Wanhua praises cultural heritage

Celebrations organized by the Wanhua District Office of Taipei City were held yesterday to promote southern Wanhua's rich cultural heritage.

Celebrating with free give-aways, food stalls and amusement venues, the cultural event promoted southern Wanhua industries such as agriculture, livestock, fishing and flowers.

Hosted by the Wanhua District Office and other departments of the Taipei City Government, the two-day event aimed to promote and preserve southern Wanhua's cultural resources. City officials want to increase public awareness of the rich cultural assets southern Wanhua has to offer.

"In the past, northern Wanhua and central Wanhua often took center stage," said Tung Shin-kuo (董新國), Administrative Section chief of the Wanhua District Office. "Now it is time for southern Wanhua to show people what it is made of."

Southern Wanhua is the so-called "old community" of the Wanhua district.

Southern Wanhua was once a thriving area in the 1930s, the district office said. Although southern Wanhua is now the biggest agricultural products supplier in Taipei, it said, the community has declined since the 1950s due to the unmarketable sale of its jasmine production.

Tung said that jasmine is a southern Wanhua speciality, along with bamboo shoots and bean sprouts.

"We also hoped to bring prosperity back to southern Wanhua [with the cultural promotion]," Tung added.

Another objective of the event, said Shu Hahn-hsiung (徐漢雄), district chief of the district office, was to promote and affirm the quality of southern Wanhua's goods to consumers -- a goal all the more important as those goods will face tougher competition after Taiwan's admission to the WTO.

"We want to enhance consumer confidence in our products," Tung said.

The cultural celebration included free give-aways, sales, traditional crafts and children's activities.

Other entertainment featured folk singing, dancing, live bands and quiz shows as well as arts and crafts demonstrations and free food samples.

"This is the first time we [southern Wanhua residents] have hosted an event this large," said Chen Tong-shern (陳東顯), health promotion section chief of the district office.

"And we are delighted that it has attracted more than 10, 0000 visitors."