Tung blossom festival kicks off

The Tung Blossom Hakka Festival kicked off yesterday with a concert and poetry reading held at a mountain resort in Miaoli County, a Hakka stronghold.

Addressing the opening ceremony, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said he appreciates the Council for Hakka Affairs' efforts in organizing a carnival-style Tung Blossom Festival annually to promote public recognition of Hakka culture, folk customs and the beautiful scenery of the country's Hakka towns.

"The annual tung Blossom Festival has helped enrich our cultural activities and promote tourism and economic development in our major Hakka communities," the president said, adding that the festival also offers tourists lavish opportunities to enjoy the scene of "snow in summer" created by the white tung flowers that look like snow flakes.

Chen later joined the council's chairwoman, Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) and other senior officials in prayers to formally kick off the festival, which will last through May 4.

They then joined a group of elementary school children in reciting a poem dedicated to tung flowers which bloom from the beginning of April through May in Miaoli, Taoyuan and the Hsinchu mountainous regions -- the country's major Hakka homelands. The poem, titled an Ode to Tung Flowers, was written by Lee Chiao, one of the nation's most prominent Hakka writers.

The poetry reading was followed by a concert featuring some Hakka folk songs.

The council has planned a total of 341 festivities, including pottery making, flower appreciation, ecological tours, extracting tung seed oil, painting exhibitions, woodcarving shows, photo competitions, Hakka singing contests, Hakka food tasting and seminars on Hakka cultural heritage and literature, to be held during the festival. The activities will take place in 21 townships in Miaoli, Taoyuan and Hsinchu counties.

The Directorate General of Posts has issued postage stamps and commemorative envelopes in connection with the festival, while state-owned Chunghwa Telecom has started selling phone cards bearing the motif of tung flower.

The council has expressed the hope that the number of local tourists will see a marked increase this year since many local people have canceled their overseas travel plans amid the current global outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS).

One of the activities available to tourists is to travel by boat near the Shihmen Dam (石門水庫). The surrounding hills of the reservoir have plenty of tung trees in full bloom. Starting from Amuping (阿姆坪) Pier, you can stop by Lungchu Bay (龍珠灣) to visit some cafes which provides tourists with a panoramic view of the reservoir. There is a huge meadow in the middle of the reservoir called Hsinkanping (新柑坪), which is only revealed when the water line is below 225m.

Another option is to go to Neiwan (內灣), a Hakka village renovated to attract tourists. The village looks more like a theme park than a village; after the restoration, the village was decorated with drawings taken from the works of comic book illustrator Liu Hsing-chin (劉興欽).

Liu made his name in the 1970s, and he is from a village close by. Paintings of two of his most well-known characters, Old Auntie (大嬸婆) and Brother Ah-san (阿三哥) are painted almost everywhere in the village. Many shops are named after these two characters as well.

Most shops sell local delicacies such as dumplings in wild ginger flower leaves (野薑花粽) and Hakka tea (客家擂茶). Known for their hospitality, the villagers and shop owners always greet visitors warmly and loudly in Mandarin Chinese.