Recreating the Passion Towards the Land – Thousand-Mile Trail
Written by Ru-bin Chien
Photographed by Kuo-han Chen, Chi-ren Yang, and Ru-bin Chien
 
 
Trail after trail, winding through town after village, thread together Taiwan’s cultural and natural landscape. When a day comes that such meandering trails cover all of Taiwan, they will form a network encircling the island, calling people who accustomed to fast-paced city life to learn to slow down, relax, and appreciate the beauty of this land with their feet and hearts.
 
 
Wugoshui is a Hakka village in Wanluan, Pintung county. Similar to most traditional rural villages, most of the residents are elders because the younger generation has left for work or study. Without the high energy of youth, Wugoshui always seems to exude the tranquility of a slow-paced life. However, on May 30, 2009, Wugoshui was transformed into quite the festive locale, with dozens of visitors on bicycles stopping by to admire the Hakka-style courtyards, shrines, and alters.
 
 
Organized by the Thousand-Mile Trail team, this two-day cycling event in Pintung county covered Chouzhou and Wanluan (via Neipu), connecting several Liudui Hakka tribes. Because of this event, participants from all over Taiwan had the chance not only to exercise but also to get acquainted with the tribes and landscapes along the way.
 
 
The Thousand-Mile Trail team has organized more than a dozen of this kind of cycling event since 2006, each one a culmination of brainstorming and the efforts of many unsung heroes.
  
 
Wugoshui has preserved a great deal of traditional Hakka architecture. (Photographed by Ru-bin Chien)
 
 
A Dream Budding from the Alienation between People and the Environment
 
Starting today, dear friend, go outdoors and explore a trail — a mountain trail, an ancient path, an industrial road, or a rural street — to experience the natural or cultural landscape away from the hustle and bustle of the city….
 
A few years from now, there will be a well-known thousand-mile trail built by the public that surrounds the entire island of Taiwan.
 
You can go on a journey with your backpack or your bicycle, or an excursion to one small section of the trail, savoring the beautiful scenery of Taiwan in pieces. Either way, you will have a small booklet in hand listing the teahouses or pastoral accommodations nearby.
 
 
In May 2005, former National Taiwan University professor and community college advocate Wu-hsiung Huang wrote an editorial entitled “Building a Thousand-Mile Trail, Returning to Inner Values,” sharing his hope that such a trail could come to fruition so that people could take a walk, ride a bicycle, or just get to know local culture and appreciate the natural scenery.
 
 
Huang’s idea was met with positive response. The founder of the Society of Wilderness, Ren-hsiou Hsu, was reminded of his childhood hometown and its trail leading to nearby villages, with ecological and cultural scenery along the way. Comparing his own childhood to the lifestyle of Taiwan’s younger generations, Hsu feels that “children now spend most of their childhood living, learning, and commuting to concrete buildings without interaction with the earth and nature. Life detached from nature will become fragile and frustrating.” Writer Hsiao-yeh also commented that the environment started to change along with economic developments: “As nature gradually disappears from our surroundings, our inner heart and senses are also gradually transformed by noises in our environment.”
 
 
Therefore, Wu-hsiung Huang, Ren-hsiou Hsu, and Hsiao-yeh initiated the “Thousand-Mile Trail” movement, in hopes that people can slow down the pace of life and be able to observe the nature around them by taking a stroll or riding a bike, soothing the alienation between people. The idea began to be circulated widely and quickly on the Internet. On April 23, 2006, more than 200 people celebrated the opening ceremony of the Thousand-Mile Trail and joined the volunteer team.
  
