Author LINDEN CHEN
Photographer XHIN TOH
Editor CHRIS VAN LAAK, CHIH YI CHEN
Most foreign travelers arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport see the country’s fourth-largest city as the mere gateway to their vacation. However, with rising property prices in Taipei and New Taipei City, and the improving transportation infrastructure in Taoyuan, many locals working in the capital have chosen to move there. Last year, Taoyuan had the highest population growth rate among Taiwan’s 22 counties and urban municipalities.
Humble beginnings
Hundreds of years ago, before Han people settled in the area, Taoyuan was mainly inhabited by the Ketagalan people, who are considered a group of the Plains Indigenous Peoples. They practiced fishing, hunting and foraging. Later, during the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty in the early 18th century, the Gazetteer of Zhuluo County described the local Indigenous people as farmers of millet and yam who had not yet begun cultivating or consuming rice.
The area that’s now known as Daxi District was among the first in Taoyuan to be developed.
A new, old trend
Over 300 years later, a back-to-basics food trend is sweeping through Taiwan, and Daxi is at the forefront. For example, the Kangzhuang Organic Settlement
(康莊有機聚落) uses environmentally friendly farming methods to grow vegetables and fruits, and offers agriculture tourism experiences to promote the trend.
At Kangzhuang, food and agricultural education is more than just a textbook discipline. Here, visitors can make firsthand experiences and understand concepts that might be new to them, such as biodiversity protection, natural carbon sinks and other sustainability trends.
A business that operates in the same spirit is Vanilla Ueno Park (香草野園). It was established by three brothers who returned home in 2009 after working abroad, to take over their father’s farm. Each brother is now responsible for a different area: agricultural cultivation technology, handcraft development and park planning. In recent years, they have started using water from fish farming to cultivate probiotics, which are then used to irrigate crops, while byproducts of vegetable farming are used as chicken feed. This makes the farm a circular economy system.
Coexisting with the land
Find Strawberry (找到莓) is a project born out of the passion of a father and daughter who love gardening. They insist on their “zero pesticides” approach and use food chain-inspired techniques to combat pests and diseases. From November to April, they open their farm to the public for strawberry picking, offering a wide selection of varieties from Taiwan and Japan. Outside the strawberry season, visitors can pick other seasonal fruits and vegetables.
No matter what crop is in season though, the farm’s owners provide detailed explanations, making agricultural education easy and engaging.
Those who love getting in touch with nature can experience making kombucha in Taoyuan. Greenunion Farm (綠合農場) held a “microbrew party” in April, where people could experience brewing the trendy drink using local herbs. The brew’s fragrant aroma, which is similar to fruit vinegar, made for a delightful experience, and participants said they felt like they just had an in-depth conversation with the land.
Daxi―which is most famous among Taiwanese for its dried tofu―is so much more than just that. If you take the time to relax deeply, you might even hear the whispers of nature.
Pathfinder
100% Happiness Play with Nature(微酵派對)
Step into the Kangzhuang Organic Community and experience the simple, authentic culture of rural Taoyuan, while learning how to live in harmony with nature.
