Mountains covered with fir woods and bamboo groves, frequently shrouded by mists and sharply divided by the sparkling Chingshui River, provide an idyllic setting for Tsaoling Village in central Taiwan. Its pastoral people, who earn their living through a resourceful array of specialized products, help further to induce an atmosphere of rural peace.

Geography. Located at an altitude of between 450 meters and 1,800 meters above sea level, Tsaoling is the only mountain district of Yunlin County. The village has 986 people living in an area of 31 square kilometers, making it one of the most sparsely populated districts in Taiwan.

Contemporary records show that the ancestors of the villagers living there today originally fled from the plains to escape from Japanese oppression, and joined patriotic guerillas led by Ko Tieh-hu. After Taiwan was restored to the Republic of China, they settled down, tilled the land, and organized their own communities.

Each year, Tsaoling welcomes the spring with a dazzling array of peach plum and cherry blossoms surounding the 140-odd clumps of houses which stand separately on hillsides, riverbanks or in valleys.

Living conditions. Most of the houses in Tsaoling are made from wood and bamboo and patterned in traditional Chinese style. In the yard of each house can be found pots of orchids, and in some, domesticated squirrels and monkeys scamper around. Inside the houses, the rustic atmosphere gives way to modernity, in the shape of television sets, refrigerators and washing machines that most families own.

To relieve the monotony of rural life, men amuse themselves by playing Chinese classical instruments or sipping after-dinner wine, while the women chat about the day's events. Recently, television has started to play an important role in people's lives, and starting from May this year, dial telephones will be installed in the village. It is a measure of the prosperity of the people that almost every household requested a telephone and made a down payment as soon as news of the installation spread.

Agriculture. Most of the people of Tsaoling are engaged in agriculture. Rice is planted in the narrow river valleys, while bamboo, fir trees and ginger are grown on the hillsides.

Bamboo shoots are one of the major products of Tsaoling. Those harvested in winter are sweeter and more tender, and may fetch as high a price as US$2 per pound. After the spring rains, another harvest can be gathered, but the quality is inferior, and the price plummets.

After the tomb-sweeping season in early April, the villagers start to dry the bamboo shoots. During the three months beginning in July, they can be seen digging out bamboo shoots in the forest. The bamboo shoots are boiled day and night in a huge earthenware pot. A deep hole is lined with banana leaves to receive the bamboo shoots for drying. After being covered with more banana leaves and a huge rock, the shoots are ready for the market after seven days.

As well as being made into furniture, construction materials and all kinds of daily appliances, bamboo can be used for dinner sets and cooking utensils such as bowls, chopsticks and scoops. A specialty of Tsaoling is bamboo tube rice, which is made by placing rice in a piece of bamboo and cooking it. It takes long experience to give the rice the correct bamboo fragrance.

While bamboo shoots can be harvested once a year, it takes 10 years for a fir tree to reach maturity. The wood, which is mainly used for making stencil plate, can be harvested twice in 20 years, after which the land must be left fallow or used to grow other crops for a period. Usually, the roots of old crops must be burned out before new ones can be planted.

Specialties. Other products in which Tsaoling specializes are tea-seed oil, wild honey, mushrooms, tree ears (a type of fungus growing on trees used as a condiment), mountain ash, lemons, orchids, plums and peaches, while animals such as pheasants, rabbits and wild boars can be hunted in the nearby mountains. Hives for wild bees are often installed in eaves.

Tea-seed oil is said to be better than sesame seed oil for its nutrient and cooling effect. Mountain ash can be made into a sort of tea after being cut up, dried in the sun and boiled with sugar water. The brew is halfway between sweet and sour, and is said to be good for relieving indigestion.

Drawbacks. In addition to its lack of transportation links, Tsaoling suffers from the disadvantages of limited education, postal and medical services.

A health care center set up in the Tsaoling Primary School is about the only medical facility in the village, while a primary school with some 10 to 20 students in six classes, is the only educational institution. Most of the children have a 40-minute walk to reach the school. Since there is only one postman in the village, some of the mail has to be left in the grocery store or in the primary school for villagers to pick up at their own convenience. Sometimes, pieces of mail are lost, or may take six months to reach the addressee.

Landslides. Tsaoling is known by many people for a series of landslides which poured into the Chingshui River, burying people, houses, farmland and livestock in the process. The Water Conservancy Bureau of the Taiwan Provincial Government will solve the landslide problem before building a dam in the area.

Scenic areas. The calamities did have the somewhat useful effect of making Tsaoling more well-known in the outside world. As word of the area's natural beauty spread in the press, the tourist industry was developed.

The village was first opened up as a scenic area more than 10 years ago. There are two highlights for visitors, Tsaoling itself at an altitude of 800 meters, and Shihpi at 1,200 meters. Each of the scenic spots has 10 attractions, including rock formations, waterfalls, caves, ancient trees and valleys.

Over the past few years, the government has built several highways leading to these scenic spots. The influx of tourists has boosted the people's income by more than 10 times, and several prosperous hotels have been erected.

As part of a city planning statute, the Tourism Bureau is planning to divide the scenic area into several districts with recreational facilities, hotels, houses, commercial buildings, nature reserves and agricultural and pastoral areas. Public facilities such as a small waterworks, garbage processing plant, streetlights, litter disposal baskets and public restrooms, will also be added. Keeping Tsaoling a green and clean resort, however, will ultimately call for discipline and a sense of morality among both tourists and residents.

[Picture Caption]

1. Map of Tsaoling scenic district. 2. Following trails in the bamboo forest near Tsaoling, tourists can forget the hustle and bustle of everyday life. 3. A walk up this huge rock is an exciting experience. 4. A huge flat rock by the river provides a convenient site for barbecues and camping. 5. Tourists on the banks of the Chingshui River.

1. To relieve the monotony of rural life, men amuse themselves by playing Chinese classical instruments. 2. Bamboo can be used for dinner sets and cooking utensils such as bowls, chopsticks and scoops. 3. To meet the needs of tourists, hotels have been erected. 4. Betel-nut trees mirrored clearly in the rice fields in Tsaoling.

Flowers, grass and trees give the small town an attractive appearance. Bamboo shoots and fir trees are the two major products of the small town.

1. Map of Tsaoling scenic district.

2. Following trails in the bamboo forest near Tsaoling, tourists can forget the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

3. A walk up this huge rock is an exciting experience.

4. A huge flat rock by the river provides a convenient site for barbecues and camping.

5. Tourists on the banks of the Chingshui River.

1. To relieve the monotony of rural life, men amuse themselves by playing Chinese classical instruments.

2. Bamboo can be used for dinner sets and cooking utensils such as bowls, chopsticks and scoops.

3. To meet the needs of tourists, hotels have been erected.

Betel-nut trees mirrored clearly in the rice fields in Tsaoling.

Flowers, grass and trees give the small town an attractive appearance. Bamboo shoots and fir trees are the two major products of the small town.

Flowers, grass and trees give the small town an attractive appearance. Bamboo shoots and fir trees are the two major products of the small town.

Flowers, grass and trees give the small town an attractive appearance. Bamboo shoots and fir trees are the two major products of the small town.

Flowers, grass and trees give the small town an attractive appearance. Bamboo shoots and fir trees are the two major products of the small town.

Flowers, grass and trees give the small town an attractive appearance. Bamboo shoots and fir trees are the two major products of the small town.

Flowers, grass and trees give the small town an attractive appearance. Bamboo shoots and fir trees are the two major products of the small town.

Flowers, grass and trees give the small town an attractive appearance. Bamboo shoots and fir trees are the two major products of the small town.