 
The objective of the Thousand-Mile Trail project is to construct a network of bike routes and trails around Taiwan, so that people can slow down and learn the stories of the land by biking or walking. (Photographed by Kuo-han Chen)
 
 
 
Combining Volunteer Efforts for the Threading of Trails
 
The participation of volunteers is an important part of the Thousand-Mile Trail movement. The current Executive Secretary of the Thousand-Mile Trail team Shi-fang Huang was also a volunteer at the opening ceremony. “Because of industrial developments, many people are accustomed to driving and riding scooters. Everything is defined by speed and convenience, depriving people of the opportunity to interact with nature and the land. As a result, they have less feeling for the land and nostalgia is therefore absent.” As a mother, Shi-fang Huang said she cannot bear to see the next generation grow up in such an environment, so she has devoted herself to the Thousand-Mile Trail project.
 
 
However, the goal of the Thousand-Mile Trail project is not to request the government to construct a new route dedicated to pedestrians and cyclists. There are already many routes in Taiwan that are suitable for walking or cycling, some of which also have abundant natural and cultural landscapes. If all of these routes can be connected to encircle the island of Taiwan, the goal of the Thousand-Mile Trail will be complete. Because many of the routes already in place are often only known to local residents, it is therefore necessary for volunteers in all parts of Taiwan to provide information of known routes and to explore new ones, gradually contributing to the formation of a database.
 
 
Because of the complexity of the project, the planning of the Thousand-Mile Trail involves a wide variety of issues. In order to stimulate discussion and collect ideas, a Thinktank Salon Meeting is held bimonthly at the Planning Center in Taipei. These meetings are the driving force behind the movement. Topics discussed at the meetings include environmentalism, ecology, hiking, cycling, the development of trail movements, relevant international experiences of the participants, among others. The ideas and comments of the attendees are also recorded for future reference.
 
 
In regards to the design of local routes, core members started with their own network. As an advocate of community colleges, Wu-hsiung Huang has forged connections with various school clubs and organizations. Kong Ming Fleet at Yilan Community College, the Ancient Trails Club in Hualien, and Miaoli Community Colleges all have similar ideals to that of the Thousand-Mile Trail project. Members of the trail project have set up local historical studios, community-building organizations, conservation groups, and have sought advice from trail experts to provide suggestions on local trails.
 
 
In order to systematically organize information on these trails, the team employs PPGIS (Public Participation Geographic Information Systems) to compile the routes, note special cultural or natural scenery, and to draw trails on electronic maps by GPS satellite positioning as well as upload the information to Google Earth. Members of the Thousand-Mile Trail project also host “Trail Exploration PPGIS Empowerment Workshops” from time to time at various locations and invite volunteers to familiarize with the technology, enabling them to use PPGIS and Google Earth to further facilitate the compilation of route information.
 
 
After a period of collecting information, the team visited a site in person to confirm that the information on the electronic map is correct. The team also completed an evaluation on the safety of the trail, and made adjustments on the route according to the abundance of the natural scenery, cultural information, and rest area locations.
 
 
Local trail networks gradually take shape through  discussions, local meetings, data collection and entry, and field investigations. This valuable information is also archived  the Thousand-Mile Trail website for people to view or edit.
 
 
Baby-boomers’ Sweet Memories of the Sugar Factory
In the process of exploring and investigating local trail networks, the team members worked closely with local associations and, as a result, have accumulated valuable information about local cultural attractions, natural resources, and featured industries. The Thousand-Mile Trail project is more than simply building a route for walking or cycling. It aims to enable people to interact with local cultures during leisure activity. Therefore, the Thousand-Mile Trail team also cooperates with local organizations in promoting culture, and preserving and restoring resources.
 
 
“Chasing the Train” at Huwei Sugar Factory in Yunlin county is a popular and widely-praised activity. As early as the 1970s, Taiwan had a prosperous sugar industry. At that time of rapid economic development, the sugar industry attracted significant foreign investment to Taiwan. In order to transport sugar canes to factoriesg, railroads were constructed surrounding factories for the use of small cargo trains. Later, because the railroad network was quite extensive, several road routes were also established, becoming one of the main means of transportation at the time.
 
