There is no shortage of poetry that talks about fireflies, and of them Tang poet Du Mu's "In the Autumn Night" is the most praised. For most Taiwanese, such dreamlike nightscapes of fireflies seem like another time, but that time has been reborn in Daxueshan Community in the Taichung County township of Heping.

Just like the flowering of cherries, the appearance of fireflies begins in the south and extends north and climbs from lower to higher altitudes.

In March, firefly season begins in Alishan and moves through the Jiayi County townships of Ruili and Dabang before moving into Tainan County's Meiling Township. Then, in mid-May, it reaches its climax in Daxueshan Community, Taichung.

Daxueshan Community is situated in the northwestern corner of Heping Township, Taichung County. From Dongshi, take Dongkeng Street, turn into Xueshan Road, and head toward the Daxueshan National Forest Recreation Area for between 13 and 17 kilometers. This community, which sits between 850 and 1,200 meters above sea level and is hemmed in by Mt. Chuyun, is on the only road into the Daxueshan NFRA and is home to a diverse ecology. Originally known as a haven for birdwatching, the community is home to several protected bird species, including the vivid niltava, Taiwan sibia, and Taiwan yuhina.

Angel of the evening

In May, the flowers are at full bloom and the height of Daxueshan's tung blossom season is behind it, leaving only a few treetops dotted with white. The pears that cover the mountains are yet to reach harvest, the persimmons have yet to fruit, and the local farmers are in between seasons. During this time, the community's other big "product" comes into its own-fireflies.

Mr. Liu, from Hemei Township in Changhua County, has brought his family to the highest point in Daxueshan-Roll In Farm's outdoor cafe-to enjoy dinner and the delightful sunset. They wait for night to finally fall, when they will move on to the Chuandong Forest Trail firefly-watching area.

Mrs. Liu says that this is their second trip here this year; "Last time we came here there were fireflies as far as the eye can see. It was an amazing sight, and as we drove back down the mountain we even had to be careful not to hit any of them." So awestruck were Mr. and Mrs. Liu on their last trip that they decided to come once more, and this time bring their two children, who despite already being in senior high have never seen a firefly, to experience the beautiful sight of these "angels of the evening."

The boss of Roll In Farm, He Xiugui-known as Mama Wu (Wu being her married name)-moved from Kaohsiung with her family to Daxueshan 19 years ago, and she still remembers that time 19 years ago when her son first encountered fireflies.

"He'd just finished his military service, and the first time he saw fireflies was a heck of a shock for him-he thought the light was a reflection in the eyes of a wolf!" she laughs. Now her son Wu Shihong has taken over day-to-day operations of the farm and has become part of the community's efforts to protect the fireflies.

The heavens full of starlight, the sky full of firefly light; this is the treasure that is Daxueshan Community. As Chen Chonghao teaches visitors about fireflies, his flashlight is covered with red cellophane to avoid disturbing the fireflies. Once the explanation is done, the fireflies are carefully released from their clear plastic box back into the forest.

The real natives

"They're the real natives of Daxueshan," says Chen Chonghao, executive secretary of the Daxueshan Community Development Association. The community is working to protect the fireflies, he says, not "revive" them. "Protecting them is more about returning the natural environment to its original state and giving the fireflies somewhere to thrive."

Like the Taiwan shoveljaw carp and the various birds, bats, snakes, and frogs of the area, fireflies are truly the natives of Daxueshan. However, it was only after the Jiji earthquake 10 years ago, when everyone began thinking about how to restore the mountain areas of Taiwan, that people became aware of their importance.

Daxueshan is home to only 40 or 50 households and a population of barely 100 people, and is in a predominantly Aboriginal area. The community became a rest point on the way to Daxueshan NFRA, which helped the homestay accommodation industry to flourish.

The Jiji earthquake cut off the road to the NFRA, and the area itself was closed off. The tour buses and hikers that were once constant visitors to the community no longer came, and the community lost its main source of economic livelihood. The residents thought long and hard about ways to not only get visitors to come back, but to make it more than just a place where travelers and hikers could take a break, to make it a destination in and of itself that would show off the unique character of the area.

The natural environment is Daxueshan's biggest asset, and in the first four years of the community's rebuilding after the earthquake, visitors from around Taiwan brought an average of roughly NT$500,000 a year to the community. This money was invested in environmental education, inviting firefly expert Ho Jen-zon, fish expert Zhan Jianping, frog expert Peng Guodong, and other well-known scholars to come to the community and teach, fostering a determination in the residents to work together to protect the environment.

