2016 Hakka Tung Blossom Festival – A Forest-Wide Blossom Appreciation Journey Across Taiwan

Text by MOOK Scenic Spots Editorial Team, compiled and reported

Since its inception in 2002, the Hakka Tung Blossom Festival has entered its 15th year. This year’s most significant innovation is its first-ever integration with landscape art, featuring installations related to tung blossoms as part of a “landscape art” creation project presented in an “art curation” format. Under the guidance of Japanese artist Maruyama Junko and Taiwanese artists Chen Shuyan, Zhou Lingzhi, Duwak 'Du Yao, Hsu Chiao-yen, and local Hakka artist Hsieh Hsiao-te, elementary school students created six installations inspired by tung blossoms, Hakka culture, and natural mountain forests. Through the mutual inspiration of landscape art and tung blossoms, the event aims to deepen public understanding of the richness of Hakka culture, as well as the wisdom and humanistic care Hakka people have toward forests, heralding an unprecedented new chapter for the Hakka Tung Blossom Festival.

In 2016, the Council Chairperson especially noted that this year’s series of Hakka Tung Blossom Festival events mark the first central-local government collaboration, jointly organized across 14 counties and cities nationwide. Local governments integrated resources from township (town, city, district) offices and community organizations to showcase local characteristics and regional cultural arts. They also promoted the Hakka Tung Blossom Festival internationally to enhance its appeal as a tourist attraction and boost economic benefits. Additionally, the Council of Hakka Affairs partnered with over a hundred “Hakka Hospitality” discount merchants to offer a 10% discount promotion.

2016 Taoyuan Hakka Tung Blossom Festival – “Fluttering Blossoms, A Peach Blossom Paradise”