As the Republic of China has progressed, many traditions and customs have disappeared. Some areas have held out longer against the encroachments of modern civilization, however, such as the Linkou district of Taipei County.
Linkou, consisting of 12 separate villages, is located on a plateau to the west of Taipei. On the first and 15th of each lunar month, the periodic market arrives as of old. On market days, people from the entire district crowd the streets to buy everything from puppy dogs to Chinese medicines from the four to five thousand stalls. The streets resound with the cries of hawkers, calls of acrobats, and trained animal acts.
These two days are important to the people of Linkou for another reason too, since they flock to the Kuanyin temple on Mt. Chulin near Chinghu village at the same time. The temple, built in 1939, is situated on 10 hectares of land and surrounded by gardens which enhance its beauty. Under the glistening tile roof are many gold colored statues and carved stone pillars covered with figures and landscapes. Young and old fill the temple, bringing offerings of food and praying for good weather, a bountiful harvest, and freedom from danger.
The biggest day at the temple is Kuanyin's birthday on the 19th day of the ninth lunar month. Until 10 years ago, the villages took turns offering sacrifices to the goddess. Every household in the village would slaughter a boar in celebration and people from all over the plateau would go to the temple to join in the festivities. Now, however, customs have changed. In response to the government's call for frugality, the people have eliminated this wasteful and unnecessary custom and instead make offerings of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.
Religious practices are not the only thing changing in Linkou. The plateau on which Linkou is situated is composed of red soil, which is highly acidic and has a high clay content. It is unsuited to rice cultivation and rice paddies take up only 5 percent of the area. Where rice will not grow, however, tea and tangerines will; and where not even these will grow, people plant sweet potatoes. Tea now covers 25 percent of the land and production stands at 525,150 kilos a year.
The tea industry has recently suffered some setbacks. As paochung and tung-ting oolong teas have become more popular, areas such as Mucha and Shihting, where these teas grow, have taken over Linkou's position. As a result, many farmers have migrated to the city to find work in factories, and the sight of women singing happily in the tea fields is becoming increasingly rare.
As the tea industry declined, the brick industry developed. The red soil of the Linkou plateau is ideal for making bricks and in response to the building boom which took place in Taipei in 1977 and 1978, many brick factories were established. The brick industry was also ideally suited to the economy in Linkou because tea cultivation is seasonal work, and does not require as much time as rice. Therefore, when farmers are not busy in the fields they can work in the brickyards. The boom also attracted many people from outside the district, especially aborigines, and the economy of the plateau grew rapidly.
At the height of the industry, there were 34 brickworks in Linkou. But today there are only four, the result of a dramatic drop in the price of bricks, from NT$3 to $1.2 each. But just as the people of Linkou earlier found a substitute for tea, now too they have found a replacement for bricks. Because the plateau suffers from summer droughts, it is dotted with ponds dug to preserve the winter rain. These ponds are also perfect for raising fish and now Linkou has become a magnet for Taipei area fishermen.
As roads have been built and widened, Linkou has become more and more accessible. Linkou's position close to the North-South Expressway has been of particular value. The two most representative examples of growth in the area are Linkou's power plant and its golf course. The power plant, completed in 1968, can produce 960,000 kilowatts. The golf course is a regulation 18-hole one which was completed in 1965. Golfers from all over northern Taiwan go there to play, and a few world class golfers got started there.
In 1969, the government drew up plans for the creation of a new city on the Linkou plateau as part of an overall capital area development plan which includes commercial, industrial, and residential zones. These will be surrounded by an agricultural zone which in turn is surrounded by a protected area where development is prohibited. Upon completion it is projected that the new city will have a population of 450,000. It will be a total living environment where people can work, live and relax.
A hospital, golf course, and athletic park have already been completed and plans are being drawn up for a college preparatory school for Overseas Chinese, an international museum, and a park on Mt. Kuanyin. The entire project should be completed some time in 1985. At that time, except for the protected area, the entire Linkou plateau will take on a new appearance, and the Linkou of today will only be seen in the pages of history books.
[Picture Caption]
On the first and fifteenth of every lunar month a periodic market arrives in Linkou. 1. In five months these ducklings will be big enough to eat or sell. 2. The market. 3. A bookseller. 4. "Pure silver" jewelry.
1: Blow-up toys. 2: Candy. 3: Hermit crabs; big ones NT$30, small ones $5. 4: Toy liquor bottles. 5: Women's clothing. 6: A temple celebration.
1: Sunrise in the tea fields. 2: Although hand processing is more time consuming, it insures consistency. 3: The power plant. 4: The new hospital. 5: Children often go fishing in area ponds. 6: The plateau's red soil is ideal for bricks; this woman is transporting bricks to the drying yard. 7: Drying.
1: A goose farm. 2: Green paddies in a valley. 3: Before the expressway was built, people had to travel this road to get to Taipei. 4: A chicken farm. 5: The golf course's veranda. 6: On the green.
Left: The expressway. Right: A traditional Linkou home.
Hermit crabs; big ones NT$30, small ones $5.
Sunrise in the tea fields.
Although hand processing is more time consuming, it insures consistency.
Children often go fishing in area ponds.
The plateau's red soil is ideal for bricks; this woman is transporting bricks to the drying yard.
Green paddies in a valley.
Before the expressway was built, people had to travel this road to get to Taipei.
he golf course's veranda.
A traditional Linkou home.
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