- 2 days ago
- #taitung
- #taiwanplus
- #wheresthemayor
From a tearoom sheltering from a typhoon to rice fields that double as a stage, Taitung County offers a different way of thinking about place — and pace.
Andrew Ryan travels through Taiwan’s southeastern county with Taitung County Magistrate April Yao, exploring how people in one of Taiwan’s most remote regions are embracing a slower rhythm — shaped by nature, culture, and community.
In this full episode, we discover:
• A tea-and-meditation experience at the heart of Taitung’s “capital of calm” vision
• Art inspired by the landscape — from the Paul Chiang Art Center to the Chishang Autumn Harvest Arts Festival
• Indigenous farmers reviving Taiwan oil millet, a heritage grain built for a changing climate
• Beach cleanups that turn ocean waste into art and deep-blue “Taitung Blue” textiles
• Why digital nomads, creatives, and booksellers are finding room to work — and think — on Taiwan’s quiet east coast
WATCH more episodes in our series here:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu5MSnfNvpMb3ZFYxt5_eJfl9tPzPRywj&si=sNf234QSf4h5C1QN (((INSERT LINK)))
((((((YT and Website ONLY))))))
[Taiwan’s Mayors and County Chiefs]
Taiwan is home to 13 county chiefs, six mayors of special municipalities (New Taipei, Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung) and three mayors of provincial cities. These elected officials serve a maximum four-year term and can be re-elected for one additional term. The first episodes of the series aired prior to the local elections in 2022.
#Taitung #TaiwanPlus #WheresTheMayor
Andrew Ryan travels through Taiwan’s southeastern county with Taitung County Magistrate April Yao, exploring how people in one of Taiwan’s most remote regions are embracing a slower rhythm — shaped by nature, culture, and community.
In this full episode, we discover:
• A tea-and-meditation experience at the heart of Taitung’s “capital of calm” vision
• Art inspired by the landscape — from the Paul Chiang Art Center to the Chishang Autumn Harvest Arts Festival
• Indigenous farmers reviving Taiwan oil millet, a heritage grain built for a changing climate
• Beach cleanups that turn ocean waste into art and deep-blue “Taitung Blue” textiles
• Why digital nomads, creatives, and booksellers are finding room to work — and think — on Taiwan’s quiet east coast
WATCH more episodes in our series here:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu5MSnfNvpMb3ZFYxt5_eJfl9tPzPRywj&si=sNf234QSf4h5C1QN (((INSERT LINK)))
((((((YT and Website ONLY))))))
[Taiwan’s Mayors and County Chiefs]
Taiwan is home to 13 county chiefs, six mayors of special municipalities (New Taipei, Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Tainan and Kaohsiung) and three mayors of provincial cities. These elected officials serve a maximum four-year term and can be re-elected for one additional term. The first episodes of the series aired prior to the local elections in 2022.
#Taitung #TaiwanPlus #WheresTheMayor
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NewsTranscript
00:00An unforgettable performance in a picturesque rice field,
00:09the nation's most remote independent bookstore,
00:14and debris from the sea reborn as unexpected works of art.
00:21These are just some of the things you'll find in Taidong.
00:30Taidong County lies on the southeastern coast of Taiwan,
00:35cut off from the rest of the island by a wall of mountains.
00:40A typhoon is brewing on the day I'm set to meet the county chief,
00:44but she's arranged for us to take shelter in a minimalist tea room,
00:48safe from the wind and rain.
00:51We begin with a guided tea experience.
00:55The first time I will be drinking tea,
00:57it's called Aseamume Tea.
00:58It's called Aseamume Tea.
01:00It's a plant that's not a brush in the forest.
01:03It's not a dry earth.
01:05It's a plant that's a tree,
01:07it's a plant that's a part of the forest.
01:10The forest is a part of the forest,
01:12it's a plant that is a tree,
01:14a tree, a tree, a tree, and a tree.
01:17and the development of the development.
01:20So if you're in a better way,
01:22it can help us to improve our environment
01:24and quickly improve.
01:28Taidong has become a place where people come to slow down and reset.
01:34Since 2021, the county has invited people to make use of the local environment
01:39to get in touch with nature's rhythms.
01:42Every month or so, they host events that use sound, movement, tea, meditation, and the arts
01:49to help people center both body and mind.