 
During the sugar-making season, the harvested sugar canes would be transported to various factories. The children living in the villages along the way would always chase the trains to steal a sugar cane. Although these white sugar canes have rather coarse fibers that make them difficult to be chewed, the sweetness extracted fulfilled the children’s cravings in an era of resource scarcity.
 
 
Taiwan’s baby-boomers all seem to have nostalgia about sugar factories. Their childhood years were spent in an era of prosperity for Taiwan’s sugar industry. Many people’s childhood memories are closely associated with the factories: Some studied for exams on the sugar factory mini-trains, some peeped at other boys or girls on the same train, and some ate ice cream from the sugar factory co-op stores while on a date.
 
 
In the past decade, Taiwan’s sugar industry has begun to lose competitiveness in the international market, and sugar factories have closed down one after another. The mini-trains began to lose their luster as early as the 70’s as the public transportation system became more developed. Even so, those beautiful and sentimental memories have not faded.
 
 
The sugar industry and its sugar factory mini-trains were important parts of Taiwan’s industrial culture. There are only two remaining active sugar factories in Taiwan, one of which is the Huwei Sugar Factory. There are still iconic mini-trains in operation in this factory nowadays. Every autumn when it’s time for the harvest, the trains carry the sugar canes, bunch after bunch, back to the factory.
 
 
Hence, the Thousand-Mile Trail team has cooperated with local organizations to promote “Chasing the Train” events. Event messages spread quickly through the Thousand-Mile Trail website, attracting many participants. At the “Chasing the Train” event, as the mini-train drives forward slowly, people of all ages chase the train’s tail. Baby-boomers are able to recapture their childhood experience, and the younger generation learns about the culture of the sugar industry and immerses themselves in the nostalgia of an era they never experienced.
 
 
Bike and Rail, Hundred Years of the Sugar Rails
 
The Huwei line is not the only sugar factory railroad that the team members are concerned with. At the time when the sugar industry was in prosperity, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation’s railroad network was comprehensive and covered a wide area, although most lines are no longer in operation. Nonetheless, if these railroads are left abandoned, Taiwan’s sugar industry culture might be completely forgotten in a decade or two.
 
 
In the process of threading trail networks across the entire Taiwan, the Thousand-Mile Trail team has discovered that in western Taiwan, many places have lost their original village scenery and cultural character due to the rapid modernization in recent years. Because of this, the team came up with the idea of utilizing the sugar railroads. Through revitalizing the sugar mini-train rail lines and combining them with bicycle paths, a “Bike and Rail” trail may be constructed. Not only will the completion of the island-encircling trail network be accelerated, but the general public can slow down, relax, and follow the Thousand-Mile Trail into the villages of the Chianan plain to immerse in the culture of Taiwan’s sugar industry.
 
 
The team members are dedicated to the exploration of sugar railroads and are drafting the blueprint for the “Bike and Rail” trail, devising different methods of operation according to the current preservation statuses of these railroads. For example, for lines like Huwei that are still in operation, bicycles may ride on small paths alongside the railroads. For well-preserved railroads that are planned to be reopened to the public, bicycles may be carried on the trains. For railroads that have already been demolished, the existing pavement may be reconstructed as a bicycle lane.
 
 
As the Thousand-Mile Trail team members are dedicating themselves to the field work of investigating and planning for the reactivation of the sugar rails, they are working with sugar factories, railroad experts, local history studios, and many others. It has been more than 100 years since 1907, when the Kio-A-Thau sugar refinery constructed its railroads. Thus, the Thousand-Mile Trail project launched the “Hundred Years of Sugar Rails” event, which provides participants with information about the development of sugar rails, accompanied by old photos and maps. The event was widely discussed on the Internet, and has successfully called for many people to provide their treasured old photos. More than 200 items were accumulated in less than a month, and an online exhibition of these precious images was organized.
 
The abundant information stored in the Thousand-Mile Trail archive has attracted the interest of the internet users, who continue to provide more data, further expanding the archive.
 