Daxueshan is home to natural forests and bamboo groves, and half the community is involved in ecotourism or accommodation. When a proposal was made to ban the use of pesticides, it passed with very little controversy, and fruit farmers there use as little in the way of agricultural chemicals as possible. Even though this means their fruit doesn't grow as big as that in other areas, it has done nothing to reduce its sweetness; "Not only are our peaches organic, so are the bugs on them," jokes Chen Chonghao.

"To do my part, I do all my weeding by hand," says the 60-year-old Mama Wu, who is also a community conservation volunteer. Her farm is full of herbs and tung-oil trees, and the entire operation is environmentally friendly. After several years of hard work and care, the plants of Daxueshan are thriving, adding to the enchantment of the community. Whether it's looking out at the stars, watching the fireflies, looking out for birds, admiring the oceans of clouds, or just taking a hike, Daxueshan has become the perfect destination for tourists, making it the shining ecotourism star of Taichung's mountain regions and a worthy competitor to Taomi Ecological Village in Puli, Nantou. No matter the time of year, Daxueshan has something to offer the visitor.

The heavens full of starlight, the sky full of firefly light; this is the treasure that is Daxueshan Community. As Chen Chonghao teaches visitors about fireflies, his flashlight is covered with red cellophane to avoid disturbing the fireflies. Once the explanation is done, the fireflies are carefully released from their clear plastic box back into the forest.

The "five no's" of firefly watching

"If you look after the environment, the animals will come," says Mama Wu. Daxueshan is already home to a variety of wonderful creatures, from frogs like Swinhoe's frog and Moltrecht's green tree frog; and alpine birds like the Taiwan sibia, island thrush, and vivid niltava; to bats, snakes, and others. "We get a lot of professors coming up here to do surveys and studies," says Mama Wu.

As an example of Daxueshan's natural variety, look at the fireflies: of 63 species of firefly found in Taiwan, almost 30 can be seen in Daxueshan. Even Luciola hydrophila, a rare endemic firefly species that requires excellent water quality, can be found here. The peak season for fireflies is between April and May, which is not only the best time to watch fireflies, but also their mating season.

Out of concern for disrupting these wonderful creatures, during peak season the streetlights throughout the community are all turned off, blanketing the area in darkness. This even includes special motion-activated LED lamps provided by Philips, despite their having been provided free of charge.

Since being selected by the Ministry of the Interior in 2002 as a controlled ecotourism trial area, the community development association has run patrols to protect the fireflies, and during peak season they even have "guards" on duty.

People entering the community to watch fireflies during this time are required to follow the association's "five no's" policy-no disturbing the fireflies, no catching fireflies, no intruding on their habitat, no loud noises, and no lights.

To prevent the headlights of cars disturbing the fireflies, visitors to Daxueshan during firefly season have to park 1,300 m away, at the entrance to the area, and walk up. Visitors carrying flashlights have to cover them with red cellophane, as "red is a warm color and fireflies don't notice it, so it won't disturb them," Chen Zhonghao explains.

(upper left to lower right) The natives of Daxueshan: Kallima iachus formosana, Papilio memnon heronus, dragonflies, Muller's barbets, pale thrushes, Moltrecht's tree frog, Luciola anceyi, Odontolabis siva, long-armed chafer beetles, and Wushe blood-spotted longhorned beetles.

Later is better?

Chuandong Forest Trail is under the auspices of the Forestry Bureau, and is the best place in Daxueshan to watch the fireflies.

As the sky begins to darken around 6:30, spots of light start to light up in the brush and people on the firefly trail start to get excited. The darker it gets, the more lights appear as they begin to rise up out of the brush and spread out, growing from single spots to a virtual blanket of lights, spread out everywhere you look, rising and falling and creating a scene of beautiful greens, yellows, and oranges. Finally it expands out into the skies above, as though the entire night sky were saturated with stars, making it hard to tell the fireflies from the stars.

Tens of thousands of fireflies dance before your eyes as around you is silence as everyone watching is moved beyond words.

Most people might think that the later it gets, the more fireflies come out and the more beautiful it is, but in fact that isn't the case. "Fireflies are at the most active in the most numbers between one and two hours after sunset," says Chen Chonghao, who has studied and observed fireflies for six years now.

Like frogs' croaks and birds' songs, fireflies' lights are used to attract mates. First the female will twinkle in the brush or on a leaf to entice males, who will light up in response, then fly around almost like a dance, trying to catch the female's eye, after which they will pair off and head into the brush to mate.

