Bayan Village (八煙) in New Taipei City’s Jinshan District (金山) yesterday closed its doors to uninvited visitors after tourists crowded the village’s narrow streets and trespassed on private property for years.
A woman surnamed Tsai (蔡), who is from the village, yesterday returned to Bayan from her residence in New Taipei City’s Sinjhuang District (新莊) upon hearing about the closure.
“It has not been this quiet in so long,” Tsai said as she watched her nephew run in the village’s narrow streets, adding that in the past few years the village roads would always be filled with tourists whenever she went home to visit.
Photo: Yeh Kuan-yu, Taipei Times
“Seeing it this quiet here really takes me back to my childhood,” she said.
The village was once an unknown spot in Yangmingshan (陽明山) that attracted no visitors.
A few years ago, word spread about the scenic terraced fields that cover the village’s hillsides and visitors began pouring in, causing disturbances for local residents.
After the disturbances recently escalated into conflicts between relatives, residents on Friday called a village meeting and resolved to close the village to outsiders.
The news caused more than 1,000 visitors to rush to the village on Friday to see the scenery before the village was closed.
The villagers, who are represented by about 20 people comprising nine households, say they were overwhelmed by the sudden influx of visitors.
Over the past few years, almost every weekend and holiday has seen large groups of people crowding into the area, villagers said, adding that the visitors would walk uninvited into vegetable gardens and trespass on residents’ property.
Some visitors would even urinate or defecate on the ground, as there are no public restroom facilities in the village, they said, adding that village elders who complained were scolded by the outsiders.
In April, one villager, named Tsai Wen-chao (蔡文照), began charging for admission to see one of the scenic spots on his property, which resulted in a conflict with relatives who said he was encouraging the tourists and disturbing the peace.
Tsai Ken (蔡根), one of the residents who called for the village meeting, said that visitors would congest the one road leading into and out of the village, causing inconvenience for the residents.
He said that visitors made agricultural work difficult as well, since they would occupy the footpaths leading into the terraces.
“The whole village fell into disorder,” Tsai Ken said.
Tsai Wen-chao said Tsai Ken was overzealous due to his smaller plot that could not earn him as much money from visitors.
Tsai Ken said he was resolute in his determination to close off the village as of 8am yesterday, despite an endless stream of visitors into sundown on Friday evening.
“He cannot be allowed to close off the village,” Tsai Wen-chao said, adding that his field was the result of eight years of hard work and that he would report the issue to the police.
Chien Chia-yu (錢佳佑), project manager for the village’s development council, said the villagers were clear in expressing that the village is their home and place of livelihood and not a tourist spot.
“People are welcome to visit the village and experience farm life, but this should be done through prior notification, not just showing up and treating the place like one’s own home,” Chien said.
Borough Warden Lai Tsai-piao (賴蔡標) lauded the closure, saying it would bring peace to the residents.
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