An Interview with Xu Wenrui of Zhuhe Tea House: Living by the Ecology, a New Resident Guarding Cuigu

Editor's note: Because he loves the ecology of Cuigu and the feel of rural life, Xu Wenrui chose to settle down and become a "new Meinong resident." He bought an old house in Guangxing and turned it into a rural-style "Zhuhe Tea House" through his own efforts. Every so often, Wenrui can be reached by phone with news that something in the mother tree forest project needs improving, or that planted trees are not being properly maintained. He is one of the guardians of the Cuigu environment. His eldest son has just graduated from Meinong Junior High School. During junior high, he joined the "Birdwatching Club" and accompanied his father in the "Guanglin Interpreter Training Course." His ecological knowledge is richer than that of many adults, and he is also a young interpreter in the community.

Devoted to Protecting the Community

As a member of Meinong, Xu Wenrui uses local bamboo, stones and other materials to build small parks in the community. Not only that, he himself is also a member of the guided interpretation class, and both his son and daughter have taken part in interpretation training, Purple Butterfly Association activities and more. To him, nature has its own place. Although Meinong's buildings cannot compare with the grandeur of Taipei 101, and Meinong's rivers cannot compare with the vastness of the Love River, it is precisely that simple rural landscape, the richly meaningful Hakka culture, and the pristine appearance of the mountain forests that attract outsiders to come from afar. And the memories children make in their early years with the mountains, forests, land and townsfolk will also become energy for the future, so that when they face setbacks later in life, they can still keep a hometown of the heart.

In addition to working on community art space creation, Wenrui also takes part in the Forestry Bureau's community forestry and cares about ecological engineering in the surrounding area. As for whether Meinong should establish a national nature park, he initially held a reserved attitude, believing that residents' unity, community consensus, and the improvement of environmental education were more important than expecting that once a powerful government intervenes, the local area will develop and change.

Hoping for Local Unity and Consensus

Although he does not believe that establishing a national nature park would ensure that no reservoir is built, under the management of a national nature park, with a police force in place, it might reduce the theft of precious tree species as well as reduce pesticide use, electrofishing and similar practices. After all, he cannot expect every citizen to have environmental awareness. However, another concern Wenrui sees is that local associations currently disagree with one another, and Meinong has already seen internal division and conflict. He believes that at this time, since everyone starts from the same point of loving the same piece of land, they should all the more build consensus, communicate with one another, and jointly supervise and support one another; otherwise, the loss will outweigh the gain.