Tell a Story

Hu Tou Piis one of the twelve most scenic spots in Taiwan, and is the first water reservoir recorded in Taiwan. Because its landscape is shaped like a tiger's head, it is called Hu Tou Pi. (Hu Tou means tiger's head.)

Origins...

Its first historical record is in the Qing Dynasty. Dao-kuang Year 26, Tavokan Street (today's Sin-hua Village), farmer Ouyang An dug a pond at the foot of the hill to store water to irrigate his farm; at this time, it was only about 2km around. In Tong-chih Year 2, Taiwan Governor Mau-chi Chou gave money to expand it, and strengthen the dam, allowing the water surface to grow to 26 chia, allowing the nearby 230 chia of non-irrigated field to improve to single-cropped field s V this is the birth of Taiwan's first reservoir.

In Meiji Year 39 (1906), two strong earthquakes in Chia-yi broke the dams. The Japanese reconstructed the dams, and the water surface increased to 27 hectares, about the size of twenty baseball fields, and became a tourist attraction at that time. Sin-hua farms were originally irrigated with water from Hu Tou Pi, but because of later development of mountain slope land, there was erosion and Hu Tou Pigradually became filled. In 1930, Jianan dajyun was completed and Hu Tou Pi's irrigation function began to be replaced. After Retrocession, Tainan County Archives Commission chose the Hu Pei Fan Yue as one of the eight great scenic spots in Hsin Nan Ying. In 1981, the Taiwan Provincial Government regulated it in the Hu Tou PiScenic Area, developed by the county government and village office, as a public enterprise.

Construction...

In the beginning, the way to construct a dam was to use water buffalos walking in an oval to press down the layers. On the contact surfaces, materials such as sticky rice, brown sugar, and lime, and on the left side of the dam is a spillway. Even though it has been damaged by earthquake, after reconstruction it has been maintained well V now it is 160 years old!

New Development...

Under the guidance of the County Government, Hu Tou Pihas had the Water and Green Carnival since 2004 and it has been held twice already. Hundreds of thousands of tourists come each year V this is an example of success of bringing in corporate management. With these activities, Hu Tou Pialso has the Second Spring Marketing Plan, which involves the County Government, Village Office and vendors at the entrance of Hu Tou Pi. The plaza at the entrance has been improved in 2004 after discussions between professionals and nearby residents V the brand new Hu Tou Piwill certainly put a sparkle in your eye!