 |
| ::: Home 》 Our Origin, Our Hometown－ Huashan Village, GuKeng Township, Yunlin County |
Our Origin, Our Hometown－ Huashan Village, GuKeng Township, Yunlin County
Specialty Coffee and Resplendent Night View Sucessfully Transform Huashan Village The Prevention and Control of Debris Flows Bring Leisure Business Opportunities to the Beautiful Mountain Village
As known as the “Yang Ming Mountain in Yunlin”, Mount Huashan in GuKeng is not only the hometown but also the cradle for the renaissance of Taiwanese Coffee. The fascinating coffee beans and the resplendent night view here bring nearly one million sightseeing tourists and business opportunities worth of several billion dollars for this beautiful mountain village each year. For the Huashan Village long ravaged by the disasters of debris flows, both the volunteer efforts from its residents and government guidance are the indispensable factors to its successful transmutation and transformation. |
| A Fresh Outlook Rebuilt for the Rural Village While the Crisis of Debris Flow Turned into an Opportunity of Changes |
|
Leaning on its east side against the Da Jian Mountain with an altitude of 1304 meters, and encircled by hills on both the left and right sides, the Huashan Village located among the freshly green mountains was once called the “Dahudi” in the early days. Impenetrating through this village are the Huashan River and the Ko Chuen River.
In June 2002, a rainstorm caused a burst of debris flow which brought nearly 90 thousand cubic meters of soil and rocks to roll down. Some of the highways and bridges were destroyed, and the village was once in great danger. Yet in recent years, the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, Council of Agriliterature, Executive Yuan has maintained its full efforts to carry out the prevention and treatment of debris flows by adopting the ecological engineering method in which local materials were utilized. The Huashan Debris Flow Education Garden were also established to provide visual illustrations of the reasons causing debris flow disasters and the structures of constructions such as sabo-dams. Debris flows never destroyed the enthusiasm of Huashan villagers for constructing their hometown, but rather intensified their determination to invest in this piece of land.
The former chief of GuKeng township, Ms. Shu-Ya Hsieh, who is also known as the Coffee Lady in Taiwan, indicated that Mr. Huei-Long Wu, the Director General of Soil and Water Conservative Bureau, managed to take care of every single detail in the prevention and control of debris flows for Huashan village. His determination was appreciated by local villagers and altogether they established the Huashan Community Development Association and the Huashan Recreational Industry Alliance to participate actively in the reconstruction of rural clans and building of the community. As a result, the beautiful sceneries of the forests in Huashan Mountain and the features of Taiwanese coffee were successfully integrated to add ecological and educational significance to the beauty of Huashan. |
| Goodwill Grows as Fragrance of Coffee Spreads |
|
 The Huashan Mountain of GuKeng has been filled with the fragrance of coffee for nearly a century, while the so-called coffee culture has become mellower as time goes by. In the Huashan Mountain, one may catch the sight of flourishing coffee trees everywhere – white flowers, freshly green or scarket coffee cherries growing on the trees across different seasons – while the charming aroma of coffee spreads all over the place.
The Huashan Coffee Leisure Park covers both the Kui Lin Village on Line 149 and the Huashan village on Line 208. Inside the Park, coffee trees can be seen growing in the areca garden, civil accommodations and coffee courtyards, making the place the homeland of coffee.
Mr. Sung-Chih Lai, the Director General of Huashan Recreational Industry Alliance and the owner of Hirato Coffee, said that people in Huashan enjoy coffee so much that they demonstrate a nearly stubborn passion for it. A great majority of coffee beans used are planted by themselves. They put a lot of efforts and energy in the plantation, collection and baking of coffee beans so that consumers can have a taste of the peculiar atmosphere and perceive the real relaxation and recreation. |
| Magnificent Mountains and Delicate Rivers, Unforgettable Night Views of Huashan |
|
 The Huashan area is renowned not just for the coffee. The humanistic arts, natural ecology, mountain forest landscape and beauty of walkways are also too good to be miss.
