The traditional practice of harvesting oysters using water buffaloes in Changhua County has become a tourist attraction that in recent years has received international attention.
Tourists flock to Changhua County’s Fangyuan Township (芳苑) to see farmers transport oysters from inter-tidal zones to the shore, with the water sometimes reaching up to the buffaloes’ shoulders.
A local resident and ecotour organizer Wei Ching-shui (魏清水) said the tradition was preserved due to a lucky accident, as local farmers were unable to operate motorized oyster-harvesting vehicles properly and found carriages pulled by water buffalo more maneuverable.
Photo: Chen Kuan-pei, Taipei Times
Wei said he decided to turn the declining tradition into a tourist attraction about 10 years ago and the initiative has helped to increase oyster farmers’ incomes.
To conserve the ecosystem of the wetlands in the southwest of the county, Wei is planning to petition UNESCO to grant the township and its aquaculture landscape World Heritage site status, he said.
A standard oyster-harvesting tour ferries visitors on an oxcart through muddy waters to flat intertidal zones, where visitors, in rubber boots and gloves, gather oysters, fiddler crabs and clams when the tide is low, he said.
Tourists can also help to set up fishing weirs — a traditional method of fishing in which fish are trapped in an obstruction placed during low tide — and visit bamboo shacks on stilts in the water, he said,
After the tour, delicacies made with freshly harvested oysters are on offer, he said.
The township has seen hundreds of visitors from Singapore and Malaysia, with many repeat visitors, Wei said.
Local tourist agency owner Lee Cheng-chieh (李正傑) said group tours are usually conducted once per day, but people who want a place must book in advance as there are only 20 working water buffaloes in the township.
A tourist surnamed Chen (陳) from Taipei said she decided to take her family to visit the township on the recommendation of relatives, and she found the trip worthwhile as she enjoyed the ocean breeze, the slow pace of country life and spending time with her family in a natural setting.
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