01:53It's touted as the only wellness-focused series in Taiwan
01:57organized by a local government.
01:59This is the best way to test your ability.
02:13It's giving you a typhoon.
02:15And seeing how you deal with it.
02:17Yeah.
02:26It's really cool.
02:28And I think it's the third part.
02:30It's the third part.
02:32The third part is the soil and the soil.
02:35It's the soil and the soil.
02:37It's good.
02:38It's good.
02:39It's good.
02:40It's good.
02:41It's good.
02:42It's good.
02:44So you're seeing the soil as a plant here.
02:47So you did its soil.
02:48It's called a disabled.
02:49So you're saying it was the לס HYMNUK environment, right.
02:50Yeah.
02:51It was being given by the right-in-law,
02:52whichconfigured up to life.
02:53It was pretty foreign.
02:55It's no private system that not for any land.
02:57But you can consider it this unavoidable way.
02:58And it's Weirdest,
02:59you think the Yok National Federation is
03:03the best way of everyone in the privacy of this kind.
03:05他們也喜歡 having a lot to eat.
03:06因為他會喜歡自己自己的感覺.
03:07很好吃.
03:09我現在吃的除了是台東的豐富的味道,
03:12還有台東的環境,
03:14還有麵碎給他的味道.
03:16它會有個讓人可以扎根的一種安定感.
03:21對,我覺得那個是茶湯裡面很重要的東西.
03:25扎根啊,就像我想來台灣扎根的yen.
03:30對,台灣讓你找到安定的感覺.
03:34There's something about Taitung that grows on you.
03:43People from all over Taiwan and beyond come here to slow down,
03:48connect with nature, and find a bit of inner calm.
03:52So it kind of makes sense that the county chief has brought me here
03:55for a cup of tea in the middle of a typhoon.
03:58Taitung is often affectionately called Taiwan's quiet backyard.
04:07And what a striking backyard it is.
04:10Tall mountains cut the county in two.
04:13On one side, the mighty Pacific.
04:15On the other, the East Rift Valley lined with rice fields.
04:20You've got to leave the big cities and venture into more remote parts of Taiwan
04:24if you want to catch views like this.
04:26The East Rift Valley
04:28Many people say that maybe more of a country than the other than the other than the other.
04:31But I think that this is the Taitung's優勢.
04:34It's the name of the Taitung's special.
04:37It's the name of the Taitung.
04:38It's the name of a country that makes people feel safe.
04:40It's the name of a country that can help people feel safe.
04:42It's the name of a great nature.
04:44When I came back to Taitung, I realized that my hometown is
04:49that I'm going to spend a lot of money taking care of to spend a lot of money.
04:55It's the colors of Taitung, the fresh air and the quiet, which have attracted artists
05:14like Paul Jiang.
05:15The 83-year-old artist spent much of his creative life outside of Taiwan, more than 30 years
05:40in New York and Paris before settling in the east coast of Taiwan in 2008.
05:47For years, Jiang painted in somber colors, black, white and gray.
05:52But after he moved to Taitung, his creations sprang to life.
05:57The Paul Jiang Art Center, which opened in 2025, contains his life's work, and the center
06:03itself is his biggest work to date.
06:06When people see my artwork, I hope that they will slowly feel that this is not a European
06:14person or a American person, and even people will feel that it is a Korean person.
06:20My artwork is very big, but the texture of the inside is very coarse.
06:25This is not a Korean person.
06:29While some artists like Paul Jiang find their inspiration in Taitung's vast ocean, others
06:34prefer the inland valleys where they celebrate the autumn rice harvest.
06:43The fields of Chishang are known for producing some of the most delicious rice in all of Taiwan.
06:48And the scenery here is so beautiful that it attracts tourists, cyclists, and even artists
06:55who use it as a stage.
06:59The Chishang Autumn Harvest Arts Festival began right here in these rice fields in 2009.
07:06Over the years, they've hosted prominent dancers, pianists, and even some of Taiwan's biggest
07:11pop artists.
07:21This year's program is led by You Theatre.
07:23It follows a young indigenous boy on his path to adulthood as he learns to connect with the
07:29world around him and ultimately finds strength within himself.
07:34The narrative is guided by Sang Pui, a Golden Melody Award-winning singer from Taiwan's indigenous
07:40Pinuyumayan people.
