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Wetland region portrayed as idyllic retreat

Some Aboriginal children from the Amis tribe in Hualien County play games before their performance at a press conference yesterday to promote the county's tourism industry. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES

In the post-SARS era, eastern Hualien County, a completely uninfected area, is a good choice for people to get away and relax, acting county commissioner Fan Kuang-chun (范光群) said yesterday.

For years the Hualien County Government has worked hard to turn the county's Kuangfu township -- a place seriously hit by the mudflows triggered by Typhoon Toraji in 2001 -- into a promising spot of ecological tourism.

Having a population of only 20,000, Kuangfu is richly influenced by Amis Aboriginal culture and is highly esteemed for its natural beauty. Over half of the population of the township belong to the Amis tribe.

Yesterday, Hualien locals and officials from the central government recommended Taiwan's largest outdoor natural maze and a 94-hectare wetland in the township as an ideal destination for big city residents who want to get away from it all.

To attract nature lovers to the region, an area covering more than 10 hectares of land formerly used for growing Sun hemp (太陽麻) was turned into a maze, in which a totem of legendary Amis warriors was erected.

"Sun hemp is a popular plant for producing fertilizer. I think the township takes advantage of the natural resources available to boost local ecological tourism wisely," Su Cheng-tien (蘇成田), the director-general of the central government's Tourism Bureau, said at a press conference.

Lin Yuan-ruey (林元瑞), Kuangfu Township chief, said that by visiting Fataan Wetland (馬太鞍濕地), which is nourished by clean water from the Central Mountain Range, visitors can learn the importance of preserving natural resources, which is an integral part of the traditional Amis tribal lifestyle.

For example, the Amis spare nothing when on a fishing expedition. Lakaw, a hand-made three-level structure used at the wetland, is a safe home for fish and shrimp to settle and propagate.

Wetland horticulturists said that Fataan Wetland shares the same magnificent confluence of lotus as Paiho in Tainan County and Kuanyin in Taoyuan County.

To promote local tourism, from June to October, lotus feasts consisting of lotus leaf rice and lotus fairy soup will be available at most local restaurants.

Lalan Unak, 47, a Kuangfu resident, has focused on the promotion and preservation of Amis, or Pangcha, culture for a decade by holding workshops on the ecology of Fataan Wetland, the promotion of traditional rituals, and the musical notation of folk songs.

"Observing the rise and fall of the waterlevel at the wetland, we feel equilibrium," Unak said.

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) said that Taiwanese people should not always take overseas trips in the post-SARS era, but should explore their own country.

"Hualien could be one of the best destinations in the world," Lu said at the press conference.

Lu said Kuangfu's case demonstrated that, after Taiwan's entry in the WTO, local agriculture could be transformed into a tool to boost the local economy.
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