a workshop area, where domestic and foreign artisans demonstrated the production of traditional toys and musical instruments, and children could try a number of crafts.
Among the site’s decorations were 51 fiberglass or inflatable dinosaurs, several of which were life-size, to stimulate children’s interest in the prehistoric creatures. The colorful displays were created by the renowned Paperwindmill children’s theater troupe based in Taipei.
Another highlight of this year’s exhibition was a display of large-scale model robots from the classic Japanese television series Mobile Suit Gundam, which first appeared in 1979. Visitors could watch a 3-D film featuring the development of the animated figures and robots over the years, as well as take part in interactive games.
In recent years, the YICFFF has drawn more than 500,000 visitors and brought in combined revenues in excess of NT$800 million (US$26.7 million) each year to the local transportation, hotel and restaurant sectors.
Lin Tsung-hsien says Yilan County was Taiwan’s first local government to promote tourism through a cultural festival. Still, he thinks that the greatest significance of the event lies in facilitating international exchanges. “It’s not easy for Taiwan to reach out to engage with the international community given its difficult international situation,” he says. “But it’s easier to invite foreign nationals to visit Taiwan as a way to build mutual understanding and friendship. The YICFFF serves that function.”
Yilan County Government, the magistrate adds, encourages local residents to become host families for visiting foreign artists and performers, which the locals do by providing accommodations, showing their guests around and introducing local culture and customs. He is glad to see that more and more citizens have joined in to host foreign visitors.
An Israeli troupe performs at the 2012 YICFFF. This year, 23 performance groups from 20 countries were invited to the festival. (Photo Courtesy of Yilan County Government)
Yilan County’s second-largest annual festival is the Green Expo, which made its debut in 2000 and is held each spring. The fair is designed to showcase the county’s agriculture, while promoting environmental protection practices through exhibitions, performances and recreational activities.
The expo was held between March 31 and May 20 this year at the Wulaokeng Scenic Area, and comprised 12 exhibition zones and several areas for DIY projects such as planting vegetables, plowing a field and processing tea leaves. The activities allowed visitors to gain a better insight into “organic living”—the main theme of this year’s event.
The Organic Concept Pavilion, for example, used interactive technology to highlight food safety topics including the dangers of hormones or additives in food and the benefits of organic agriculture. The Health and Wellness Garden taught visitors how to live in greater harmony with nature through aromatherapy, diet, exercise, gardening, music and practices that promote good mental health.
Tsai Li-qun (蔡立群), an elementary school teacher, says he arranges for his class to make a field trip to the Green Expo every year as he considers it a good venue for environmental education. “With a different theme each year and innovative exhibits and DIY activities, the expo enhances public awareness of environmental protection,” he says. “Plus, nowadays students largely spend most of their free time playing video games or on the Internet. The expo gives them a chance to observe and experience nature.”
Eco-Art Education
The teacher says this year, for example, his students learned how to reduce carbon emissions in their daily lives at the Environmental Education Pavilion and also created artworks from driftwood. He adds that the county government has done a good job in coming up with new and interesting activities at the annual event.
In addition to the expo, Lin Tsung-hsien says his administration has been striving to promote organic and recreational farming. “Developing the green economy is an international trend,” he says. “As Yilan is a rural county, we’re lucky to possess a number of advantages including an abundant water supply and natural resources, spacious land and no industrial pollution so that we can practice organic farming.”
Yilan County Magistrate Lin Tsung-hsien gives away dinosaur balloons to young participants at the 2012 YICFFF. (Photo Courtesy of Yilan County Government)
The county government renders incentives and assistance to encourage local farmers to grow organic food. These include subsidies for organic certification and organic fertilizers, guidance on farm management and development of marketing channels. For the time being, four special organic production areas have been established, with the total area of certified organic crops increasing from 102.7 hectares in 2008 to the current 346.5 hectares.
There are also 13 designated “agricultural leisure areas” in Yilan County, each possessing a unique natural landscape, specialty produce or cultural and historical heritage. The first was Zhongshan Agricultural Leisure Area, which was established in 2000 and is located in the upstream reaches of the Dongshan River. Its main crops are tea and pomelos, while attractions include a botanical garden, nature trails and waterfalls.
Lin Wen-long (林文龍), chairman of the Development Association of Zhongshan Agricultural Leisure Area, says leisure farming is not only attracting an increasing number of tourists to his village, but has also resulted in young people moving back to the area.
Currently, some 30 out of the 100 households in his village run leisure farming-related businesses including DIY workshops, guesthouses, restaurants, tea gardens or tourist orchards. “We want to promote ecotourism to help our villagers improve their income and protect the environment,” the chairman says. “Moreover, it’s a legacy we can pass on to future generations.”
