A new travel route highlights the vitality of Hakka culture and history
Inspired by Germany’s Romantic Road, a 350-km travel route connecting picturesque towns and castles, Taiwan is launching the Hakka Romantic Avenue along a 150-km section of Provincial Highway No. 3. The project links Hakka villages in 16 townships, stretching from Longtan District in northern Taiwan’s Taoyuan City through the counties of Hsinchu and Miaoli to Dongshi and Shigang districts in central Taiwan’s Taichung City.
According to the Cabinet-level Hakka Affairs Council (HAC), some 18 percent of the country’s over 23 million citizens are Hakka, and roughly half of Taiwan’s Hakka population lives in the four cities and counties highlighted under the project. The featured villages are well known for their Hakka architecture, cuisine and history.
Among the notable attractions along the route is Yimin Temple in Hsinchu County’s Xinpu Township. While all Hakka places of worship in the nation bear the name Yimin, the temple in Xinpu is considered the Hakka people’s foremost religious center. Built in 1788, it is Taiwan’s oldest Yimin temple.
Visitors are also drawn to the Hakka villages for persimmon-drying season, which lasts from mid-fall to early winter. During this period, enormous quantities of the round orange fruit are dried in the sun for preservation. And a visit to any Hakka village is never complete without sampling the cuisine.
Through publicizing such varied resources, the Hakka Romantic Avenue project is seeking to establish a travel route filled with culture, history and vitality. HAC Minister Lee Yung-te (李永得) said the initiative marks the beginning of a Hakka renaissance movement that aims to promote local economic development while highlighting diverse ecological and cultural landscapes. The next step, the minister said, is to expand such Hakka cultural revitalization efforts across the nation.
—by Jim Hwang
Persimmons dry in the sun in Hsinchu County’s Xinpu Township.
Ripe oranges at a tourist farm along Provincial Highway No. 3
The wooden Nanzhuang Post Office, which opened in 1900, has become a tourist attraction.
Traditional urns used for making various kinds of preserved vegetables sit along a wall in Miaoli County’s Nanzhuang Township. The urns are a common item in Hakka households.
Statues of characters created by a local cartoonist dot the Hakka tourist village of Neiwan in Hsinchu County.
Visitors can purchase a wide variety of souvenirs and cultural and creative products along the Hakka Romantic Avenue, ranging from oil-paper umbrellas to handbags and traditional cake molds.
Toufen Yimin Temple in Miaoli County’s Toufen Township has served as a religious center for the area’s Hakka people since 1886.
Built in 1788, Yimin Temple in Xinpu Township is the oldest Hakka place of worship in Taiwan.
A tea farm in Taoyuan City’s Longtan District
Hakka ground tea can feature a wide variety of ingredients, though peanuts and sesame are almost always among them.
A visit to a Hakka village is never complete without sampling some of the cuisine. Hakka-style tangyuan (above left), sweet glutinous balls made from rice flour, and steamed dumplings (above right) are particularly popular among visitors.
Hakka culture aside, Taiwan’s Provincial Highway No. 3 features some spectacular scenery.
Formerly a railway line, the Dongfeng Green Tunnel is a bike path running between Dongshi and Fengyuan districts in central Taiwan’s Taichung City.
Tuniu Hakka Museum in Taichung’s Shigang District
Originally built to haul logs, the Neiwan railway line now transports tourists to and from the Hakka village.
PHOTOS BY CHEN MEI-LING, CHIN HUNG-HAO AND HUANG CHUNG-HSIN