Life in the Slow Lane: Nanzhuang and Sanyi

It is five o’clock in the morning, and already older and middle-aged women are gathered at the Zhong­­gang River in Nan­zhuang, where the powerful current along the bank makes for a natural washing machine. At seven, the ladies appear in the environs of the Nanzhuang market, where they lay out cardboard on the ground and put out fruits and vegetables they have grown themselves. After setting out their weighing scales, they start hawking their produce. At 9:30 the routine air-raid siren goes off, right on time…. These are vignettes from the lives of the residents of Nan­zhuang that play out day after day.

If you walk through Gui­hua Alley (a.k.a. Sweet Osmanthus Alley) you arrive at the settlement of Shang­kan. Here time seems to have stood still. The red brick homes, the flagstone roads—everything exudes a sense of history. Southern Fu­jian­ese and ­Hakka style structures stand side by side. Over here is the Presbyterian Church, while not far away is Yong­chang Temple. All these symbolize the rich cultural diversity of Nanzhuang.

The rapid current of pristine river water forms a natural washing machine. Every day in Nanzhuang you can see women out washing clothes while chatting about their daily lives.

An old street comes back to life

Coal mining and forestry were once the economic mainstays of Nan­zhuang. But now the stretch of today’s Zhongshan Road known as “Shi­san­jian Old Street” is all that is left of what was once the liveliest thoroughfare in town. The days of prosperity came to an abrupt end in 1963 when Typhoon Gloria caused massive flooding of the street. But recently Shi­san­jian Old Street has come back to life, thanks to funding acquired by the township for renovation as well as the efforts of young people who have relocated from the city to the country.

As you walk along Shi­san­jian Old Street, you will discover that some of the house numbers look different from those in a typical town. The wooden plaques not only the state street name and number, they also carry incised images. These images represent the businesses that originally existed in these locations during the old street’s heyday. A fork plus a bag represents a dry goods store (general store), the eight-sided trigrams of the I-­Ching indicate what was once a fortuneteller’s place of business, while scissors and a brush represent a barbershop or hair salon. Each and ­every plaque is intriguing and sometimes even mysterious.

Although there are not that many shops along Shi­­san­­jian Old Street, most are imbued with a love for local culture. “­Hakka Goods” is one example.

The cultivated land along Provincial Highway 3 was once characterized by scenes of “one stratum of rice, one stratum of tea, and one stratum of tangerines.” The Valai restaurant hopes that by using local crops in its recipes this beautiful imagery from the past can be made economically viable again.

The magpie of happiness

Liu Ying-hwa came to Shi­san­jian Old Street from Tai­chung City to open the first “cultural and creative gift shop” in Nan­zhuang. She had the idea of transforming the Taiwan blue magpie, which is quite common in the nearby mountain forests, into a “harbinger of happiness” bird. Liu says: “The blue color represents the indigo-dyed clothes worn by ­Hakka people. Also the blue magpie stores food away, just like mothers in ­Hakka families make pickled mustard greens. Moreover, it is one of the few bird species that raise their young collectively.” These birds have become in her mind a symbol of the ­Hakka spirit, and they represent “friends and family working and living together.”

Nanzhuang’s residents include Hakka, Southern Fu­jian­ese, members of the Ata­yal and Sai­si­yat indigenous peoples, and new immigrants from Southeast Asia. Liu has drawn creative inspiration not only from ­Hakka blue clothes but also from Ata­yal decorative motifs and Sai­si­yat bamboo hip bells, embellishing each with the images of magpies.

Nanzhuang is especially blessed in having different things to see all year round. In February you can come here to admire the cherry blossoms; in April there are fireflies; May is when the tung flowers bloom; July is the perfect time for stargazing while listening to the frogs calling; in September you can please your palate with locally bred Chinese mitten crab; and November is the time for the Pasta’ay Festival of the Saisiyat people….

Local delicacies on the menu

Following Shisanjian Old Street to its very end, Va­lai, a café-restaurant making cuisine from local produce, comes into view. In Ata­yal va­lai means “authentic” or “real,” but local ­Hakka have borrowed it to mean “awesome” or “phenomenal.” It is a great example of the melting pot of cultures that is Nanzhuang.

Valai serves food and drink of the chef’s own invention made from seasonal local ingredients. In spring they have ma­kino bamboo shoots, and in winter chicken soup simmered with shii­take mushrooms grown on wooden logs by local Aboriginal residents. The shop’s pepper-and-honey tea uses honey grown by local small farmers, mixed with berries of ma­qaw (oriental spicebush—Lindera angustifolia) picked in the wild by indigenous people.

In days gone by the scenery along Provincial Highway 3, which runs through this area, was typified by “one stratum of rice paddies, one stratum of tea bushes, and one stratum of tangerines.” The local ­Hakka people adapted to nature by growing different crops at different altitudes. Sadly, this tradition and all of its cultural meaning have been fading away. That is why Va­lai sells things like fan­zhuang tea (a regional specialty grown for Va­lai the traditional way by a tea farmer under special contract), tart tangerine tea (a uniquely Hakka drink), and orange-flavored rice-flour cookies, hoping that the rice/tea/tangerine vista can again become commercially viable.

The young people who have come together here on Shi­san­jian Old Street are another embodiment of Nan­zhuang’s concoction of cultures that is always on the boil. Va­lai owner Chiu ­Hsing-wei says: “We want to turn Shi­san­jian Old Street into a cultural reader that people can peruse at their leisure.” This little town nestled deep amidst forested mountains, a town with surprisingly rich cultural offerings, is waiting for you!

Liu Ying-hwa (right) gave up city life to move to the country and Shisanjian Old Street. She threads together elements of Nanzhuang’s pluralistic culture with her own unifying design theme, expressing the idea that everyone’s well-being is interconnected.

