The hometown of the native yam in the northeast corner will sink in the reservoir. Sitting on Shuangxi with good water, where should I go?

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Shuangxi, located in the northeast corner of Taiwan, has become one of the top ten aging areas in Taiwan due to the prosperity of mining industry and the rapid outflow of population due to the decline of mining industry. This mountain city surrounded by rivers and fresh air is a protected area in the upper reaches of Feicui Reservoir. It is also coveted due to abundant water resources. In the 2017 forward-looking plan, the government once again proposed the "Shuangxi Reservoir Planning Project" that has been sealed for many years, causing controversy among all walks of life on the future positioning of Shuangxi.

Those in favor believe that Shuangxi has been stagnant for a long time, and hope that the government will invest significant construction resources to stimulate employment opportunities. Those in opposition believe that Shuangxi retains the most pleasant rural landscape in the northeast corner, and if friendly agriculture can be developed, it will have a chance to become a model for Lishan in New Taipei City. The reservoir proposal is still pending, but the controversy has disturbed local residents 'thinking about what kind of place Shuangxi will become.

Overlooking Shuangxi Reservoir from the air, the scheduled site and Dinglan Valley are green. (Photo/Footnote Gongliao Studio Wu Shanrong) Mining brings prosperity and depression

Grandma Jian Hongwei, who lives on the street, is 82 years old this year. After the war, all industries were depressed. She followed her first husband from Changhua to Shuangxi to dig coal mines. Unfortunately, her husband died in a mine disaster. Young, she remarried to her second husband, who was also a miner, and continued to engage in mining. After the Second World War, Taiwan's coal mining industry was at its peak, and large numbers of people from central and southern Taiwan, like Grandma Jian and her two husbands, poured into Shuangxi, with a population of more than 40,000.

The coal mine is not backward, and a large number of young and middle-aged people have moved out. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Interior in 2018, the proportion of elderly people in Shuangxi is 25.25%. Although there are still more than 8,000 registered residents in Shuangxi, most of them actually work outside, and more than half of the permanent residents are elderly elders.

Mining years once brought prosperity to Shuangxi, but also brought many years to the old man's body. Because women workers are forbidden to enter the mine, most of them work as coal washers in the coal washing yard. For many years, they carry heavy coal, which makes Chien Hongwei's spine bend and deform. Every day, she can easily recognize her back on the street.

The years in the mining village have also left marks on the body of Grandma Chien Hung-wei. The health care for the elderly innovated by Shuangxi Health Center has become a cultural landscape of Shuangxi Old Street. (Photo/Lin Jiyang) How will Shuangxi develop? The place still lacks imagination and consensus

Dr. Hsu Kuo-you, former director of the Shuangxi Health Center, who worked there for many years and was transferred to Hsichih at the end of last year, observes that because of their mining background, many elderly workers suffer from joint degeneration problems."These elderly people, who have difficulty moving around, are locked up at home because they don't want to burden their children, and even cause psychological barriers that exclude them from medical treatment."

In order to take care of the elderly, Xu Guoyou strived to set up a physiotherapy center and provide free assistive devices during his term of office, so that the elderly could receive rehabilitation care nearby and take care of the elders staying in their hometown for the people of Shuangxi who went out. Last year (2019), Shuangxi Health Center won the "Government Service Award" awarded by the Executive Yuan for innovative services.

When he mentions the future of Shuangxi, Hsu Kuo-you laments that he often hears Shuangxi people envious of other towns: Pingxi has a station and sky lanterns; Juifang has Chiufen and Houtung Mao Village; Kungliao has a Fulong Ocean Music Festival; and the anti-nuclear movement has made Kungliao famous throughout the country. It seems that only Shuangxi has nothing. "But there is actually a lack of imagination and consensus on what Shuangxi will develop into." Xu Guoyou observed.

Dr. Xu Guoyou gradually understood the needs of the rural areas through consultation, and gradually expanded and improved the medical services in the rural areas. (Photo/Lin Jiyang) Once included in the reservoir reservation site, triggering Shuangxi local regeneration movement

Shuangxi is named after the intersection of Mudan and Pinglin rivers. It rains a lot and has plenty of water. It has become a protected water source area for Feitsui Reservoir. Downstream, there is Gongliao River Weir. There is little industrial development, so Shuangxi has good mountains and good water. However, some local people complain that Shuangxi is too humid and full of moss. It is an old and slow place.

In 2017, the central government's forward-looking plan once again proposed the Shuangxi Reservoir development case, which had been sealed for many years, causing local divisions to trigger heated debates. Those in favor believe that Shuangxi has been stagnant for a long time, and the government has invested heavily in construction resources, which will lead to more development and employment opportunities. Those in opposition believe that Shuangxi retains the most pleasant rural landscape in the northeast corner, preserves the natural environment completely, and develops friendly agriculture. It will have the opportunity to become a model for Lishan in New Taipei City.

The proposed reservoir is still pending. However, it has inspired local people to rethink their imaginations about the future development of Shuangxi, including allowing local people to re-understand the place.