Lin Wen-long operates an organic farm called Dong Fong, which offers accommodations, orchard tours and classes for making essential oils. “My idea is to offer visitors a natural setting where they can immerse themselves in the rhythms and beauty of rural life—see lots of greenery, smell the flowers and hear the birds sing,” he says. “And they can gain some agricultural and environmental knowledge.”
Hung Xiu-ying (洪秀英), 56, and her husband have grown tea in the Zhongshan area for 30 years. After encouragement from Lin Wen-long and other association members, she opened a tea garden five years ago, where she offers a class on how to make green tea cakes, and serves tea drinks and light meals made from seasonal vegetables and locally grown fruit.
Villagers in the Zhongshan Agricultural Leisure Area harvest tea, one of the main crops of the area. (Photo Courtesy of Lin Wen-long)
“In the past when we simply focused on growing tea, our income was limited given that our tea leaves are harvested only in spring and winter,” Hung says. “Since we started including tourism activities into our operation, we now can receive several groups of tourists every day throughout the year. Besides making more money, meeting people from different countries has made my life more interesting. As you can imagine, after 30 years of marriage my husband and I don’t have much to talk about.”
Hung says she has attended overseas travel fairs organized by the Tourism Bureau and courses on leisure and organic farming provided by the Council of Agriculture. “I never thought that I would go to Hong Kong and Singapore to promote our business and our hometown. I didn’t know about management or marketing either,” she adds. “Thanks to our village’s transformation into an agricultural leisure area, I’ve had all these wonderful experiences and training courses.”
Lin Wen-long says the county government’s organization of large-scale festivals including the YICFFF and the Green Expo has helped bring more tourists to his village during the festival period. Last year, Zhongshan received more than 400,000 visitors who generated economic benefits in excess of NT$200 million (US$6.6 million), he says.
American Daniel Severson arrived in Yilan County in 2011 on a Fulbright Scholarship to teach English in a local primary school for one year. “Yilan’s ‘green’ movement is appealing … The environment is clean and people make a conscious effort to recycle,” he remarks. “I particularly enjoy Dongshan River Park, a scenic spot where I go running several times a week.”
Severson says other favorite outdoor destinations in the county are Jiaoxi for the hot springs and hiking, the beach at Toucheng, Guishan Island (also known as Turtle Mountain Island) for the view of Yilan from the boat, and striking Lanyang Museum. He also singles out the night market at Luodong, saying it is the best of the six night markets he has visited in Taiwan.
Slice of Life
Living in Yilan offers a window onto Taiwan’s traditional culture, the English teacher says, adding that had he lived in Taipei or another large city, he would not have seen what daily life is really like for most Taiwanese. “I’ve visited temples, played French horn in a traditional wedding and met local people,” he says. “And I’ve been impressed with Taiwan’s entrepreneurial spirit. Every day, I ride my bike past breakfast shops, fruit stands, vegetarian restaurants and hair salons. Everyone seems to have their own family business.”
The National Center for Traditional Arts in Yilan houses a number of shops selling gifts including sweets, toys and exquisite handicrafts. (Photo by Chang Su-ching)
During the Lunar New Year celebrations this year, Severson’s local host family took him to the National Center for Traditional Arts (NCTA), where he saw an acrobatic performance, window shopped and visited the center’s museum. The American praises the facility as a showcase of Taiwanese art and culture and a great place to buy souvenirs.
The NCTA is located on a 24-hectare site on the banks of Dongshan River and is designed to promote traditional Taiwanese arts, theater, music, dance and acrobatic performances. The complex houses an exhibition hall, a century-old residence, a shrine, a temple, a theater, and a number of two-story townhouses in a mixture of traditional southern Fujianese and Baroque styles. The townhouses have been converted into shops offering exquisite handicrafts and traditional toys and sweets.
Gail Swanson, an American among the many visitors to the NCTA, says she especially enjoys the museum and shopping. “It’s nice that the center gives us a quick overview of Taiwanese arts and crafts. Watching different artisans creating unique pieces is a lovely experience,” she says. “I’ve also bought many gifts for friends and particularly like the Chinese embroidered slippers.”
Magistrate Lin says his county is blessed with rich cultural and natural resources and his main task is to harness those attributes for economic growth and job creation. He is heartened to see that the large-scale festivals and development of ecotourism, along with the opening of the Hsuehshan Tunnel, have brought an increasing number of visitors and economic opportunities to his county over recent years.
“My vision is to transform Yilan into a low-carbon eco-friendly place where residents can live and work happily, and tourists can fully enjoy the scenic beauty, as well as local culture, tradition and produce,” the magistrate says. “To that end, my administration will continue to hold sustainability as its core value.”
Write to Kelly Her at kher@mofa.gov.tw