The hometown of the native yam in the northeast corner is facing the crisis of reservoir development! 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 10 aging regions in Taiwan because of the prosperity of the mining industry and the rapid outflow of its population. This mountain city, surrounded by rivers and fresh air, is an upstream reserve of Feicui Reservoir, and it is also coveted because of its abundant water resources. according to the forward-looking plan for 2017, the government once again put forward the "Shuangxi Reservoir Planning Project," which has been sealed for many years, causing controversy from all walks of life about the future orientation of Shuangxi.

The proponents think that Shuangxi has been stagnant for a long time and expect the government to invest major construction resources to promote employment opportunities, while the other side thinks that Shuangxi retains the most pleasant pastoral landscape in the northeast corner, and that if friendly agriculture can be developed, it will have the opportunity to become a model of Lishan in New Taipei City. The proposal for the construction of the reservoir is still up in the air, but this dispute has disturbed local residents to wonder what kind of place Shuangxi is going to be.

Overlooking the Shuangxi Reservoir and the Dinglan Valley from the air is full of green. (photography / footnote Gongliao Studio Wu Shanrong) Mining brings prosperity as well as depression

Jian Hongwei, an 82-year-old grandmother who lives on the street, was depressed after the war. She followed her first husband from Changhua to Shuangxi to dig a coal mine. Her husband died in the mine disaster. She remarried to her second husband, who was also a miner, and continued to work in the mining industry. After the second World War, it was the peak of Taiwan's coal mining industry. A large number of people in central and southern Taiwan, like Grandma Jane and her two husbands, poured into Shuangxi, with a population of more than 40,000 at one time.

The coal mine has not lagged behind, and a large number of young and middle-aged people have moved abroad. According to the statistics of the Ministry of the Interior in 2018, the proportion of Shuangxi's elderly population is 25.25%. Although there are still more than 8,000 registered residents, in fact, most of them work outside the home, and more than half of the permanent residents are elderly.

Mining years have not only brought prosperity to Shuangxi, but also brought many age marks to the body of the elderly. As female workers are prohibited from entering the mines, most of them work as coal washers in the washing plant, carrying heavy coal for years, which makes Jian Hongwei's spine bent and deformed, and her back can be easily identified on the street every day.

The years in the mining village also left a mark on Jian Hong's grandmother's body, and the innovative topic of health care for the elderly in Shuangxi Health Center has become a humanistic landscape in Shuangxi Old Street. (photography / Lin Jiyang) how to develop Shuangxi? The place still lacks imagination and consensus.

After serving at the Shuangxi Health Center for many years, Dr. Xu Guoyou, the former director of the health center, who was only transferred to Hsichih at the end of last year, observed that due to the mining background, the physical and joint degradation of many elderly working people is quite common. "the elderly who are physically inconvenient and difficult to move are locked up at home because they do not want to impose a burden on their children or even cause psychological obstacles to exclude medical treatment."

In order to take care of the elderly, Xu Guoyou strived to set up physiotherapy centers and provide free aids during his term of office, so that the elderly could receive rehabilitation care nearby and take care of their elders in their hometown for those who went out. Last year (2019) Shuangxi Health Center was awarded the "Government Service Award" known as the Academy Award of government departments for its innovative services.

When it comes to the future of Shuangxi, Hsu Kuo-you sighs that he often hears that Shuangxi people envy other villages and towns: Pingxi has ten stations and sky lights; Ruifang has Chiufen and Hou Dong Cat Village; Gongliao has Fulong Marine Music Festival, and the anti-nuclear movement has made Gongliao even more famous. It seems that only Shuangxi has nothing. "but in fact, there is a lack of imagination and consensus on what Shuangxi is going to look like." Xu Guoyou observed.

Through medical treatment, Dr. Xu Guoyou gradually understood the needs of rural areas, and gradually expanded and improved the medical services of rural areas. (photo / Lin Jiyang) once delimited into the scheduled site of the reservoir, triggering the local regeneration movement in Shuangxi

Shuangxi gets its name from the rendezvous of Mudan Creek and Pinglin Creek. It is rainy and has plenty of water, so it has become a water reserve for the Feicui Reservoir. There is Gongliao River Weir downstream, and there are few industrial developments that make Shuangxi have good mountains and good water. Shuangxi is too humid and covered with moss everywhere, so it is an old and slow place.

In 2017, the central government made a forward-looking plan to once again propose the development of the Shuangxi Reservoir, which has been sealed for many years, causing local divisions to trigger heated debate. The proponents believe that Shuangxi has been stagnant for a long time, and that the government's investment in major construction resources will lead to more development and employment opportunities, while the opposing side believes that Shuangxi maintains the most pleasant pastoral landscape in the northeast corner and preserves the natural environment and develops friendly agriculture. will have the opportunity to become a model of Lishan in New Taipei City.

