Yung Ho and Chung Ho

December 1983

中文

Left, Many residents of Chung Ho take morning walks on the hills south of the cit.

"I'll never forget my first glimpse of Ch'uan-tuan Bridge," wrote author Hsu Chung-p'ei in 1950. "Girls walking along it in print dresses, an oxcart moving slowly along, green mountains in the distance, and a few houses along the river."

Today on the former Ch'uan-tuan Bridge, now called Chung Cheng bridge, there are no oxcarts, only cars coming from Taipei to Yung Ho, moving slower than an oxcart. Pedestrians walking along the bridge's sidewalk have to be on the lookout for cars that impatiently try to drive there. No one today goes up on the bridge for a stroll as Hsu did; instead, they hurry along the sidewalk, possibly feeling that that is no slower than taking a car, and less wearing on the nerves.

In 1950 Yung Ho didn't exist; it was only eight ts'un (a rural administrative unit) in Chung Ho Village, with 7,700 inhabitants. Now Yung Ho is a city, with a population of 225,000 people.

Yung Ho and its neighbor Chung Ho are called the "Twin Hos." The area was first settled by Chinese in the early 1700s. The terrain is low-lying, bordered on the north by Hsintien Creek, and in the past was frequently flooded. Only a small portion of the area received much settlement. Only after the seat of the Nationalist government was moved to nearby Taipei in 1949 did the area begin to change very much.

The northeast corner of Chung Ho Village was very convenient to Taipei, and this cheap riverside land brought in many people from elsewhere in Taiwan. It became the fastest-growing area in Chung Ho, and in 1957 it became Yung Ho Town (Chen).

Yung Ho Town, at 5.6 square kilometers the smallest in Taiwan, went from being a sandbank filled with vegetable gardens to being the center of development of the Twin Hos. A dike was built along the river, and Ch'uan-tuan Bridge was widened from 3.5 meters to 24 meters and renamed Chung Cheng (Chiang Kai-shek) Bridge. Now Yung Ho has more than 40,000 people per square kilometer, one of the highest population densities in the world.

Twenty years ago, most people in Yung Ho lived there for low rents, and their income level didn't attract many shops into the town. Up to ten years ago, most Yung Ho residents did much of their shopping in Taipei. But as the economy improved, Yung Ho residents saved enough to move into Taipei, and some Taipei residents fled from its rising rents for Yung Ho. As Yung Ho prospered it attracted more shops. Now Yung Ho has many new shops, branches of famous Taipei stores, and also old shops whose owners have lived in Yung Ho for decades.

To beautify Yung Ho, now a city, Mayor S. C. Sun is planting trees by major streets, and putting flower pots beside sidewalks. He is also sponsoring a "Household Greening and Beautification Contest," to encourage people to use their balconies, yards, and roofs to grow plants and flowers, and make Yung Ho green.

Near Yung P'ing Junior High is a plot of land the city plans to turn into a park. But due to the price of land, now high in Yung Ho too, the city has not yet been able to purchase the plot and carry out the plan.

At present, the only open land in Yung Ho is on the riverside, between the dike and the river. The dike is five kilometers long, and the open area beside it is the broadest stretch of green grass in Yung Ho. The city has built a standard-sized running track in the area, for city dwellers to exercise on.

The track is a popular meeting place for early-morning exercisers. Before the light of dawn, early risers are on the dike walking to the track. A common sight is old men, housewives, and afternoon-class elementary school students together, each enjoying his own exercise.

A different kind of activity can be found at Yung Ho's night market, on Yung P'ing Road. All the items a market can't do without are there--fruit, drinks, snacks, but mostly clothes. Everything you would think of, or wouldn't think of, is displayed there by the road, from bedsheets to eyeglasses, from toothbrushes to stereo cabinets.

Night markets are well liked for their atmosphere of hubbub, so wherever they are, they attract a lot of notice, and get better business than storefront shops. But the night-market merchants pay no taxes, and their noise disturbs their neighbors, and they cause traffic disorder. The fines for unlicensed streetside selling are low, and the vendors have trucks they can move to another market as needed, so it isn't easy to catch them, yet the vendors can attract a crowd of customers wherever they go. Thus street merchants are called "urban cancers," from their ineradicability and mobility.

The vendors' existence has brought a lot of delight to the residents of Yung Ho, and many more people like them than dislike them. But the vendors are a harm to the quality of life in Yung Ho, as Yung Ho has already reached population saturation. The matter requiring the most attention now is to reduce the problems of dirt, crime, and traffic caused by overcrowding.

