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Military villages hold culture fair

A woman demonstrates how to make sausages yesterday at the Taipei Mainland Veteran Villages Festival in Chenggong Community, Taipei. PHOTO: CNA

The aroma of beef noodles and leek dumplings filled the air at the Chenggong Community yesterday afternoon as Taipei City's biggest juan cun (眷村), or military village, launched its second annual "Taipei Mainland Veteran Villages Festival" with homemade delicacies and traditional Chinese handicrafts made by veterans and their offspring.

Military villages are residential compounds that were set up to house soldiers and their families who followed dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) from China in 1949.

"Our purpose is to preserve the veteran culture that is slowly disappearing as more and more veterans are dying off. One of the most unique things about the culture is the strong sense of community care and neighborhood watch which has become quite rare in modern society," said Chang Ling-chen from the city's Department of Culture Affairs.

Chang said the festival not only allows the veterans to show off their culinary skills and other talents such as paper cutting and Chinese calligraphy, but it also provides a chance for their second, and even third generations to learn about their grandparents' era.

This year's festival was organized entirely by the community residents, instead of being outsourced to an event-planning company like last year, she said.

At one point, as many as 880 military residential compounds were spread across the nation, housing more than 100,000 families.

The Chenggong Community, located in Qunying Borough (群英), is nestled in the middle of Taipei's Da-an District (大安). Borough Chief Shih Chung-sheng (石忠勝) said during its peak in the mid-1980s, over 700 veteran households, mostly families of former army men, occupied the community.

"Now we have only about 300 veteran households left. The majority of the veterans have passed away and some have opted to live with their children elsewhere. However, one thing that has remained amidst all the comings and goings is the harmony among the residents," Shih said.

One resident, Chen Du Jih-kuei (陳杜子桂), 81, said she has enjoyed her 55 years living in the community. Her husband was a soldier in the army.

Another resident, Wu Cheih-chun (吳解駿), 80, originally from Anhui Province in China, said that unlike other veterans, he considers Taiwan home and would never consider moving back to China.

"This is where all my friends are. I have no reason to go back to China because Taiwan has been good to me," said Wu also an ex-army man who came to Taiwan in 1949.

The two-week festival will also offer movie screenings and music concerts featuring old tunes. Some veterans will also host story times to tell tales of the past.
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