 
Empty cargo trains are neatly lined up at the sugar factory. Trains were the main vehicles for transporting sugar cane, raw materials, and finished products. (Photographed by Ru-bin Chien)
 
 
Budai Salt Pans Revitalized
One weekend in July 2009, the usually tranquil Budai salt pans seemed to be especially lively. Under the blazing sun, people wearing straw hats were working diligently to clean the water grass in the salt pans. But these people with rain boots stepping in the salt pans were not local salt workers. Instead, they were outsiders coming to experience what working in the salt pans was like.
 
 
For more than a hundred years after a salt merchant opened the Zhounanchang Salt Pans in 1824, sea water was channeled into the rectangular salt courtyards, where it evaporated and basked into bits of sea crystal on the tile basin. This traditional method of salt basking eventually gave way to the tide of the times. Zhounanchang Salt Pans was closed down in 2000, drawing a century-long period of salt-basking to a close.
 
 
Nine years later, in the summer of 2009, a joint effort by the Headquarters Administration of Cultural Heritage (HACH), the Budai Cultural Association, and the Thousand-Mile Trail project gave tourists the opportunity to experience the Zhounanchang Salt Pans.
Over the past ten years, many public businesses in Taiwan have been privatized. Some industries that were developed early in the Japanese Colonial Period — such as sugar, salt, and liquor industries — still possess abundant precious cultural resources. To prevent this important cultural heritage from being neglected, ignored, or even vandalized, the HACH undertook the task of preserving and sorting these resources.
 
 
Since 2005, the HACH has chosen five sugar factories, two salt fields, and a liquor manufacturer to revitalize and reuse. Local municipalities and historical agencies have been invited to design and inject new life into the old industries. After four years of planning, the HACH hopes that through interactive events and actual experience in the field, the public can become acquainted with these historically significant industries. HACH commissioner Ying-mei Tsai indicated that the Thousand-Mile Trail goes to each community to become familiar with the local culture and that the project team cares about the development of local industries. The utilization of PPGIS and Google Earth facilitates the planning of travel routes and connecting communities. All the information has been digitized and made accessible on the Internet for the reference of the general public in preparation for a future visit. The HACH has also commissioned the Thousand-Mile Trail team to create related activities and events.
 
 
In the summer of 2009, the “Working Holiday of Budai Salt Pans” emerged with a backdrop of such expectations. Under the guidance of the Thousand-Mile Trail team and the Budai Cultural Association, tourists listened to experienced salt laborers talk about the rise and fall of the Budai salt fields an d tell stories of salt-basking work during the two-day event. The event also included activities such as cleaning the salt fields, making ice cream with salt, visiting the salt hill on bicycles, and looking in Japanese-style dormitories of the salt manufacturer.
  
 
As a landmark in Budai, this salt hill stacks the collected salt crystals. (Photographed by Kuo-han Chen)
 
 
Grassroot Organization Influences the Public Sector
 
Since its inception in 2006, the Thousand-Mile Trail team has been gradually reaping the benefits of its hard work.
 
 
The cooperation with the Headquarters Administration of Cultural Heritage (HACH) is one example of cooperation for the project. Because the Thousand-Mile Trail team has always been concerned about the cycling environment, when the Traffic Engineering Office of Taipei City Government (TEOTCG) initiated the plan to compose the Dunhua South Road bicycle lane, the TEOTCG contacted the Thousand-Mile Trail team to exchange ideas. On 25th of January 2008, the Thousand-Mile Trail project hosted a Thinktank discussion to share some experiences about the construction of bicycle lanes in other countries. Engineers from the TEOTCG also participated in this discussion and took note of the requests and needs from the audience about bicycle lanes, as well as to collect questionnaires for future reference. Besides the exchange of ideas at the Thinktank discussion, on the Thousand-Mile Trail website there are also two online forum discussion threads entitled “Red vs. White Competition: Fill in the Blanks” and “Seven Types of Bike Lanes: Which is the Best?”, which have inspired vehement debates about the pros and cons of different types of bike lanes and plans for reinforcement, all of which serve as reference materials for the TEOTCG and related governmental organizations in the future. Furthermore, part of the “Green Transportation System” plan supervised by the Institute of Transportation is to promote a bike lane system that covers Taiwan. One participating professor, Shen-hsiung Chang from Tamkang University, reached the Thousand-Mile Trail team in hopes that the team would provide the abundant information about Taiwan’s street systems, which they have accumulated during these years for the government’s future  reference.
 
