Impression of Countryside
Selective Preference of the 5th Cyber-Island Photography Contest
Photographer: Sheng-Zhang Li
Date and place photos were taken: 2006; Hualien County
 

Rice seedlings

Farmers worked hard on the big rice seedling field.

 

 

 

 

To offer sacrifice to God

The farmer offered sacrifice to God for bestowing everything and to pray for favorable weather and harvest.

 

 

 

To transplant rice seedlings

Manually transplanting rice seedlings is heavy physical labor and has become rare nowadays.

 

 

 

To harvest

Harvesting by hand and not machine is almost unheard of these days.

 

 

 

 

To sun-dry grains

The farmers have to flip the grains over every hour to sun-dry them. Caught between the fervent sun and burning ground, the farmers feel like being baked in an oven.

 

 

Fragrance of rice

How many people, when enjoying the aroma of cooked rice, will think that each grain is a fruit of arduous labor?

 

 

 

Driving along the Northern Coast highway from Danshuei to Shimen, one will see scenery of farms and fields which one will never imagine existed in the greater Taipei area. Terraced fields and beautiful landscape accompany farmers working hard under the blazing sun. Shimen Township faces the ocean and lies in front of the mountains, with little flatland in-between. Generations of farmers cultivated hills into terraced fields where rice grew. Nowadays, however, there are not that many rice farmers anymore. Because of changes in the social economic structure, young people who grew up here go to cities to look for jobs and left old ones behind in the hometown. Mr. Zhao, who still cultivates his farm, insists on toiling the land that ancestors sweated on and keeping alive this precious land.

My first visit of Mr. Zhao deeply touched me. When it’s time to transplant rice seedlings or to harvest, a time when heavy labor is needed, Mrs. Zhao and their three sons will all come back to help. They work together to care for the land. More importantly, they adopt organic farming to protect their land, a gift from God.

 

To view Gold Prize of the 5th Cyber-Island Photography Contest, please go to The Funeral Orchestra.

Text and images are provided by Exhibition of Cyber Island, Taiwan