A Countryside Getaway in Hualien and Taitung Begins at Taitung Tiehua Music Village

▲The “Hualien-Taitung Countryside Getaway” traveling market kicked off on the 5th (Saturday) at Taitung Tiehua Music Village. (Photo / Provided by the Eastern Taiwan Joint Services Center)

Reported by Wang Zhaolin / Hualien

To support the implementation of the Rural Regeneration Policy, the Eastern Taiwan Joint Services Center under the Executive Yuan, through subsidies from the Rural Regeneration Fund of the Council of Agriculture’s Soil and Water Conservation Bureau, launched the 2016 Integrated Marketing Plan for Rural Regeneration Communities in the Hualien-Taitung Region. As part of this initiative, the “Hualien-Taitung Countryside Getaway” traveling market was organized, kicking off on the 5th (Saturday) at Taitung Tiehua Music Village, continuing on the 13th (Sunday) at the Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park, and then moving to urban areas such as the Taichung Cultural and Creative Industries Park and Taipei Main Station on the 19th (Saturday) and 20th (Sunday) to actively promote the unique features of Hualien and Taitung’s rural communities.

Xu Chuansheng, CEO of the Eastern Taiwan Services Center, stated that rural regeneration is one of the major policies promoted in recent years, aiming to reverse the decline and aging of rural areas. Through programs such as talent training, improvement of public environments, and industrial counseling, the policy assists rural communities in achieving self-sustaining operations and attracts young farmers to return. He is also actively promoting three-day, two-night countryside trips in these regions and encouraging airlines to establish new direct flights from Taitung to Hong Kong, effectively attracting international tourists to visit Hualien and Taitung.

The first countryside getaway event was held at Taitung Tiehua Music Village, featuring stalls set up by 20 rural communities from Hualien to showcase and sell their products. On the 13th, rural communities from Taitung took over the Hualien Cultural and Creative Industries Park as a “return gift,” also aiming to strengthen the deep bond between the neighboring regions of Hualien and Taitung. On the 19th and 20th, they will jointly head to Taichung and Taipei, with 35 communities from Hualien and Taitung coming together. Despite covering a journey of over a thousand kilometers, urban residents won’t need to drive far to experience the charm of Hualien and Taitung’s countryside.