Yunlin Travel: Sugar Festival in century years old Sugar Factory's Park 糖都甜蜜祭

We happened to be in Huwei this weekend and noticed that there is an ongoing Sugar Festival (糖都甜蜜祭). How lucky, isn't it? Today's festival was all about sugar, especially Sanontō sugar. All the participating shops (a total of 40) in this weekend's event were making desserts using Sanontō sugar. Sanontō is a Japanese sugar, similar to light brown sugar, and is often used in simmered, meatier, or richer dishes. Unlike Western light brown sugar, Sanontō doesn't contain molasses.

There was also a guided tour of the Sugar Factory Museum to promote the culture of the sugar industry. This sugar is produced by the local Sugar Factory, one of the two remaining operating factories in Taiwan (the other one being in Shanhua, where we lived for the past 3 years). If you want to know more about sugar factories, feel free to search for posts on my blog.

During the festival, there were several stalls with desserts, some DIY activities, a live music show, and puffed rice. I couldn't miss the opportunity to make a video about the making process. You're welcome to check it out if you want to see how it's made.

Read More

Aboriginal Harvest Festival 原住民族歲時祭儀暨聯合豐年祭

The Miaoli County Government held the annual harvest festival for the aborigines in the Miaoli County Zhunan/Toufen Sports Park today (2022/10/09) called 苗栗縣都會區原住民族歲時祭儀暨聯合豐年祭.

The aboriginal population of Miaoli County is about 12,000 people. There are a total of 15 aboriginal tribes living in Miaoli, except for the Kanakanavu people. Among them, about 6,000 people live in Tai'an Township and Nanzhuang, the original hometowns, with Atayal and Xiasai people being the dominant tribes. Approximately 5,000 people in the metropolitan area live scattered in Toufen City, Zhunan Town, and Miaoli City, with the Amis tribe being the most populous.

The event attracted nearly 1,000 people from aboriginal associations in 21 metropolitan areas in the Taoyuan, Hsinchu, and Miaoli regions. Various ethnic groups took turns performing traditional ritual songs and dances to showcase the power and beauty of aboriginal dance.

In order to allow the aborigines who have left their hometowns to live in the metropolitan area to understand the traditional customs of their respective ethnic groups, the county government organizes the annual harvest festival activities for the aborigines in the metropolitan area every year.

The festival was organized by County Magistrate Xu Yaochang, Chairperson Zhong Dongjin, County Councilors Huang Yuee and Yang Wenchang, Secretary-General Xu Gongfan from the Service Office, Director Jiang Yixiong from the County Aboriginal Center, Mayor Luo Xuezhu from Toufen, and Village Head Luo Chunlian from Nanzhuang, Tai'an Township Mayor Liu Meilan, Executive Yuan Consultant Xu Dingzhen, and others. They jointly kicked off the ceremony and performed a blessing ceremony under the leadership of leader Chen Jinliu and deputy leader Wang Guibao.

We stayed there for about 1.5 hours, although it's difficult to stay longer with a child. Our son got bored and became restless, so we had to leave soon. I only saw a few dances, but I think it's really cool to be part of this type of festival. There were many different tribes dancing, wearing different types of clothes. In the past, we have visited a few aboriginal villages in the mountains of Taiwan, and I always find them to be such special places to see!

Feel free to check out my video, where I recorded several different group dances. I think the highlights start around the 10-minute mark, where different tribes join together to dance!

Read More