Newsletter

No.1 June

Lanyang Museum	Jenju Village Community
Preview (Extra, extra, read about it!!) The 2012 Asian Smart Living International School will be held October 10th through the 14th this year in Yilan County, Taiwan. You are cordially invited to the event, and your input will be greatly appreciated. About Yilan Yilan sits in northeast Taiwan, and the county was originally the habitat of the indigenous Kabalan tribe. Owning to the geological landscape, Yilan has become known for its ample precipitation. As such, its early economic activity was based on agriculture. In recent years, however, due to the creation of the Hsuehshan Tunnel making the area much more accessible, tourism in the region has been thriving and many farmlands have transformed into leisure farming for tourists to enjoy. The following will introduce two kinds of environmental recreation in Yilan County. Lanyang Museum Lanyang Museum is located in Toucheng Township in Yilan County. The stunning architecture utilizes the regional geological landscape – the cuestas – as inspiration for the structural design, as well as preserves the wetland and reef artifacts of Wushi, using the interaction between man and nature as the main axis for development. Inside the museum, the layout mimics the Yilan landscape, using mountains, plains and the sea as the exhibition themes for each floor, using the local natural view to guide the visitors further into the geological and human history of Yilan. This specific design makes Lanyang Museum truly unique. During the planning stage, it was decided that Lanyang Museum was to be an ecological museum that would combine the natural and cultural resources of Yilan, radiating outwards to connect with other museums and cultural galleries in the region to realize the goal of making all of Yilan become a museum. Thus, the Family Cultural	Museum was born and today the network includes dozens of public and private museums and local cultural galleries. However, the current Family Cultural Museums are connected merely through an Internet network platform; the actual interactions between each museum are not as frequent as intended. On top of this, as museums are spreading over the vast area, transportation has been the key challenge. How to collaborate between the Lanyang family of museums to integrate the cultural history, natural resources and local industries of Yilan will require further careful planning. Jenju Village Community Jenju Village Community is in eastern Dongshan Township, situated on both shores of the Dongshan River. It is a community based mainly on rice paddies, with vegetables grown as well. In recent years, the community has developed more into a leisure farm known for straw arts and Bed & Breakfasts, providing visitors with opportunities for sightseeing and DIY activities such as straw painting, mask making, and straw weaving. Jenju Community has also cultivated a 150-meter long pumpkin patch. As the pumpkins ripen each year between April and May, the community hosts a Pumpkin Festival and holds celebratory pumpkin feasts so visitors can taste the country cuisine. In addition, Jenju Community also makes use of the local agriculture specialties to create ice snacks with five flavors of life, including sour, sweet, bitter, spicy and tart. When the visitors taste the flavors of the ice treats, they get a full taste of life, making the experience much more profound. This progress aside, Jenju Village Community is now facing problems with an aging population, as well as with unemployment for middle to senior aged residents. How to vitalize the community to elevate the overall quality of living has become the focus for the community.