Yujing: Homeland of Irwin Mangos

Taiwan Provincial Highway 20 (the Southern Cross-Island Highway) and Routes 84 and 3 intersect in Yu­jing. Bicycle and heavy motorcycle clubs often travel here on holidays and weekends.

When visiting Yu­jing, make sure to see the Dou­liu­zai settlement near Zhong­zheng Bridge, because that’s where Irwin mangos were first planted in Tawain.

Typhoon Morakat deposited large piles of driftwood near the mouth of the Gaoping River. The wood was later used to construct the Galilee Church, giving it a unique appearance that has made it a tourist attraction.

Building bridges for Irwins

According to the Council of Agriculture (COA), more mangos are grown in Tai­nan than any other county or municipality in Taiwan. In fact, Tai­nan accounted for half of the island’s total in 2012. Known as “the homeland of mangos,” Yu­jing alone produces 17,000 metric tons a year. Zhu Quan­zhe, head of promotion for the Yu­jing Farmers’ Association, notes that plantings of Irwins account for 45% of the district’s 1800 hectares given over to mangos. Whether in terms of area, bushels produced, or crop value, plantings of Irwins here far exceed those of other varieties such as “Jin­huang” and “Kiett.”

Up until the 1950s Taiwan only had the unimproved mango varieties that had been imported from Southeast Asia in the 16th century. But in 1954, Taiwanese agriculturalists went to Florida to research the potential for growing better mangos and came back with Irwins, Hadens and Keitts. Trial plantings showed that they were well adapted to soil and climatic conditions in Taiwan, so they were planted in large quantities and given Chinese names.

In the early period, agricultural experts selected 11 areas of central and southern Taiwan for trial plantings. They concluded that Yu­jing was best suited to planting Irwin mangos. Irwins are especially fragrant and have a smooth mouthfeel. They’ve been hugely popular ever since they hit the market.

In 1962, on the suggestion of agricultural experts, ­Zheng Han­chi, a farmer in Dou­liu­zai who is now aged 85, planted 100 Irwin mango trees in fields where he had previously grown sugarcane and sweet potatoes. In the first year, before he had a full grasp of how best to care for the trees, they almost all died when temperatures dipped too low. But he gritted his teeth and refused to give up. The following year he planted another 100 trees. Taiwan’s first crop of Irwins went to market in the third year. They were an immediate hit. Back then, a typical daily wage in Taiwan was only NT$60, but Irwins were fetching NT$18 per Taiwanese catty (600 grams). The high profits convinced most of the sugar cane farmers in the area to plant Irwins instead.

In 1973, Premier ­Chiang ­Ching-kuo designated Yu­jing as a special zone for planting Irwin mangos, and the Zhong­zheng Bridge was built to provide local growers with better transportation.

The Douliuzai community is where Irwins were first planted in Taiwan. Local farmer Wu Qingjin anticipates a big harvest this year.

Pilgrimages of Japanese mango lovers

At the beginning of summer every year, when you look out from the Zhong­zheng Bridge onto the neighboring hills, the slopes are covered with Irwin mango trees bearing red fruit. This year Wu Qing­jin, foreman of crew No. 30 of the local fruit growers’ association, has nearly finished the work of placing protective bags over fruit on his two-hectare orchard, in preparation of picking the fruit in the middle of July. He used to plant some Hadens, Keitts and Jin­huangs as well, but after selling his Irwins in large quantities to Japan, he revised his strategy and has gone over almost entirely to growing Irwins.

Wu’s mango orchard has been recently certified by the COA’s Agriculture and Food Agency as an “outstanding orchard” for meeting certain guidelines in the safe use of pesticides and herbicides. The picked Irwins are first graded and packed, and sent off to a distribution center. The A-grade fruit is then taken by their exporter. After fumigation, inspection for chemical residues, and other procedures, the mangos are shipped off to Japan.

In 2011 the Yu­jing Farmers’ Association established a mango ice shop, which is packed with tourists on summer holidays and weekends. Xu ­Xiuyu, who heads the association’s sales department, explains that Yu­jing’s fruit are prized for being “sanitary, safe and natural.” The mango ice shop uses exclusively Irwin mangos, and its employees clearly tell people that fresh mangos are only available during the summer months. When mangos are out of season, the shop shifts to using frozen mangos.