Taking a walk into the forests of Mount Huashan, one may view the broadness of firmament, while all the surrounding lofty and green mountains present an extraordinarily beautiful landscape. Refreshing deep valley, rivulets, barranca, mountain clouds or mists, tea gardens and bamboo forest can be seen further into the mountain. From atop the peak, one may also enjoy the unforgettable night view of the light sea in the areas of Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi and Nantou.
The Huashan area has a history of more than 200 years. Most of the ancient houses located in the forests are of more than 50 to 60 years of age, while the oldest house is nearly 160 years old. Though the girders and underpins of such houses have been eroded, flagstones in forecourts are still completely preserved, thus presenting a fully antique style. |
| Culture Relics, Pottery Art, Literature and Walkways in Sophisticated Huashan |
|
 There is a great variety of fast changing local industries in the area of Huashan, like wood charcoal and bamboo, but the paper industry has left over the largest number of relics such as the “cin-er” (water trough used for the soakage of bamboos) and stone wheels. Such relics can be easily found at the entrance of GuYi walkway. Mr. Mao-Song Li, an old gentleman who built the first paper mill in the Huashan area and now owns the Riverbank Coffee Accommodation, is very familiar with the history of paper industry in this area.
Meanwhile, Mr. Xian-Yong Cai is the most highly acclaimed local artist. Mr. Cai returned to his homeland with a passion to devote himself to Koji pottery art creations and to get involved in the construction of the community. His studio stands right next to the Literature Walkway. Although the number of admirers far outstrips true buyers, the rough-looking and yet subtle-minded artist is persistence with his dreams and ambitions. At present, his pottery art classroom is open to groups by appointment.
The Huashan area is famed not only for the elegant landscape and pleasant weather, but also for the active animal and plant ecology. Along the Huashan River and in more than ten walkways, there are beautiful sights of blossoms including Lantana Amaryllis (Chinese scared lily), Taiwan raspberries, irises, datura suaveolens and melasoma candidum.
Standing on both sides of the Literature Walkway that stretches over a distance of more than 600 kilometers are the twelve megaliths on which the manuscripts and works of famous writers in Yunlin County were engraved to correspond with the surrounding landscape of mountains and rivers. Such a combination of humanity and nature has added more charms to the literature atmosphere and perceptive ambience of Huashan area. What one may enjoy here is more than just a taste of Taiwanese Coffee grown in GuKeng, but also an elaborate experience of the beauty of literature by walking along the Yunlin Literature Walkway. Besides, the annual Huashan Poet Festival supported by the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau is an even more vivid representation of “When Coffee Meets Literature”, allowing the local civilians and their posterities to understand the rich literature connotations and diversified coffee cultures in Yunlin. |
The Charm of Village Workshop No. 3 – “Huashan Community of GuKeng Township”
Huashan Recreational Industry Association of GuKeng Township: 05-5900058 Huashan Community Development Association of GuKeng Township:05-5900398, 05-5900480(Fax)
Simply check out the following website for details about the beauty of indigenous coffee in Huashan: http://rural.swcb.gov.tw/huashan/ |
|
|
＊from the North
1.Drive southwards on No. 1 National Highway and get off at the Yunlin System Interchange → proceed to Freeway No. 78 (West Taiwan─GuKeng) towards GuKeng and get off at No. 3 Taiwan Freeway Interchange → proceed to Provincial Highway No 3 towards Yung Kuang → proceed to No. 210 Freeway in Yunlin and arrive Huashan.
2.Driving southwards on No. 3 National Highway and get off at the Yunlin System Interchange → proceed to Freeway No. 78 (West Taiwan─GuKeng) and get off at No. 3 Taiwan Freeway Interchange → proceed to Provincial Highway No 3 towards Yung Kuang → proceed to No. 210 Freeway in Yunlin to arrive Huashan.
＊from the South
1Drive northwards on No. 1 National Highway and get off at Ta Lin Interchange → proceed to No.162 County Freeway and No.3 Taiwan Provincial Highway towards Mei Shan Mountain → proceed to No. 149 County Freeway to arrive Huashan.
2.Drive northwards on No. 3 National Highway and get off at Mei Shan Interchange → proceed to No.162 County Freeway and No.3 Taiwan Provincial Highway towards Mei Shan Mountain → proceed to No. 149 County Freeway to arrive Huashan. |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
