New Backpacker Travel Secret Spot: Slow Travel in Xin Jialan Through "Work-for-Stay"

▲Hong Kong backpacker Sun {? (name obscured)} (pictured with local residents during his stay) (Photo / Courtesy of the Executive Yuan’s Post-Typhoon Morakot Reconstruction Council website)

Reported by Tourism Center / Taipei

With summer vacation approaching, the Executive Yuan’s Post-Disaster Reconstruction Council has partnered with the Jialan Visitor Center to launch the "Ina-Tapau Backpackers' Inn" work-for-stay program, successfully attracting backpackers from Switzerland, Australia, and Hong Kong to experience the slow-paced lifestyle of the Jialan area. Through their social media sharing, even more people are getting to know the post-disaster rebuilt new Jialan.

“I’ve always wanted to visit eastern Taiwan, and I happened to see a work-for-stay post on Facebook, so I came.” Sun {? (name obscured)}, a Hong Kong backpacker currently pursuing a master’s degree in journalism at a university in Taipei, has previously traveled to places such as Tibet and Yunnan, and exploring eastern Taiwan has long been on his bucket list. After arriving in Jialan Village, Jinfeng Township, Taitung County, Sun {?} helps out with various tasks every day, such as farming with locals or cooking meals together during events. When activities are held, he also helps out with serving food and cleaning up. The locals treat him like family.

Many stories from the time of Typhoon Morakot have become familiar to Sun {?} not just through the locals he met, but also because of his journalism studies. Although he was aware of the devastating impact Typhoon Morakot had on Taiwan three years ago, it wasn’t until he saw the riverbed piled high with massive rocks that he truly grasped the power of nature. He also gained admiration for the courage and resilience of the Jialan community, who refused to succumb to fate.

Jialan Village in Jinfeng Township, Taitung County, suffered severe damage during Typhoon Morakot. After three years of hard work and reconstruction, it has developed into a self-sufficient, rainbow-colored sustainable mountain town. The area now hosts a Jialan Tourism Center, the Happy Mothers Workshop and Bakery, a tribal market, and has even established a Jialan Patrol Team—all aimed at helping the community rebuild and move forward.

% (Image of) Sun {?} and other volunteers harvesting taro together (Photo / Courtesy of the Executive Yuan’s Post-Typhoon Morakot Reconstruction Council website)