As far as the Japanese travel writer Mari Ka­ta­kura is concerned, being able to eat cheap and delicious mangos is the greatest joy of visiting Taiwan in the summer. It’s true that in Japan you can buy mangos from Oki­nawa and Mi­ya­zaki, but a single fruit costs ¥3000 (the equivalent­ of NT$900). Some cost as much as ¥10,000, which is simply unaffordable for most people.

In her book Ultimate Impressions of Taiwan, Ka­ta­kura explains how much she enjoys eating mangos in Yu­jing. She also describes the mango-mad habits of a Taiwan-loving Japanese couple who are friends of hers. In order to satisfy their hunger, when they come to Taiwan for only a three-night stay, they stash their luggage in their hotel room and then immediately head south to Yu­jing to gorge on Irwins.

Currently, many Japanese hope to follow in Mari Ka­ta­kura’s footsteps and experience Yu­jing first hand. All-inclusive mango-picking tours are in the works.

The Yujing Farmers’ Association ice shop, with a Chinese name that means “Passion Kid,” uses local Irwins for its mango ice.

History from the Japanese era

Apart from mangos, the area offers many historical sites for tourists to discover.

The area offers a few “must-sees” for tourists. Yu­jing was a center of sugar cane production in the years after World War II. Sugar processing plants were built here, and sugar cane’s sweet odor floated in the air all year round. What’s more, a railway was built from Tai­nan’s Shan­hua to Yu­jing to serve the sugar industry. It was in operation for more than 20 years, not closing until 1975.

Paying a visit to the memorial to Yu Qing­fang, a martyr of the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, or to the Ta­pani Memorial Park on the way into Yu­jing, prompts visitors to consider the tragic history of opposition to Japanese rule that played out here.

Yu­jing was originally the Ta­pani community of the Tsou Aboriginal tribe. Later Si­ra­yan Aborigines and Han Chinese migrated to the area. Thus Ta­pani was Yu­jing’s earliest name. In 1920, the Japanese renamed Ta­pani as the similar-sounding “Ta­mai,” using the characters for “jade well.” Those characters are pronounced Yu­jing in Mandarin.

Standing on Mt. Hu­tou provides a nice view of the Zeng­wen River snaking through the mountains. In 1915, during the early years of Japanese rule in Taiwan, the Tapani Incident, which was Taiwan’s fiercest act of rebellion against the Japanese, occurred here. So much blood was shed that the Zeng­wen River ran red, say local elders.

Tainan, then the administrative and cultural center of Taiwan, was home to a group of Taiwanese patriots, led by Yu Qing­fang, who resented Japanese rule. They often gathered in secret at Tainan’s Xilai Temple to plan resistance activities. In August of 1915, the resistance battled with Japanese forces in Ta­pani on the slopes of Mt. Hu­tou, resulting in many casualties. Yu fled for his life, but was apprehended several days later and executed. Consequently, the uprising is also called the “Yu Qing­fang Incident” or the “Xi­lai Temple Incident.”

When you add up both the grown men who died on the battlefield, as well the many others, including women and children, who would later die of illness as a result of displacement, the total death toll is estimated at over 1000.

In anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the Ta­pani Incident, it’s a particularly good time to gain a better understanding of its history. Also worth a look is the ­Jiang Family Compound in Yu­jing, which is the only Min­nan-style architecture that has survived here from before the Ta­pani Incident. More than 200 years old, it’s a site that tourists interested in “in-depth travel” will definitely want to explore.

“Many of the farmers cultivating Irwin mangos here are descendants of those who resisted the Japanese during the Ta­pani Incident,” says ­Huang Cheng­qing, secretary-general of the Yu­jing Farmers’ Association.

Emblazoned across the memorial on Mt. Hutou to Yu Qingfang, who died resisting the Japanese, are characters that mean “loyal and righteous.”

The charms of mangos and history

During the last 50 years, the mango industry has caused the mountain town of Yu­jing to become known as the “homeland of mangos.” Mangos have come to be a symbol of Yu­jing for the tourist industry, but ­Huang believes that if visitors’ understanding of the area is to have meaning and depth, the history of the Ta­pani Incident must also be told. Only by so doing, he believes, will the town see the full benefits of “narrative tourism.”

Taiwan’s small towns have a great variety of special qualities that create a whole greater than its parts. Arranging for “in-depth travel” in Yu­jing during the mango season in July and August, so that one can gain a real sense of history and enjoy the color, scent and taste of mangos, will please both the intellect and the senses.

With their succulent flesh and fragrant aroma, Irwin mangos are extremely popular.