 
The Thousand-Mile Trail project is also actively sought out for participation in the decision-making process in the public sector. Referencing the United Kingdoms’ Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Thousand-Mile Trail team hoped the nearby area along the hiking trails surrounding the island can be designated as a “Beautiful Scenery Reserve,” so that the landscape along the trails can be protected and people can appreciate the scenery while walking the trails.
 
 
In order to achieve its goal, the Thousand-Mile Train project needed to access to government agencies; however, this is not an easy task for a grass-roots organization. The CEO of the Thousand-Mile Trail Planning Center, Sheng-hsin Chou commented that the group first participated in the street movements such as the bicycle parade held in Taipei in 2007, the 1208 anti-global warming parade, and the 2008 national NGO environmental conference, among many others. Through years of efforts, Chou became a member of the National Sustainable Development Committee of the Executive Yuan, hoping to build a communicative platform between the government and other NGOs.
 
 
The Dream of Looping the Island Gradually Takes Shape
 
The participation of volunteers has been the major part of the Thousand-Mile Train project’s contributions. The working staff of the Thousand-Mile Trail project has worked hard to maintain contacts with volunteers. Everyone who has participated in any event over the past three years has regularly received e-newsletters informing them on recent events and the developments of the Thousand-Mile Trail project. The staff is always busy spreading words about the project, hoping to recruit more volunteers. In March 2009, the “Trail Action Classroom” was launched at Yonghe Community College, attracting more than 30 students. One student, Tze-hua Tsai, notes that because of her busy lifestyle, she seldom had the opportunity to pay attention to her surroundings; however, after participating in the Trail Action Classroom program for a semester, she has learned not only about the trails but a new way to to appreciate the nature.
 
 
The course elicited a very positive response, so the program was offered again in the following semester in September. Yu-ching Yang, the Executive Secretary for the Thousand-Mile Trail project, remarked that the program of this semester will focus on the “circle-Taipei trails,” in hopes that by the end of the semester the participants will be able to draft a plan to explore the trails encompassing Taipei.
 
 
Besides the plan, the threading of the trail network circling the entire island is about to enter the last phase. The team members have already investigated and identified many local trails over the last three years. The island-encircling trail network will be complete once the remaining work is finished.
 
Soon, you and I will be able to walk on this complete Thousand-Mile Trail which encircles the island of Taiwan, from one local village to another, and see the beauty along the way at a slow pace.
 
 
People Feature: Sheng-hsin Chou – from Telephone Secretary to CEO
Sheng-hsin Chou, CEO of the Thousand-Mile Trail Planning Center, said with a smile: “This is my part-time job. My full-time occupation is actually as the special assistant at Yonghe Community College.” Under the appearance of a thin and soft-spoken lady, Chou has devoted herself to various social activities such as anti-war and anti-nuclear movements for a long time.
Having spent her childhood in Hualien, Chou left home to study in Taipei at Fu Jen Catholic University. After graduating with a BA degree in Chinese, Chou returned to Hualien and contributed to teaching in an elementary school. During her three years of teaching, Chou had never stopped contemplating how to help children in villages. She started to actively involve in education reform movements, joining the Humanistic Education Foundation, where she was the chief editor for the Humanistic Education Notes for ten years.
 