The local team hopes that the forest and river conservation movement in Dinglan Valley can be transformed into humanistic spirit and intangible natural conservation assets, and become the starting point for promoting the regeneration of Shuangxi! (Shooting/Lin Jiyang) 50-year-old return home from farming, Lv Ruihong flip local status quo

Lu Ruihong is the president of the Anti-Reservoir Self-help Association. Like most Shuangxi people, Lu Ruihong left Shuangxi for Taipei to develop young. In 2012, when he returned to Shuangxi in his fifties, his parents died and the countryside was deserted for more than 20 years. He described it as if he was "reclaiming once again" and re-experiencing the hardships of his ancestors.

"Building a reservoir won't bring about local revitalization. Government compensation will be spent, leaving land that can be passed down from generation to generation. Shuangxi has a unique environment that can develop environmentally friendly farming methods. With such a good environment not far from Taipei, there will definitely be consumers who share the same ideas." In Lu Ruihong's business thinking, Shuangxi is not without opportunities.

Lu Jui-hung wants to start a long-term local regeneration movement in Sunghsi. He and many farmers with the same idea have set up an environment-friendly smallholder cooperative, hoping to turn this quiet and natural town around through environment, ecology and agriculture. The first step is to start with the unique native Chinese yam in Keelung.

Lv Ruihong, who returned to farming in middle age, chose to plant native yam in the traditional way to convince consumers with quality. (Photo/Jian Shuhui) Unique environment, breeding slender native yam on the ground

Lu Jui-hung's land is located on the erosion plain at the mouth of the Dinglan Valley. Because it has experienced flooding and mixing with sand, it is especially suitable for planting Chinese yam, which is unique to Keelung in the northeast corner. The yam cultivated by Dinglan Valley residents is a unique slender yam. When harvesting, one must dig half a meter deep with a round shovel, and then carefully dig the soil around the yam with a small rake before extracting the yam.

The slender native yam variety called "He Jinshui" by local people is widely known by yam farmers in northeast corner, especially by residents of Shuangxi and Dinglan Valley. Kung Tsai-li, a researcher at the Taoyuan Agricultural Reform Station who has studied the native species of Chinese yam in Keelung for more than 25 years, says that the native species of Chinese yam in Keelung are unique to Taiwan, and are completely different from the exotic varieties with large tubers commonly found on the market today or imported from Japan.

However, Kung Tsai-li explains: "In fact, every yam grown by farmers in the Shuangxi and Pingxi areas in the northeast corner is different. When farmers plant it, they still follow the traditional method of finding the strongest and largest one to reproduce. Farmers produce many varieties through continuous hybridization and variation. It can only be said that He Jinshui is one of the more commonly circulated and shared varieties."

The original yam cultivated by hole tube planting method has straight and plump appearance. (Provided/Lin Chaogen) Keelung native yam tastes far better than Japanese yam

Gong Tsai-li said,"The taste of the native Chinese yam in Keelung is far better than that of Japanese yam. It is the best variety of Taiwanese yam!" The meat is delicate, long, Q hard, and tastes excellent." Because this native species of yam is suitable for growing in soils that have a lot of rain and good drainage, it is especially suitable for cultivation in the northeast corner of Shuangxi and Pingxi. It has also become one of the three treasures actively promoted New Taipei City (the other two are white bamboo shoots and sweet potatoes).

Gong Caili quoted "Compendium of Materia Medica" Ji Zai, yam can "strengthen spleen and stomach, benefit kidney qi, tonify deficiency surplus", is the best food for winter tonic. However, there are still some limitations to be overcome, because it is difficult to plant, especially resistant to diseases and insect pests, resulting in an inability to expand the area. At present, the yield of native yam is small, supply exceeds demand, and market prices remain high. Kung said that Taoyuan Agricultural Reform Farm is actively improving breeding, hoping to develop improved varieties with strong disease resistance and suitable planting as soon as possible.

Farmers suggest that the best way to preserve yam is to peel it and vacuum package it and freeze it, which can keep the best taste of native yam and keep it for up to half a year. (Provided by/Lv Ruihong)"He Jinshui" is generous and selfless, giving free seeds

"He Jinshui" yam variety is not only a unique treasure of agriculture in the northeast corner, but also a representative crop of Shuangxi transformation. Lin Chaogen, the largest planting area in the northeast corner, said that after the coal mine stopped mining in the 1980s, the industry was depressed, and many local people also resumed their old farming. However, there were many mountains and few land in the northeast corner, and the area planted with rice was limited. Everyone did not know where the future would be.

"The yam seeds provided by He Jinshui have helped many people!" Lin Chao-gen, 65 years old and still full of emotion, recalls Ho Chin-shui. "He Jinshui was the first expert in growing native Chinese yam in the northeast corner. At that time, everyone heard that He Jinshui had planted a kind of Chinese yam that was very popular. Many people went to He Jinshui. He generously distributed seeds (small seeds attached to branches and vines) without charge." Lin Chaogen said solemnly.

Because of the river.