Many villages in Taiwan have lost their young population, leaving old houses vacant, but a township in Miaoli County is hoping to reverse that trend by renovating old dwellings and turning them into tourist attractions.
A renovated cluster of traditional southern Fujian-style courtyard houses in Toufen Township (頭份) is encouraging young people to stay in the area because of the jobs created by its emergence as a tourist draw.
The Lu-chu-nan house cluster was one of more than 7,000 projects to receive financial support under a Ministry of Labor job creation program that subsidizes community revitalization and job creation projects proposed by civic groups, a source at the ministry said yesterday. The about 50 redbrick courtyard houses dating back 300 years were not touched by developers, because the area was zoned by the government as industrial land in 1968.
Over the years, residents slowly moved out, because the houses were decaying and job prospects for the younger generation were anything but promising.
In 2007, local interests initiated an effort to revitalize the community, and with financial support from the Ministry of Labor, the then-Council of Cultural Affairs and the private sector, the houses were restored and turned into a museum chronicling rural life in the 1950s and 1960s.
In the cluster, people can learn to use traditional tools, such as stone mills and wood-fired ovens, to prepare different foods and try their hands at making pottery and weaving.
The Miaoli County Heritage Society of Cluster Culture said it cooperated with local universities and colleges on the revitalization project.
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash. Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022. Hoa Van Hao, a
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the