Young people in Miaoli founded the magazine "Seeking Villages," discovering hometown stories from the streets to the village heads

A joking saying circulates among the public: "If you want to harm someone, tell him to run a magazine," because nine out of ten lose money. Yet there is just such a group of young people who "volunteer to be harmed." Concerned about the Miaoli Dapu land expropriation case, they banded together to form the "Defend Miaoli Youth Alliance." Besides taking to the streets to shout slogans, this year they also put pen to paper to run a monthly magazine, writing down the life stories of workers in the struggle and visiting Miaoli's farming and fishing villages. They named it "Seeking Villages" (Xunzhuang), rediscovering the beauty and sorrow of Miaoli's village life.

Documenting tradition, overturning Miaoli's tragic image

In recent years Miaoli has been ablaze with conflict, from the land expropriation cases at Houlong Wanbao, Zhunan Qiding and Dapu, to the malicious bankruptcy of the Hualon Textile factory, triggering wave after wave of fierce protests. Last July, young people from various places who cared about Miaoli decided to form the "Defend Miaoli Youth Alliance" and take to the streets to demand justice. But after the passion faded, they could not help but wonder, "Is the impression Miaoli gives people really just hardship, land expropriation, or Dahu strawberries and Hakka villages?" To overturn outsiders' impressions of Miaoli, the idea of starting a publication was born.

It all seemed fated. Chen Yiling, a young female farmer from Zaoqiao who returned to farming last year, had previously worked as an editor at a magazine and had long wanted to start a community publication after returning home. Designer Zhuang Shaocheng, also from Toufen, began paying attention to hometown issues after the Dapu incident. With generous donations from members of the public, in January this year the Defend Miaoli Youth group formed an eight-person editorial team, with the experienced Chen Yiling as executive editor, leading rookie reporters, under the name "Seeking Villages," with the first issue scheduled for official publication in April.