The fine art of living, Sanyi style

Heading south from Nan­zhuang we come to another “slow” township: ­Sanyi. As you approach you can’t help but be struck by a delightful stairway painted with a rainbow of colors. In front of Jian­zhong Elementary School there is a slope with a long staircase. Following an initiative launched by ­­Sanyi Township chief Hsu Wen-ta, local artist Wei Zong-hsin painted the staircase with defining features of the town, including Sheng­xing Train Station, the Long­teng Broken Bridge (an old railway bridge ruined by an earthquake in 1935), the wild leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis chinensis), and tung blossoms.

If you take a slow stroll through ­Sanyi’s Guang­sheng Village, you will see that many of the houses are decorated on their exterior walls with trompe l’oeuil paintings of typical Hakka vignettes. Everywhere you turn there is something creative that lightens the heart or lifts the spirit.

One of the top sights is the 280-year-old Wugu (“Five Crops”) Temple. Dedicated to the Emperor Shen­nong (the legendary founder of agriculture in China), it is the oldest temple in ­Sanyi. The incumbent head of the temple management committee, Han Mao­jie, relates that Shen­nong protects the harvest and can also be of assistance to the sick. Before the days of modern medicine, people would come here and draw divination sticks, which would direct them to pieces of paper on which were written oracular allusions to possible remedies, in the form of classical Chinese poetry. They covered quite a refined set of specialties including surgery, internal medicine, ophthalmology, gynecology, and pediatrics! The temple’s wooden rack—itself imbued with a palpable sense of antiquity—still has many of these old formulae.

Shisanjian Old Street, which prospered in the heyday of the mining and logging industries but later fell into decline, has been reinvented as a focal point of local culture.

Wild lilies herald renaissance

Under the Cittaslow Convention, eligibility requirements include maintaining the local ecology and environment, and a high degree of resident participation. There is an excellent example of both at the Lilium Formosanum Secret Garden in Sanyi.

This is not a commercial enterprise, but purely a labor of love. For 30 years now, owners Wang Feng-hua and his wife have been acting on their own, without fanfare, to restore the surrounding slopeland ecology, and Nature has rewarded them with a valley filled with wild lilies (Lilium formosanum). Wang says: “The wild lily is a key indicator of the state of the ecology in low-elevation mountain forests in Taiwan.” There are many signs that the forest is coming back to life. Various bird species—including eagles, the Taiwan barbet, the grey-chinned minivet, and Swinhoe’s pheasant—come here to nest, while by night one can hear the sounds of monkeys jabbering over territory and of frogs calling from the ponds.

In order to keep it in pristine condition, normally the “garden” is not open to outside visitors. However, each year when the lilies are in full bloom (June‡July), the Wangs will post a news update on Facebook welcoming people to come and admire the flowers. Perhaps it is just the natural inclination of ­Hakka people to be hospitable, but in any case there is no admission fee, and sometimes the Wangs will provide arrivals with tea or water or even ­Hakka noodles cooked with mustard greens that they have sun-dried themselves. It even happens that they will mobilize the whole family to act as nature guides. They hope that besides admiring the lilies, people will experience the sublime feeling of living in harmony with nature.

Once enveloped by the tranquility and harmony of the atmosphere of this mountain town, the visitor is lulled into unwittingly slowing down and finding pleasure in the leisurely passage of time.

A leisure life suits them to a tea

Sanyi’s beautiful scenery, combined with its long tradition of sophisticated woodworking, has attracted many artists here. This town with a population of only 17,000 has more than 200 resident craftspeople! Su Wen­zhong and Zeng Wan­ting, the husband-and-wife team who own Tao­bu­shou Workshop, are outsiders who moved to ­Sanyi more than 20 years ago and have remained ever since. Zeng talks about the local plum flowers, tung flowers, wisteria.... “During all seasons of the year ­Sanyi has different floral scenery that’s worth coming to see. Even at its dullest, when everything is green, there are many tones and shades.” The genteel, even elegant atmosphere touches the heart of the casual visitor, while providing an inexhaustible source of inspiration to artists.

As township mayor Hsu Wen-ta says: “Certification by Cit­ta­slow International is an honor, but even more it is a responsibility.” The guiding principle of the “slow city” movement is the creation of a better quality of life. It has been said that Taiwan’s most beautiful attraction is its people, and the people who are working so hard to plant the seeds of a better future in the “slow” towns of Miaoli County invite friends from everywhere to come and experience for themselves the leisurely pace of life of the mountain forests. 

Once enveloped by the tranquility and harmony of the atmosphere of this mountain town, the visitor is lulled into unwittingly slowing down and finding pleasure in the leisurely passage of time.

Verdant mountains, red bricks, and railroad tracks are elements in the composition of the charming scenery of the old mountain line running through Sanyi.

Weary after walking around too much? Make your way to Guangsheng Village and take a seat, drink some tea, and enjoy the atmosphere of an authentic Hakka community.

An artist has converted the long staircase leading up to Jianzhong Elementary School into a gallery of images that illustrate the best of Sanyi. It’s beautiful no matter which way you look at it.

Sanyi’s attractions are not limited to natural scenery. Many artists and master craftsmen have settled here, creating a rich aesthetic ambience. Why not come and make your own contribution to the beautiful dream of a “slow city”?

The ceramic jars hand-crafted by Su Wenzhong are filled not only with tea leaves, but also with his love for his adopted home of Sanyi.

Wang Feng-hua and his wife created the Lilium Formosanum Secret Garden as an expression of their love for the land, restoring harmony to the relationship between humans and this corner of Mother Earth.