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A little trip to Guanshan Township, Taitung County, China, experiencing old-fashioned dates that change with the seasons

General News By Emily Carter 0 views

We are the owners of six shops who love our work, and local residents who love life in Guanshan.

We look forward to introducing visitors who come to Guanshan Township through our guided tours,

so that by gaining a deeper understanding of Guanshan's stories, they will come to love Guanshan.

So let it begin, with an old-style date in Guanshan Township!

We'll take you wandering at a leisurely pace around Guanshan Township, visiting the old houses full of stories together.

 

******Introduction to the Old Houses******

It has been drenched by rain more times than I have shed sweat. It has been brushed by the monsoon more times than I have breathed.

It has endured the scorching sun for more days than I have pores.

It is still there, watching people come and go endlessly.

Without saying a word, all the memories live in every corner of it.

Notes / Guanshan Ami Rice, Lu Wen-lung Foting**

******Introduction to the Shops******

The Happy Grandma Store and the Amis Ina of the Farm Family

{ Text } Guanshan Ami Rice, Liu Mei-chun Nakaw

Mothers everywhere hope their children won't have to work too hard when they grow up,

My husband also often thought as a child: "When I grow up, I definitely won't farm, absolutely not, I won't work as hard as Mom."

But people are strange,

When the family needs you, perhaps your thinking changes along with it... Because my mother-in-law was unwell,

I followed my husband back from Taipei to Guanshan Township, Taitung County, and became a second-generation returnee.

Although my husband talks about childhood memories - catching fish in the irrigation ditch, running along the field ridges, digging sweet potatoes...

He admits frankly, though, that he never truly got to know this land!

Now that he's back, he finds he loves this land more and more, and respect shows in his words.

Waking up early, breathing the air that only Guanshan has.

My husband follows Ina (the Amis term of address for a mother's generation)

Putting on a bamboo hat, rolling up his pant legs, putting on rain boots, walking along the field ridges, learning about rice.

The Amis Ina plays the most important role in the family,

The thing Ina says most often: "Rice you harvest yourself tastes the best!"

Now it has become my husband's catchphrase too, because he has come to understand the hard work of farming - only by shedding sweat do you get the fruits of happiness.

Our family's Ina is named A-mei, and she runs a small grandma store in Guanshan. If you ask in Xinfu Village for "A-mei's Grandma Store,"

everyone knows it, because she is warm-hearted and a household name and living signboard in Xinfu Village.

The grandma store is small; while others are 7-11, this one is 6-10. Every morning people wait for it to open to buy things, or sit outside and chat.

We named the rice that this precious mother painstakingly taught us to grow "Guanshan Ami Rice,"

and redesigned the packaging, hoping to let everyone feel our dedication, and to encourage our own hopes in life.

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Reservations Welcome: Rural Experience DIY

1. Farming experience: digging field ridges, bundling seedlings and transplanting rice, filling in seedlings, pulling weeds, spreading fertilizer... etc. (varies by season) / NT200 / about 3 hours

2. Radish pulling experience (December to January) / NT100 / about 1 hour

3. Parent-child rice sandbag making experience / NT150 / about 1-2 hours

4. Rice milling experience / NT150 / about 1 hour

Address: No. 139, Xipu, Xinfu Village, Guanshan Township, Taitung County

Phone: 0913-215799 (Liu Mei-chun), 0939-436078 (Lu Wen-lung)

Website: http://tw.myblog.yahoo.com/guanshan-amisrice/

Mail: [email protected]

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Further reading:

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