07:41The earth, wind, clouds, birds, and rice fields are all part of the world.
08:06The earth, wind, clouds, birds, and rice fields are all part of the performance.
08:29Here in Chishang, art doesn't just happen on the land.
08:33It grows out of it.
08:35And nature becomes part of the show, revealing something new and different every year.
08:48At a small farm nestled in the foothills of Taitung, traditional grains are making a quiet
08:53comeback.
08:55It's part of a growing movement to revive indigenous crops once pushed aside by modern agriculture.
09:01I know that the residents of Taitung, here, are very closely aware of protecting this land.
09:14A father-and-son duo in an indigenous Bunun village are working the land passed down by their
09:20ancestors, hoping to reintroduce the plants that sustained their people for generations.
09:27Their first Taiwan oil millet seeds actually came from a millet researcher.
09:32They started from scratch and spent two years learning the crop from the ground up.
09:38Today, they have a field big enough to harvest.
09:41Today, they have a field big enough to harvest.
09:45what they have to do with the new plant?
09:47And they told me, this is the traditional plant that they applied to get a delicious plant.
09:49Number one is a plant that they applied to purchase.
09:52Then I followed up a plant thatgasps for letting us were to replace the small plant.
09:55Then I saw a plant that línea.
09:57We also said, we haven't used this tomato?
10:00We said, what happened to this?
10:01He said, loyum, is that there?
10:02With the plant you eat?
10:03Do I, with the plant you.
10:05There are lots of plants that are growing some of the plants.
10:06And so I really appreciate it.
10:08I think it's good to all the names, and throughout the plant.
10:11My name is the plant.
10:13Taiwan oil millet disappeared for nearly 60 years, pushed aside by modern eating habits
10:26and the painstaking work it takes to process the grain.
10:30But as the father and son duo worked to bring it back, they discovered something remarkable.
10:35This endemic Taiwan crop is top. It can handle heat, drought, pests and disease, making it surprisingly suitable to the world we live in today.
11:05If you want to cut the grain, how do you do it?
11:08You have to rely on yourself.
11:10So we have to feed the grain and feed the grain and feed the grain, and we have to feed the grain.
11:21The nation's top research body, Academia Sinica, says that Taiwan oil millet is packed with nutrients, a bonafide superfood,
11:31and now the government is working with local farmers to put it back on the table.
11:44They're teaching people how to turn it into steamed buns and mix it with other traditional grains to make a hearty six-grain porridge.
11:55Even restaurants are starting to sprinkle it on their dishes for extra depth and texture.
12:00We don't want to look at the price, but it's the value of this land again.
12:07Whether it's the value of the culture, the value of the climate, or the value of the climate, or the value of the variety.
12:19Across Taitung, and now in parts of Pindong, Taiwan oil millet is quietly returning to indigenous fields.
12:26For the Isma Hassan family, what began with a handful of seeds has now grown into a thriving field.
12:33And in bringing back a lost crop, they've rebuilt not only their connection to the land, but also to a language, a culture, and the generations who walked this land before them.
12:45Taitung has one of the highest concentrations of indigenous people of any county in Taiwan.
12:55About a third of the population comes from one of the nation's 16 officially recognized peoples.
13:02There are a lot of indigenous people on the nation's 8th by fear, and far away from the indigenous peoples.
13:05There are many different people here.
13:07If there are Japanese travelers who want to go to Taitung,
13:09then you'll understand that the world is the world of a middle of the culture.
13:15Amis villages up and down the east coast take turns hosting their festivals, each with traditions
13:37of their own.
13:39Other indigenous peoples, like the Pinuyumayan, have hunting festivals.
13:44The village of Puyuma holds theirs at the end of the year.
13:47Newly initiated young men go from house to house, singing and dancing through the night
13:53until the sun rises on January 1st.
13:57Everywhere you look in Taitung, there are reminders of the country's indigenous roots.
14:02And today, a new generation of indigenous creators is coming up with unique solutions
14:08to local problems.
14:14This giant whale has become a landmark in the seaside town of Chenggong.
14:23But look a little closer, and you'll see it's actually made from discarded fishing nets.
14:28Every year, tons of debris like this washes up along Taitung's shores.
14:33And instead of throwing it away, an Amis collective is giving it a second life.
14:45Fishing nets are some of the toughest sea debris to deal with.
