Experiencing Taiwanese Hakka Culture
We spent all of today traveling to Neiwan and Beipu to learn about Taiwanese Hakka culture. Hakka people originated from the northern part of China; many migrated to Taiwan and currently make up 15%-20% of the Taiwan population. The cities we visited were small villages that have not only turned into tourist attractions but also possess a lot of historical significance.
This day trip was planned especially for international students and it started at 6:30AM. We all got into charter buses and our first stop was a train station where we took small traditional trains to Neiwan. Neiwan is a small Hakka village that currently sells a lot of food and tourist souvenirs. 70 years ago however, it was where all the Hakka lumber people and coal miners lived. The lumber people used to travel up into the mountains, cut down wood, pile the chopped wood on top of something that looks similar to a snow sled and slide it back down the mountains. A married couple would typically work as a team with the husband pushing the front of the sled and the wife pulling from the back of the sled to make sure it doesn’t slide too fast down the hill destroying the wood. In many instances, the sled would be too heavy and end up crushing the husband in the front. The sled is also made of wood, it’s really heavy and we were able to see the last sled that remains in all of Taiwan at Neiwan. The first Taiwan police station ever built is in Neiwan and sits on top of a small mountain so police officers can overlook all the activity going on in the city. There was also a large theater in the village. Since the lumber people and coal miners didn’t have anything to do after work, they opened up a large theater in the city. Although it is no longer being used as a theater it has been turned into a popular restaurant and it’s actually where we had our lunch.
We then traveled to Beipu which is known for having traditional Hakka houses; there are only 21 Hakka houses that remain standing in Taiwan today. It’s rare for Taiwan to have authentic traditional buildings that still remain since so much of Taiwan has been renovated and modernized. Therefore, these houses are precious to the Hakka people. Beipu is also known for producing a very special tea. The tea is a combination of tea leaves, white/black sesame, and nuts. We had the chance to make our own tea, which was really fun. Something really interesting happened at this village. Neiwan and Beipu are obviously smaller cities in the countryside; people are not as educated and are very different from people in Taipei. So as we were walking along the streets of Beipu, two local girls started running around asking all the Caucasian people in our group if they could take a picture with them. They were so excited and I think it’s because they’ve never seen a Westerner or someone who isn’t Chinese. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen locals behave like that because there are quite a few Caucasians that live in Taipei so locals there are used to it. Everyone in our group definitely got a kick out of that.
Our last stop was at a persimmon factory. They taught us the process of using persimmons to make dried snacks. We were in a classroom type setting and a worker at the factory was showing us a slideshow on how to turn fresh persimmons into dried fruit. He then started showing us random pictures of bugs and rock which I thought was really funny because it had nothing to do with what he was teaching us. But overall, I had a fun day learning all about Hakka culture.
|
