Lishan is located on the upper reaches of the Tachia River at the middle of the central Cross-Island Highway, where snow-capped peaks and steep gorges combine to form a picturesque vista of grandeur and beauty.
Access to the area was once extremely difficult. The chief inhabitants were Atayal aborigines living in villages scattered along the river valley (several of which were relocated during construction of the Techi Reservoir), and the lowlands were a three-day's trek away. Fishing, hunting, and slash-and-burn agriculture were the traditional occupations, and the main crops were sweet potatoes and millet.
In the fall of 1957 a wilderness cultivation team of 100 military veterans hiked over the Central Mountain Range to Lishan from Taichung and began cultivating a rather flat area they found on the top that was watered by springs.
During their first winter they discovered that the mountain, situated some 2,000 meters above sea level, had at least 1,000 hours a year of temperatures below seven degrees centigrade, making it a rare region of low temperatures in semitropical Taiwan and highly suited for growing temperate-zone crops.
"Almost all the temperate-zone fruits on Taiwan were imported from overseas back then," recalls Sung Ch'ing-yun, director of Fushou Shan Farms. "Apples took one or two months to ship here from Japan and they cost NT$5 each, when you could buy a big bunch of bananas for just NT$1."
The team's experiment a success, the Vocational Assistance Commission for Retired Servicemen set up Fushou Shan and Wuling farms and consulted with the Forestry Department in allocating to veterans who had worked on the Cross-Island Highway a portion of the lands along the highway for cultivation as fruit orchards. The Atayals who lived in the same area also began planting fruit trees on their reservations.
The Cross-Island Highway proved its value as an excellent transportation channel. The crates of pears and apples shipped down the mountain came back in the form of dollars and cents, spurring the area's rapid prosperity.
With their newfound income, the Atayals bought new cars and had Western-style houses built for themselves with all the appliances. The degree of modernization was no less than Taipei's. " During the golden days of the seventies Lishan was a major showplace for imported foreign cars," a local resident says.
An influx of outsiders was another factor contributing to changes in the area's character. Veterans from various parts of the mainland came to make up half the population, and quite a few Taiwanese got the word and moved up from the lowlands.
Driven by self-interest, farmers have expanded their orchards over ever greater areas, thereby encroaching on forest reserves. In addition, most of the orchards are on steep slopes, which are poor for cultivation and easily eroded. To increase their harvests, the farmers have applied more and more fertilizer and insecticides, which have been washed by the rain into the Tachia River. A lack of effective management and of clear jurisdiction over the area has made matters even worse.
As a result of the more than 1 million cubic meters of silt dumped into the river each year, the estimated life span of the Techi Reservoir, completed in 1974, has been lowered by fifty years from 120. The runoff has also created a problem of eutrophication that is further threatening the reservoir.
To protect the catchment basin and relieve over-exploitation of the Lishan area, the government lifted tariffs on the large-scale importation of apples in 1979, causing prices to plummet.
The market for mountain-grown vegetables was strong at the time, and most of the farmers simply switched crops. But vegetable gardens create even more soil deterioration and water pollution than fruit orchards, and the two farms immediately became objects of public condemnation.
A battle broke out between economic interest and environmental protection.
When the government proposed that the forced felling of 30-year-old trees, which are decreasingly productive, be completed in 1989, the Lishan Farmers' Rights Committee, led by Presbyterian minister Wang Chung-hsin, began a petition campaign to demand a postponement.
The group invited Yao-tung Chao, former chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, and Wang You-tsao, former chairman of the Council of Agriculture, to make an onsite inspection of the mountain, and they eventually won a five-year extension for the farmers to improve their soil and water conservation work.
Following a long period of prosperity, can the fruit and vegetable industry on Lishan lower the high toll it exacts on the environment? It all depends on the farmers' choices over the next four or five years.
[Picture Caption]
Despite its being situated at a high altitude, transportation to the Lishan region is fast and convenient.
The fruits and mountain vegetables grown at Lishan have brought the residents a better life economically, but long-term neglect of water and soil conservation threatens to result in degradation of the soil and contamination of the water sources.
Huanshan village is a wondrous Shangri-la.
Hang their children into higher education has always proved a headache for the residents of the region.
Don't look askance at the closely written pieces of paper on the wall: they're the neighbors' running accounts at the local store.
Lishan may be out of the way, but it still receives the concern and attention of the government. Chao Yao-tung, the former chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, personally visits the area to gain a better understanding of the conditions of soil and water conservation.
(Right) Although population outflow is a serious problem, religious worship is still maintained. Everybody pitches in to build a church.
Despite its being situated at a high altitude, transportation to the Lishan region is fast and convenient.
The fruits and mountain vegetables grown at Lishan have brought the residents a better life economically, but long-term neglect of water and soil conservation threatens to result in degradation of the soil and contamination of the water sources.
The fruits and mountain vegetables grown at Lishan have brought the residents a better life economically, but long-term neglect of water and soil conservation threatens to result in degradation of the soil and contamination of the water sources.
The fruits and mountain vegetables grown at Lishan have brought the residents a better life economically, but long-term neglect of water and soil conservation threatens to result in degradation of the soil and contamination of the water sources.
Huanshan village is a wondrous Shangri-la.
Hang their children into higher education has always proved a headache for the residents of the region.
Don't look askance at the closely written pieces of paper on the wall: they're the neighbors' running accounts at the local store.
Lishan may be out of the way, but it still receives the concern and attention of the government. Chao Yao-tung, the former chairman of the Council for Economic Planning and Development, personally visits the area to gain a better understanding of the conditions of soil and water conservation.
（Right） Although population outflow is a serious problem, religious worship is still maintained. Everybody pitches in to build a church.
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@List.jpg?w=522&h=410&mode=crop&format=webp&quality=80)