The proposal to build the reservoir is still up in the air. But it inspires the local people to rethink their imagination for the future development of Shuangxi, including letting the local people know the place again.

The local team hopes that the forest and river conservation movement in Dinglan Valley will be transformed into humanistic spirit and intangible natural conservation assets, and become the starting point for promoting the rebirth of Shuangxi (Photography / Lin Jiyang) returning home from agriculture at the age of 50, Lu Ruihong reversed the local situation.

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

"the construction of a reservoir will not bring about local revitalization, the government compensation will be spent, and the land left behind can be handed down from generation to generation. Shuangxi has a unique environment and can develop friendly farming methods, and there is such a good environment not far from Taipei. there must be consumers with the same ideas to support it." In Lu Ruihong's business thinking, Shuangxi is not without opportunities.

Lu Ruihong wants to start a lasting local regeneration movement in Shuangxi. At present, he and many like-minded farmers have set up an environment-friendly small farmers' cooperative, hoping to turn this quiet and natural town through the environment, ecology, and agriculture. The first step is to start with the unique native species of yam in Keelung.

Lu Ruihong, who returned to his hometown for farming in middle age, chose to grow native yams in the traditional way to convince consumers with their quality. (photography / Jian Shuhui) unique environment, pregnant with slender native yam

Lu Ruihong's land is located on the scouring plain at the mouth of the Dinglan Valley. Due to the experience of flooding and mixing of sand, Lu Ruihong is particularly suitable for planting Keelung native yams unique to the northeast corner. The variety of yam planted by residents in Dinglan Valley is a unique slender yam. When harvested, the yam must be dug down half a meter with a round spade, and then carefully use a small rake to loosen the soil around the yam before it can be extracted.

The slender native yam variety, known by the local people as "he Jinshui", is widely known by medicine farmers in Jiaoshan in Northeast China, especially in Shuangxi and Dinglan Valley. Gong Caili, a researcher at Taoyuan Agricultural Reform Field who has studied Keelung native yam for more than 25 years, says that Keelung native yam is a unique native species in Taiwan, which is completely different from foreign varieties of tubers commonly seen in the market, or yams imported from Japan.

However, Gong Caili also explained: "every yam planted by farmers in Shuangxi and Pingxi in the northeast corner actually grows different.When farmers plant it, they still follow the traditional way and find the strongest and largest one to breed. Farmers produce many varieties of differences through constant hybridization and variation. It can only be said that he Jinshui is one of the more widely spread and shared varieties. "

The original yam cultivated by hole tube cultivation has a straight and full appearance. (photo courtesy of Lin Chaogen) Keelung native yam tastes much better than Japanese yam

Gong Caili said, "the taste of Keelung native yam is far better than that of Japanese yam, and it can be called the most delicious variety of yam in Taiwan! Meticulous meat, long strip, Q hard, excellent taste of bouncy teeth. " Because this kind of Keelung native yam is suitable for growing in the soil with many Rain Water and good drainage, it is especially suitable for planting in the northeast corner of Shuangxi and Pingxi, and has become one of the three treasures of the new north actively promoted in New Taipei City (the other two are bamboo shoots and sweet potatoes).

Gong Caili quoted the Compendium of Materia Medica as saying that Chinese yam can "strengthen the spleen and stomach, tonify kidney qi, and tonify deficiency." it is an excellent ingredient for tonifying in winter. However, the native species of yam still has some limitations to be overcome, because it is difficult to grow, especially resistant to diseases and insect pests, so that the area can not be expanded. At present, the output of native yam is low, the supply falls short of demand, and the market price remains high. Gong said that Taoyuan Agricultural Reform Farm is actively improving breeding, hoping to develop improved varieties with strong disease resistance and suitable for planting as soon as possible.

Farmers suggest that the best way to preserve yam is to vacuum pack and freeze after peeling, which can maintain the best taste of the original yam for a shelf life of up to half a year. (photo courtesy of Lu Ruihong) "he Jinshui" is generous and selfless, giving away seeds for free

The variety of "he Jinshui" yam is not only a unique treasure of agriculture in the northeast corner, but also a representative crop of Shuangxi transformation. Lin Chaogen, the "yam talent" with the largest acreage in the northeast corner, said that after coal mining stopped in the 1980s, the industry was depressed, and many local people also returned to their old industries for farming, but there are many mountains and little land in the northeast corner, and the area for planting rice is limited. No one knows where the future lies.

"the yam seeds provided by he Jinshui have helped a lot of people!" The 65-year-old Lin Chaogen is still full of gratitude when he recalls he Jinshui. "he Jinshui was the first expert in the northeast corner to specialize in growing native yams. At that time, everyone heard that he Jinshui had planted a kind of yam that was very popular. Many people went to he Jinshui. He generously distributed seeds (surplus seeds attached to branches and vines) without charge." Lin Chaogen said solemnly.