To clean up the city, besides the greenery campaign, the government is banning unauthorized posting of bills, and is investing in placing electric power lines underground. But the vendors remain a big obstacle in cleaning up the city.

To fight crime, the city intends to form a special patrol composed of retired military policemen to watch major streets and examine suspicious vehicles. But the provincial government hasn't yet provided funds for the project.

The traffic problem brings about mixed feelings in Yung Ho residents. Most live there because a bus trip to Taipei costs only one ticket (about US$0.16), and takes only ten minutes. But at rush hour, the waiting leads people to say, "Only people with a strong will can live in Yung Ho."

Yung Ho's streets are laid out according to a plan written in 1955. To change them would involve great expense, so the city is merely adding bridges. But these affect the traffic patterns in Taipei, so there is no easy solution.

Chung Ho Village became a city in 1979, the same year as Yung Ho. Because it is farther from Taipei, Chung Ho has not developed as fast as Yung Ho. But its fastest-growing section has problems much like Yung Ho.

Chung Ho has a water shortage problem in the summer. Most of Chung Ho's water is supplied from the Taipei water authority, some of it from the provincial water authority, but in both cases Chung Ho is at the end of the water mains, and every dry summer Chung Ho has severe water shortages. Fortunately the Feitsui Reservoir is now under construction upstream of Chung Ho, and by next summer there should be enough water.

Three-fifths of Chung Ho's area is houses, and it also has a zone of factories, and mountains with verdant fields. Now people are moving from smaller and more populous Yung Ho into Chung Ho.

Because of a lower city budget, Chung Ho does not match Yung Ho in several respects. There is less greenery there, and in Yung Ho street signs are especially large, and color-coded, making travel convenient. And Yung Ho residents arouse the envy of Chung Ho residents who have to pay two tickets for a bus ride into Taipei. But Chung Ho remains attractive with its hills and fields.

Now the two cities are growing together, trying to meet the rising expectations of their people. These expectations include a green environment, an adequate supply of water, and cultural amenities. The cities are working to provide these things, to keep the people happy in the future.

[Picture Caption]

Left, Many residents of Chung Ho take morning walks on the hills south of the city. Right, above, Boys catching insects in the grass. Below, Tall grass in the morning sunlight. The people of Chung Ho and Yung Ho are mostly unaware of this quiet place near their urban homes.

1. The prosperous streets of Yung Ho compare well with those of Taipei. 2. Chung Cheng Bridge is one of the main ways for the Twin Hos to communicate with the outside. 3. When the fashion season changes, the store is filled with clothes. 4. Shoes were an early Yung Ho business, and have now reached a large scale. 5. Furniture is cheap and good in Yung Ho, attracting not a few customers. 6.7. A famous soybean milk shop at the head of Chung Cheng Bridge, all day selling soybean milk, fritters, and other North China treats. 6 shows cutting a shao ping with a pair of scissors. 7 shows deep frying fritters.

1. Chung Ho's Hsiu Shan Activity Center has play equipment, providing children a safe place to play. 2. In the dense concentration of apartments, one can still find single-family houses, such as this two-story house. 3. On the southern border of Chung Ho are some farmhouses of brick with tile roofs. 4. From the mountainside, one c together. 5.6. An old house in Yung Ho with modern appliances but an old atmosphere. 7. An old painter's house, with a large yard.

The exercise area below the Chung Cheng Bridge. 1. An old man and a bird. 2. Women practicing martial arts. 3. Mothers doing exercise dances while a child looks on. 4. A boy jumping a bicycle. 5. Mother and son flying kites. 6. Children sliding down the dike wall, enjoying themselves. 7. A family using a pile of dirt to roast sweet potatoes. 8. Children playing baseball.

1.-5. The Twin Hos have a large population with a lot of buying power, and have a lot of night markets, with food, and toys for children. 6.8. Chung Ho's Yuan T'ung Temple. 7. A fortune teller.

Chung Ho's Hsiu Shan Elementary School, with special science equipment. 1. Teaching children to use computers. 2. The school has three bands, and a rich atmosphere of music. 3. Playing volleyball during the physical education class.

Right, above, Boys catching insects in the grass. Below.

The people of Chung Ho and Yung Ho are mostly unaware of this quiet place near their urban homes.

1. The prosperous streets of Yung Ho compare well with those of Taipei.

6.7. A famous soybean milk shop at the head of Chung Cheng Bridge, all day selling soybean milk, fritters, and other North China treats. 6 shows cutting a shao ping with a pair of scissors.