"We were lucky to receive government subsidies to help us renovate the buildings, and of course I'd like to continue to develop the entire town, but it's impossible," said Luo. "It's a question of cash flow. And ours has run dry."
With the recent economic downturn making additional government funding impossible, the town's cash-flow problem has become so bad that there isn't enough cash to expand the town's car park to cope with the extra tourist traffic.
According to Chen, the town's sole parking lot gets so full on any given weekend that tourists park their cars in some pretty daft places.
"The problem is the parking. As there isn't enough room in the temple parking lot, people have taken to parking in awkward places, causing problems for the people who live here," continues the retired schoolteacher. "And as you can imagine, it can be really annoying, especially when the street is only a few meters wide."
At present the only place in town geared towards tourism is the museum. With it's exhibition of old farming equipment and an assortment of black and white photos of the street, the museum is located next to the town's church and is far from appealing.
The peeling paint and the seemingly random manner in which it has been organized, means the Huko Old Street museum is a far cry from the sleek galleries found in other renovated areas of Taiwan such as Yinge and Sanyi. But once again it's a question of cash.
"Sure we could renovate the museum, but that would mean diverting what little cash we have available from the renovation of the buildings," continues Luo. "We don't want to do this and we are trying to put the local residents first. Sadly, it is going to become more and more difficult to put local sentiment above the capital tourism can generate if the town, and especially the street, are to survive for another century."
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