This mating ritual can go on for as long as 20 days, reaching its peak each day at around 7:30 p.m., with numbers dropping off after 8:00. "Once everyone's paired up, all that's left is a few lonely bachelors and the last few desperate souls," jokes Chen.

(upper left to lower right) The natives of Daxueshan: Kallima iachus formosana, Papilio memnon heronus, dragonflies, Muller's barbets, pale thrushes, Moltrecht's tree frog, Luciola anceyi, Odontolabis siva, long-armed chafer beetles, and Wushe blood-spotted longhorned beetles.

The price of success

There is an ancient story telling of a poor but studious boy who caught fireflies in a bag to serve as a lamp while he studied. While scientifically speaking this story would be impossible, today fireflies do light up something else: the path toward sustainable ecotourism. Over the past nine years, the people of Daxueshan have been increasingly able to make a living from providing accommodation or guided tours, and this has encouraged the children of Daxueshan, like Chen Chonghao, to return home.

However near the end of the firefly season this year, possibly because of the poor economy, possibly because where there are profits to be made, conflicts inevitably follow, arguments broke out within the Daxueshan Community Development Association over whether or not to continue paying a small fee to the people on patrol (NT$150 per person per night). The end result was the stopping of guard patrols.

After this happened, cars began flooding the firefly area, children would run amok, and some visitors even caught fireflies in their backpacks and drove off with them.

"I could barely sleep at the thought of people capturing the fireflies," says Chen Lihui, tour guide and homestay operator, of her unease at the situation. Unable to sleep, she would go out to watch the fireflies, only to happen upon someone capturing fireflies. Lacking the physical strength to do much alone, she urgently called Mama Wu to come and help stop them.

Mama Wu says that most visitors will politely agree when asked not to catch fireflies, but some feel humiliated and get angry. "We tried to get the police involved, but they said with no evidence, they couldn't do anything," sighs Mama Wu.

So how can these treasures of Daxueshan be protected? For over six years now the people of Daxueshan have strived to study the fireflies, but some are afraid that the village will be overlooked despite its value, and so as the community has grown in fame, disagreements have grown alongside it. Finding a way to balance fame and sustainability is a test not only for the people of Daxueshan, but for the future of ecotourism in Taiwan.

Daxueshan Area Map

(upper left to lower right) The natives of Daxueshan: Kallima iachus formosana, Papilio memnon heronus, dragonflies, Muller's barbets, pale thrushes, Moltrecht's tree frog, Luciola anceyi, Odontolabis siva, long-armed chafer beetles, and Wushe blood-spotted longhorned beetles.

(upper left to lower right) The natives of Daxueshan: Kallima iachus formosana, Papilio memnon heronus, dragonflies, Muller's barbets, pale thrushes, Moltrecht's tree frog, Luciola anceyi, Odontolabis siva, long-armed chafer beetles, and Wushe blood-spotted longhorned beetles.

Chuandong Forest Trail is the best place in Daxueshan to see fireflies. In order to protect these beautiful creatures, during peak season loud noises and cars are forbidden.

(upper left to lower right) The natives of Daxueshan: Kallima iachus formosana, Papilio memnon heronus, dragonflies, Muller's barbets, pale thrushes, Moltrecht's tree frog, Luciola anceyi, Odontolabis siva, long-armed chafer beetles, and Wushe blood-spotted longhorned beetles.

(upper left to lower right) The natives of Daxueshan: Kallima iachus formosana, Papilio memnon heronus, dragonflies, Muller's barbets, pale thrushes, Moltrecht's tree frog, Luciola anceyi, Odontolabis siva, long-armed chafer beetles, and Wushe blood-spotted longhorned beetles.

(upper left to lower right) The natives of Daxueshan: Kallima iachus formosana, Papilio memnon heronus, dragonflies, Muller's barbets, pale thrushes, Moltrecht's tree frog, Luciola anceyi, Odontolabis siva, long-armed chafer beetles, and Wushe blood-spotted longhorned beetles.

(upper left to lower right) The natives of Daxueshan: Kallima iachus formosana, Papilio memnon heronus, dragonflies, Muller's barbets, pale thrushes, Moltrecht's tree frog, Luciola anceyi, Odontolabis siva, long-armed chafer beetles, and Wushe blood-spotted longhorned beetles.

(upper left to lower right) The natives of Daxueshan: Kallima iachus formosana, Papilio memnon heronus, dragonflies, Muller's barbets, pale thrushes, Moltrecht's tree frog, Luciola anceyi, Odontolabis siva, long-armed chafer beetles, and Wushe blood-spotted longhorned beetles.