I found you！The super cute “Hide-and-Seek Girl” in Ban Tou Tsuo, Xingang, Chiayi

▲The “Hide-and-Seek Girl” koji pottery installation art in Ban Tou Community. (Photo provided by the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, Council of Agriculture)

Travel Center / Comprehensive Report

“I found you!” The internet-famous “Hide-and-Seek Girl” koji pottery is located in “Ban Tou Tsuo,” Xingang, Chiayi. Since 1998, the Ban Tou community has been promoting community development through “koji pottery art.” It now not only hosts the “Ban Tou Koji Tile and Cut Paste Art Village,” but also features the large-scale riverside mural “Hometown Seasons” by renowned domestic mosaic master Chen Zhongzheng. Visitors can also take a special garden tour bus to explore the community’s koji pottery creations.

▲Ban Tou Tsuo was once a stop on the Taiwan Sugar Railway. (Photo provided by the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, Council of Agriculture)

Ban Tou Tsuo was originally a small station on the Taiwan Sugar Railway. After the “five-foot-gauge train” ceased operations in 1998, the rural area of Ban Tou Tsuo rapidly declined. The local community began planning for community development, hoping that one day “the train would come back.” Eventually, they found new life for the community through koji pottery. In 2007, the community launched the “Ban Tou Koji Tile and Cut Paste Art Village,” offering visitors garden tour buses to admire the koji pottery installation art within the community.

▲% and the community provides a sugar railway experience, (photo), as well as a riverside mural on the embankment. (Photo provided by the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, Council of Agriculture)

Currently, Ban Tou Community has become a key hub for the development of koji pottery art in Taiwan. The community is home to sightseeing factories such as “Ban Tao Kiln” and “Gu Ben Gang Tao Hua Yuan,” which focus on koji pottery and cut paste crafts. Recently, the highly popular “Hide-and-Seek Girl” series of koji pottery works, as well as the large-scale riverside mural on the Beigang River embankment, attracted approximately 850,000 visitors last year, with expectations to surpass 1 million this year.

In addition to koji pottery art, local residents also sell many traditional snacks. For example, the shop “Ban Tou Ah Xiong” uses locally grown mung beans to create popular dishes such as “Mung Bean Tapioca Old-Fashioned Ice,” “A Thousand Miles Smooth Sailing Soup,” and “Ban Tou Mung Bean Delicacy.”

▲Koji pottery installation art in Ban Tou Community. (Photo provided by the Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, Council of Agriculture)