14:49First you have to remove the impurities, and then the material is sorted, cleaned, shredded,
14:55and ground down.
15:00In the end, what was once waste becomes fiber, and in the hands of local artisans, it turns
15:05into crafts like these, some of which carry the colors, patterns, and spirit of Amis culture.
15:12Up the coast in Donghe, an indigenous Bunun artist,
15:21takes a different approach to sea debris by giving visitors a hands-on experience.
15:37It starts with a beach cleanup, a treasure hunt of sorts.
15:53We find things like bottle caps, bits of rope, fishing net floats, and even a toothbrush.
16:00We need to wash and sort our haul, so we bring it back to the studio, which doubles as a bakery
16:06that uses indigenous ingredients.
16:30So we need to learn to keep our hands-on experience.
16:45These deep blue creations tied with plant-based pigments make the perfect souvenir from our
16:51trip to Taitung.
16:53For visitors, the experience is about more than just picking up trash.
16:57It's a chance to slow down, meet the people here, and see the coastline through their eyes.
17:03And for nearby residents, leading a tie-dye workshop offers a way to earn a little extra
17:08income while sharing an important message.
17:11When I saw the water, I was able to cut it up.
17:15When I cut it up, I made a design of art, I could tell people that the sea is so dry,
17:21so we will not be able to work together and make it clean.
17:25People and people are better, people and environment are better.
17:33Once the fabric is dyed, we hang it out to dry, and that's when the color really comes
17:39to life.
17:40The locals call it Taitung Blue.
17:43Wrapped in a giant leaf, it's ready to take home.
17:46Uvaz Taitung Studio has found a way to put sea debris to good use.
17:52Proving that in Taitung, even what's been thrown away can come back with purpose.
17:57These giant waves off Taitung's coast have long been a magnet for international surfers,
18:08and the annual hot air balloon festival draws visitors from all over too.
18:14It's a little harder to imagine coming to this remote county for work, but that's starting to change.
18:22Many people also want to put Taitung as a place of the land of Taitung.
18:28The people who like to visit Taitung are the same as the land of Taitung.
18:32Taitung is the same as the land of Taitung.
18:35They don't work in a place. They like to enjoy the nature.
18:41They also like to live and work.
18:48Taitung is working with the National Development Council to make it easier for digital nomads to set up here.
18:55That means stronger Wi-Fi, better transportation, and new incentives to attract remote workers.
19:04Some of these changes are happening in unexpected places, like this row of Japanese-era buildings from the 1930s.
19:12Once a teacher's dorm, this building's been transformed into a youth hostel designed for remote workers,
19:19blending local history with a new kind of travel.
19:23There's another spot that's drawing visitors and workers to an even more remote corner of Taitung.
19:39This is Changbing, a tiny town of around 6,500 people in the counties far north.
19:46And Eat Books is perhaps the most remote indie bookstore in all of Taiwan.
19:53It's a 90-minute drive to the two nearest big cities, Taitung and Hualien.
19:59About a dozen people are packed into this tiny space.
20:09They've come here to hear an author speak about his new book on politics.
20:13Events like this take place all the time, sometimes up to 10 a month,
20:18touching on everything from politics and culture to film and wellness.
20:23And the way the shop runs is pretty unusual. Volunteers from across Taiwan sign up to run it as acting manager,
20:31taking seven-day shifts in exchange for a place to stay.
20:35The shop has been running this way for six and a half years, and the chance to run an indie bookstore has become a real draw.
20:57for people who want to experience life in a small town.
21:08When manager slots open up, they fill in an instant. Some people apply a year and a half in advance.
21:15And the volunteers come from all walks of life and all ages.
21:20Today, a 17-year-old high school student from northern Taiwan is in charge.
21:25She reads through the shop manager's log to pick up where the last one left off.
21:38But there's more to the job than just enjoying yourself.
21:41When a typhoon hits, the manager also has to deal with the leaks.
21:45It's a real taste of small town life.
21:48So if you really want to experience the charm of Taitung, you might actually have to come,
21:53and stay for a while.
22:08Taitung has become known as a quiet retreat for people looking to get away.
22:24But there are countless other reasons to come.
22:27Some visit as tourists or as digital nomads.
22:30Others come to create art.
22:32Many, myself included, end up calling Taitung a second home.
22:37A 2nd Home
22:44Right 0
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