Coming back home
The opening of the Xueshan Tunnel has brought large numbers of tourists to the Lanyang Plain. Song Long-quan of the Cultural Affairs Bureau thinks that the county’s future cultural development should focus on “returning to Yilan’s cultural roots, reestablishing Yilan’s slower pace of life, and giving Yilan the confidence to internationalize by localizing.”
In recent years, the development of non-smokestack industries and the deployment of experimental education have attracted numerous “immigrants” to the county and encouraged many young locals to return. A strong sense of identification with the land has encouraged many people to grow and sell organic produce, to open independent bookshops or handicrafts studios, to get involved with the planning of Art in Village events, or to offer activities that introduce visitors to fishing-village life. The interaction between the county’s educational system, its culture, and its ecosystems has given rise to an organic, virtuous cycle.
Renowned publisher Winston Chen is a case in point. Chen, who has devoted his later years to publishing works on short journeys and food-and-farming culture, moved his entire publishing operation back to his hometown of Luodong three years ago.
The Come Home Studio, which stands next to the green expanse of the Luodong Sports Park, is another example. Its first floor sells cultural publications and environmentally friendly agricultural produce, while its second has been converted into a lovely, vibrant restaurant space that occasionally exhibits the work of local artists. Here, small farmers, chefs, and readers meet face to face in an open kitchen to whip up and sample new recipes made from organic ingredients.
Small Location Book Cuisine is yet another example. Owned by a rice grower, the former rice mill tucked away in Shengou Village, Yuanshan Township, provides patrons with a place where they can either buy environmentally friendly vegetables outright, or exchange second-hand books for them. And then there’s the Song Garden House, an old warehouse on Yilan City’s Jinshi Road that provides a venue for produce trading and occasional lectures on environmental topics. Stay Traveler Bookstore on Bixia Street in Yilan’s old downtown, on the other hand, is an independent shop that retails books and designer items, and also provides patrons with a space in which to exchange thoughts.
These cultural spaces sparkle like stars while simultaneously providing an earthly foundation for creative and cultural incubation. Yilan’s embrace of attitudes and practices ranging from “downshifting” to organic agriculture is helping create a better, friendlier way of life and encouraging natives to move back. “Happy Yilan, Creative Countryside” is more than a slogan; it’s the county’s past, present and future.
This year’s Art in Village program kicked off with an event at Grandpa’s Old Mill. The photo shows the mill’s owners, father and son Xu Chaokui and Xu Wenzhong. (photo by Tsai Wen-ting)
The Yilan County Government’s preservation and restoration efforts turned a former paper factory into a cultural incubator, the Chung Hsing Cultural and Creative Park. (courtesy of Yilan County Cultural Affairs Bureau)
The Lanyang Museum is itself a work of art that also happens to exhibit Yilan. The museum’s Four Seasons Music Festival is a must-attend for music fans. (photo by Yang Wen-ching)
Yilan natives returning to the county are opening unique bookstores, growing organic produce, or, like Come Home Studio, housing a restaurant and environmentally friendly produce sales in a single location. The photo shows Come Home Studio’s exhibition of pottery by Li Zongru. (courtesy of Yilan County Cultural Affairs Bureau)
Jimmy Square and author Huang Chun-ming’s Red Brick House offer a different way to engage with authors and literature. The two venues have helped revitalize Yilan City’s old downtown. (photo by Yang Wen-ching)
Liao Daqing, a cultural worker in Nanfang’ao, has turned his father’s old boat repair shop into the Sun Gan Factory Museum and made it a regular participant in the Art in Village program.
Wushi Harbor is quiet and tranquil as the sun goes down. Yilan’s beautiful scenery has drawn many sojourning natives home again.