Jiuxionglin Rural Cultural Tour: Literature and Rice Food Hands-on Experience

On the winter solstice, the south is still bathed in bright sunshine.

The year comes full circle, every household gathers together, each person takes a handful of glutinous rice dough, presses in sweet filling, pinches it into a rice cake mold to shape it, rests it on a leaf, and carefully arranges them in the steamer. Everyone chats and laughs around the glowing red stove, eagerly awaiting the red rice cakes to come out of the steamer -- the moment the lid is lifted, the steam turns everyone's face bright red.

In the literary figure Zhong Lihe's 46 years of life, food was not the focus of his writing, but the dining scenes he depicted often left behind the unique scents and traces of a time and place; among them, the rice foods that prominently appear in his literary works about Meinong, through the writer's brush, recreated the fine-grained, detailed texture of Hakka culture.

Through hands-on making of "red turtle rice cakes," imagine the scene of the host of "Lishan Farm" entertaining guests; as the rice noodle strips enter the mouth, the protagonist Huang Jinde of comes to mind, going back and forth to the rice noodle shop to eat, coming and going naturally without any awkwardness. Such a simple sketch brings out two important characteristics of Meinong Hakka rice foods, namely the important role Hakka rice foods play in banquets and festivals, and the close connection between rice foods and Hakka farming life.

At this year-end, by getting to know Meinong literature and Hakka rice foods, we would like to invite all friends to come together to Meinong Jiuxionglin -- Zhong Lihe's hometown -- and, following the writer's words, get closer to agriculture, visit rural villages, and talk with farmers, jointly putting on a rural get-together with no stage built, bringing everyone closer to one another.

• Guiding unit: Kaohsiung City Government Hakka Affairs Commission
• Organizer: Kaohsiung City Meinong Eight-Color Bird Association
• Co-organizers: Zhong Lihe Educational Foundation, Guanglin Community Development Association, Jiuxionglin Yangye Fei Work Team, Qimei Community College, Meinong Homeland Advancement Association
• Event time: December 29, 2012 (Sat) 13:00-17:00
• Event location: Jiuxionglin Butterfly Park (intersection of Guangjiu Street and Guangfu Street, next to the health station)
• Advance registration method: Email: [email protected]
• For phone inquiries, please contact 07-6822228 Wang Xinyu.
• Event fee: "Jiuxionglin Community Farming Tour" registration fee 100 yuan (including bicycle and insurance), the rest is free.
• Event content and schedule:

• Time	Activity	Notes
  13:00~15:00	Jiuxionglin Community Farming Tour -- visit organic farmland, exchange with local farmers, share community building results	Advance registration
  14:00~14:30	Rice food hands-on DIY registration	On-site limited registration
  14:00~17:00	Introduction to and hands-on making of rural rice foods -- rice food DIY Farmers' market -- local production, local consumption Amateur music performances -- mountain song singing, local musicians performing
  	Introduction to and hands-on making of rural rice foods (detailed schedule) 14:30~15:00: bowl rice cake DIY 15:00~16:00: red turtle rice cake DIY 16:00~17:00: rice steamed bun DIY	Hands-on activity, registrants will receive one finished product.