A community in Hualien plans to celebrate its 60th anniversary next year by recreating the decor and atmosphere of the 1950s based on the theme of “Remember the Old Days.”
Dachen No. 1 Village (大陳一村) is a military dependents’ village in Hualien City that was founded after the evacuation of Republic of China forces from Dachen Island in February 1955.
Located off the coast of China’s Zhejiang Province, Dachen Island was evacuated, with the aid of US Navy ships, after China’s People’s Liberation Army gained control of the island.
According to media reports at the time, “Chinese fighter planes repeatedly made incursions on Dachen Island at the beginning of 1955. This little island, whose inhabitants were mainly dependent on fishing, had to endure the bombing raids... After the Lantern Festival, 170,000 island residents, young and old, locked the gates of their homes, as they waited for the evacuation... They retreated to Taiwan with the assistance of the US 7th Fleet.”
The reports touched on the helplessness and the resolve of the evacuees.
Some of them relocated to Hualien City and started the neighborhood settlement known as “Dachen No. 1 Village.”
With this history in mind, the local administrative office has organized the “Search for Memories of Dachen Island” project.
The project’s aim is to recreate the look and feel of the 1950s by reconstructing the memories of residents, officials said.
The community hopes the project will attract Chinese tourists visiting Hualien City, officials said.
One local official said that walking through Dachen No. 1 Village “felt as though time had stood still in the 1950s. The village square still has a bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石). The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) party emblem is still in prominent display on the stage of the village’s main temple.”
The official added that a rhyming couplet from one of the era’s patriotic theme slogans can still be seen on the main red pillars of the temple.
“Peace is at hand. It’s time to retake the Chinese mainland rivers and mountains. Implement the Three Principles of the People. It’s the clear path to happiness,” the couplet reads.
The local administrative office said it plans to solicit funding from other government agencies to help preserve this piece of 1950s culture and history.
Officials said the project’s main theme centers on “culture as the base, story as the tool and sustainable development as the goal,” to develop the village’s tourism potential.
“The project can inject new life into the old community. It can become another tourism bright spot for Hualien, and can breathe new life into the neighborhood,” an official said.
SPACE VETERAN: Kjell N. Lindgren, who helps lead NASA’s human spaceflight missions, has been on two expeditions on the ISS and has spent 311 days in space Taiwan-born US astronaut Kjell N. Lindgren is to visit Taiwan to promote technological partnerships through one of the programs organized by the US for its 250th national anniversary. Lindgren would be in Taiwan from Tuesday to Saturday next week as part of the US Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs’ US Speaker Program, organized to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement yesterday. Lindgren plans to engage with key leaders across the nation “to advance cutting-edge technological partnerships and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers,”
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
RSS