The president champions tourism, linking "Seediq Bale" to Penglai tea

By Li Xinyi

 

To celebrate the centennial of the Republic of China, the Southern Taiwan Tourism Passport has specially collected nearly 100 tourist attractions and issued 200,000 copies for the first time to promote tourism in southern Taiwan. The issuance of this tourism passport also featured President Ma Ying-jeou, who endorsed the initiative. President Ma believes that southern Taiwan’s historical sites have great potential and can be further packaged and promoted. He spoke highly of the Shanguangwen Memorial Hall in Shanhua, a lesser-known site, noting that Shanguangwen made outstanding contributions to education in Taiwan and is thus regarded as the “Confucius of Taiwan

为了宣传南台湾观光护照，南台湾美食业者也跟着上台北造势，为解决香蕉产季过剩的问题，高雄业者将香蕉做成香蕉酥上市；而澎湖向来知名的伴手礼黑糖糕，黑糖糕业者黑妞已经研发新款，推出用黑糖、红豆、糯米等做成的冰心糕，游客接受度颇高；而已有七十年历史的台南乐仔茶，创始人从日治时代向日本师传学习手工布丁至今，仍依古法制做；在竞争激烈的伴手礼中，业者成功找出各自的特色。

马英九品尝完南台湾美食后表示，台湾除了已经打出知名度的美食外，还应该结合政府与民间，共同将台湾历史的深度推展出来。他更举东方美人茶又称“澎风茶”的由来为例，因当时业者将东方美人茶拿到台北比赛后，结果现场卖出一千斤，但等到业者回家乡却被乡民说是“澎风”（台语为吹牛之意），后来东方美人茶才被叫做“澎风茶”；不过马英九经过一番询访后发现，买了这一千斤东方美人茶的人正是在电影《赛德克．巴莱》中下台的台湾总督石冢英藏，就是他在卸任时大手笔购买了东方美人茶。知名伴手礼与历史环环相扣，相信连业者都始料未及。