Traveler's Food Journal: Su Jiabin, the Shuilin-style guy who returned home to grow sweet potatoes

Where the heart leads, distance is forgotten: seeking out Shuilin sweet potatoes

The sky was just about to brighten but not yet fully light, and the air was not as cool and clear as it is in early autumn. In a swirl of mist, we sped along the main road, following a small scooter as it wove through the fields. "If there's mist early in the morning, it means the weather will be good and we can get plenty of work done!" The owner of the voice: Su Jiabin. Because he is the second child in his family, we all call him "Second Brother." Dressed sharply and moving with brisk efficiency, he turned and stepped off the scooter, leading us toward his vibrant sweet potato field.

After finishing junior high school, Second Brother found he had little interest in pursuing further academic study, so Mrs. Su encouraged him to follow his older brother north to Taipei and apprentice under his uncle, who worked as a hotel head chef. "Back then I would cry every day when the sun went down, I was homesick." Luckily he was staying with relatives, he said; at least there were familiar people to keep him company and look after him every day, otherwise he probably wouldn't have been able to stay. Compared with the simple, tranquil life of Shuilin, Taipei's dazzling lights felt hectic and restless to Second Brother, as if he were a crop planted in an environment unsuited to him, going through a period that was not easy. But because of this, he began searching for a sense of purpose in life, and fell in love with yoga.

When the conversation turned to the opportunity that brought him back to farm, Second Brother said that a few years earlier, because his father had become the community association chairman, and out of sympathy for farmers and a wish to serve his hometown, Mr. Su had called his children home to work together on solving this difficult problem. Because his work as a hotel head chef often involved ingredient logistics and production-and-sales operations, Second Brother and his family discussed the idea of setting up a processing plant, purchasing large quantities of sweet potatoes for processing and marketing, hoping to make Shuilin synonymous with sweet potatoes and to bring more local young people back home to put down roots.

As a returning young man with no farming experience, Second Brother also encountered many challenges in the early days of growing sweet potatoes. He suggests: young people returning home to farm must first have the mindset of "living off the sky." Farming is not like being in the city, where following an established workflow will mostly produce results; because of this, one has to go through periods of unstable income, such as natural disasters, pests, and poor harvests caused by lack of experience. At times like these, it is best to ask the elders for advice; standing on the shoulders of giants can save you many detours. Just like Second Brother, who has an aunt behind him with more than thirty years of sweet potato growing experience passing on her know-how. Besides practical experience, she also offers valuable insights as someone who has been through it when facing different situations.

The farming spirit of heaven and earth as one: learning to observe yourself and treat all things with kindness

In addition, he believes that in rural communities suffering from outmigration or sluggish development, government agencies or related organizations need to provide housing for young farmers to stabilize their accommodation needs. Otherwise, in old rural villages, most of the houses are damaged, declining, or idle and abandoned, making it very hard for young people to choose to stay. "We know we should treat crops like people and take good care of them, so farmers should also be treated well." It is clear that Second Brother holds a gentle, protective heart toward the people and things in the fields. He laughed and said that although his decision to return home to farm was mocked and discouraged by quite a few relatives and friends, he still wanted to return to his hometown to farm alongside his mother, and to do something for his hometown.

The so-called spirit of yoga is "heaven and earth as one." Through breathing and stretching his muscles and meridians, Second Brother gradually experienced inner peace. Speaking of his days working at the hotel, he often felt bored and empty. Every day from nine in the morning to nine at night, only the break from two to five in the afternoon allowed him to truly relax, relieve stress, and find himself again. Pursing his lips and blinking, he said, "Don't you think yoga and farming are very similar? You have to learn to be grounded."

Practicing yoga made him more adept at handling heavy farm work, and from self-observation he developed a philosophy of his own. Earlier, when I saw photos of him doing a handstand and the splits in the field, I thought it was just for fun. Only now did I realize how seriously Second Brother practices his yoga spirit: learning to bend, to be close to the soil and close to people.

Travel Companion's Notes | Zheng Yiting; this article is authorized by Traveler's Food Journal

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