 
In 1998, when Wu-hsiung Huang began advocating for the establishment of community colleges, Chou joined his team. After the inauguration of Yonghe Community College, she worked as a special assistant for the college while enrolling in a MA program in Social Education at the same time. She also participated in various social activities.
 
 
When Wu-hsiung Huang proposed the idea of the Thousand-Mile Trail in 2005 and planned for its launch the following year, he invited Chou to be an administrator. Over time, Chou became more familiar with the Thousand-Mile Trail movement than anyone else. Her presence becomes necessary and her role irreplaceable for media interviews, club contacts, and other events. Therefore, Chou’s role gradually transformed from a network administrator to the CEO.
Even though the CEO of the Thousand-Mile Trail project is a position without payment, Chou, who has great passion for the land, embraced the opportunity and devoted herself fully to participating in various forums and conferences, delivering the voice of the public to governmental organizations. Chou’s many years of experience in social activities allowed her to lead the Thousand-Mile Trail team in the right direction.
 
 
People Feature: Ming-chien Hsu– Hammering Wood and Chiseling Rocks to Build a Natural Trail
With short hair and tan skin, Ming-chien Hsu is the vice CEO of the Thousand-Mile Trail Planning Center, as well as a PhD candidate at the Graduate Institute of National Development in National Taiwan University. Always full of energy, Hsu’s schedule is invariably packed, filled with community visits, mountain trail-buildings, and participations in NGO activities.
 
 
In 2001, a TV commercial for a four-wheel drive vehicle inspired Hsu to tirelessly devote herself to environmental and trail-building endeavors. In the commercial, the vehicle drove through rapid creek waters to prove its outstanding functions. However, despite the impressive performance demonstrated in the commercial, in Hsu’s eyes, she saw the aggressive damage the filming of the commercial has caused to the environment. She then wrote a letter to the editor of the China Times Newspaper, and called for support on the Internet. The commercial was taken off the air, and Hsu’s new life has also begun.
 
 
Hsu started to take serious interests in environmental issues. In 2006, she applied for the grant provided by the Council for Hakka Affairs, and flew to the United States to join the volunteering team for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. During her four months as a trail volunteer, she abandoned her old lifestyle and habits, and learned to live a simple life in the mountainous area. She also learned to use local materials to build trails in accordance to the contours of the landscape, so that the finished trails would look more natural without artificial embellishment.
Bringing her working experiences from the Appalachians Trail Conservancy back to Taiwan, Hsu actively involved in the Thousand-Mile Trail project. She hopes that the trail can come to fruition through public participation, instead of being constructed solely by the government.
 
 
 
Brief Introduction of the Thousand-Mile Trail Team
 
The Thousand-Mile Trail Planning Center is located at Fuho Junior High School in Yonghe District, New Taipei City. Since the inception of the Thousand-Mile Trail project in 2006, hundreds of events have been conceived there. The core members of the Thousand-Mile Trail Team include CEO Sheng-hsin Chou, vice CEO Ming-chien Hsu, executive secretaries Shi-fang Huang and Yu-ching Yang, HACH project director Hui-wen Tseng, and website designer/manager Chao-cheng Chen.
 
 
The main objective of the Thousand-Mile Trail project is to investigate and connect road networks all over Taiwan. With this core goal in mind, local organizations are being trained to use PPGIS, compile visual records, and digitize information, so they can further participate in the digital archive project, becoming the main administrators of the resources. Of all the data in the archive, information on the network of trails is the most abundant. In addition, the records cover community interviews, local citizens’ activities, and test-run events. The Thinktank Salon is open to the public, and the public forums providing information on governmental organizations are also part of the online archive on the Thousand-Mile Trail’s website.
 
 
 
 
The Thousand-Mile Trail Team
※This article was selected from “Treasured Daily Life” magazine. Published by Sub-project II: Academic Application and Dissemination of Cultural Heritage, under the Project of Academic and Social Promotions and Applications for Digital Archives and E-Learning.