Smoke from a Smokestackless Industry

The exploitation of scenic areas on Taiwan is like a mathematical formula without a solution.

As soon as an unspoiled area with beautiful scenery is discovered, it is played up at once by the tourist industry and the mass media. Next, waves of visitors and vendors descend on it in droves. And with them come artificial walkways, concrete tables and chairs, paved roads, and parking lots.

Pretty soon, what with the trash left behind by tourists and the plants and tocks that they have carried away, people are saying that the place has "changed" and are busy looking for another unspoiled spot to discover....

The problem is, how many scenic areas do we have to squander? Can the vicious cycle be stopped? Is there a substitute formula for developing scenic areas without spoiling them?

According to statistics of the Taiwan Tourism Administration, the government has invested more than NT$3.6 billion in developing scenic areas over the past three years, but during the height of the tourist season, the areas are still "packed with people."

Another survey has shown that Chinese people, on average, engage in as many as six hours of leisure activity each day indoors yet just 16 minutes of leisure activity outdoors, figures which indicate they have a great deal of potential for more outdoor recreation. All they need do is decrease their indoor activity slightly, and outdoor resources will be subject to an even greater burden.

Although some people think "Taiwan may have beautiful scenery but it's too small and has too few tourist sites, so the Chinese should be encouraged to travel overseas," even more experts believe that the reason our scenic areas are always packed full on weekends and holidays is related closely to an "improper use of resources."

Wang Hsin, a geography professor at National Taiwan University, says that we often confuse the purposes of tourism and recreation in speaking of scenic areas, thereby leading astray our development of natural resources.

"Very few of the people who visit scenic areas really make use of the resources there," says Chang Shih-chiao, a colleague of Dr. Hsin's in the geography department at NTU. "The vast majority engage in activities that have nothing to do with the resources they offer."

At scenic areas the standard routine is "off the bus, a stop at the restroom, a visit to the vendors, and back on board." The scenery, for most people, is of no special significance; it's just a place to go "for a trip."

Hunter H. T. Eu, director of the R.O.C. Tourism Bureau, says that people cannot be expected to share all the same priorities, that not everyone is satisfied with just listening to the birds and cooling off in the breeze.

Indeed, drawing a clear distinction between tourist and recreational activities is not often easy. Taiwan has many places with mountains, streams, and trees, and not all of them must be devoted exclusively to the pure contemplation of nature. Many, to some extent or another, require the addition of manmade facilities.

"But adding manmade beauty to a place of natural beauty and still preserving its original natural beauty is a difficult task," Wang Hsin has written. Most scenic areas fall under local jurisdiction, and planning is consequently skewed toward the goal of enriching local sources of revenue.

"There's a vast difference between what local governments imagine a scenic area to be and what the higher-ups conceive," Wang Hsin has said. What the central government thinks of are national parks with natural scenery; what the locals imagine are municipal parks with artificial hills and lakes.

In the past it was always thought that visitors must be taught to cooperate and obey regulations to preserve the original state of a scenic area, but trying to educate the citizenry to change its behavior patterns is too slow. Now planners use tricks of design to protect the environment.

Methods such as raised pathways have been used in recent years by planners in many parks around the world to prevent visitors from having the opportunity of treading on plants or wearing out grass and thereby reducing their effect on the environment to a minimum.

The concept of "visitor capacity" has also been widely adopted recently to help control the quality of scenic areas. The first scenic area on Taiwan to control the number of visitors to its grounds is probably a privately operated area on Yangming Shan called Pine Grove, which limits its visitors to a thousand per day. On weekends and holidays an employee frequently stands on the road outside to turn people away.

"It's a shame for the visitors and a shame for our pocketbooks," says manager Ho Sheng-ch'in, who formerly served as director of the international division in the Tourism Bureau, with a smile. "But there's no other way. Running a scenic area is just like running any other business. You've got to look toward the long term, and not just make a quick buck and run."

To preserve the scenery and provide a wider variety of recreational possibilities, scenic areas overseas are sometimes classified into various categories for people with different recreational interests.

"It's best for a scenic area to be directed toward a specific goal," says Liu Chih-cheng, market planner of the Tourism Bureau, who cautions against "trying to be everything to everyone." If you build an amusement park for the kids and an artificial lake to attract both fishermen and romantic couples, the effect will be a mess.

"You've got to be tough-minded and simply write off some visitors. They can go to areas more suited for them."

[Picture Caption]

Before a bridge was built there, anglers going to the offshore island Sanhsien Tai had to cross the water barefoot. Man and nature were fused in one. (Below) The bridge spoiled the scenery and brought with it awful crowds.

Blue sky and clear water, all to oneself. Limiting the number of visitors to an area provides them with the best recreational environment. (photo by Wei C. Wang) (Above) If limits aren't set, even the trash barrels will want to exclaim, "All you do is have fun, but I'm tired!"

Unusual seashore scenery needs to be protected. Otherwise it may end up like this area at Yeliu (above), which has been turned into a parking lot.

(Above) Building elaborate recreational facilities in an area with beautiful natural scenery only spoils the view. (Left) Adding a few hammocks proves popular with visitors.

Encouraging private investment in recreational areas is a good way to alleviate the problem of overburdening. Shown left is Window on China. Above is Nine Tribes Cultural Village. (photo by Arthur Cheng)

Blue sky and clear water, all to oneself. Limiting the number of visitors to an area provides them with the best recreational environment. （photo by Wei C. Wang） （Above） If limits aren't set, even the trash barrels will want to exclaim, "All you do is have fun, but I'm tired!".

Unusual seashore scenery needs to be protected. Otherwise it may end up like this area at Yeliu （above）, which has been turned into a parking lot.

Unusual seashore scenery needs to be protected. Otherwise it may end up like this area at Yeliu （above）

which has been turned into a parking lot.

Adding a few hammocks proves popular with visitors.

Building elaborate recreational facilities in an area with beautiful natural scenery only spoils the view.

Encouraging private investment in recreational areas is a good way to alleviate the problem of overburdening. Shown left is Window on China.

Above is Nine Tribes Cultural Village. （photo by Arthur Cheng）