2012 網界博覽會彰化縣南興國小 Nan Hsing Elementary School


I.Introduction: I make this pyramid-shaped fortune ornament in my leisure time. Your dreams will come true as long as you make a wish upon it with all your heart. If it doesn’t, it’s definitely not because I’m wrong, but because of the lack of sincerity. Take it as a gift. Wish everyone realize their dreams in the brand new year.

II.About Mr. Su This place had been part of my life. I would be in this Changhua workshop every now and then when I was free or off duty although I no longer live here. I’ve been teaching in the elementary school for sixteen years. I was once a high school teacher before that. Ever since I started teaching in elementary school, I’ve thrown myself into the rubbish business. I’ve always kept hoping that I could turn the stones into gold, that is, turn the waste into things of value. I was dedicated to putting the idea of resource recycling into practice. Since the 86th year of the Republic Era, I’ve tried to carry out the concept of lifestyle rebuilding that aims at creating a wonderful, glowing life. It was a twelve-year plan by me. I would never feel boring doing this. If there were no customers, I would just come here to tidy up. There were up to forty inventions till now. The fortune ornaments I gave, for instance, are able to be on mass production and then be given to those tourists or residents in the community.

III.How to enrich your life? Make good use of time and have different experiences of lifestyle. Or you can be the volunteers that help people out. That makes you a candle which shed light on others.

IV.The history of railway hospital The railway hospital was built by Bin Wang since the Japanese-Occupied Period. It was bustling and flourishing here. He then built Gao Bin Ge tavern. The tavern was not like where now prostitutes work. Rather, it was where the geisha performs for the high officials and noble lords. Since the 38th year of the Republic Era, the tavern had remained prosperous for a long time. Mr. Su was born in the 48th year of the Republic Era behind the tavern. As a result, he had seen the life of luxury and dissipation when there were eight taverns opened on Xiao-xi Street at the same time. The movie theaters were also prosperous then. Till the 50’s, the tavern business turned slow due to the change of social structure. The Gao Bin Ge tavern was, therefore, sold to the Taiwan Railways Administration as the so-called railway hospital. It was a hospital for the injured or sick passengers and employees. I once witnessed the dead passenger sending to there when I was little. The yuan-zi store now used to be the mortuary at that time. As time went by, the function of the hospital was gradually replaced by other hospitals like Show-Chwan Memorial Hospital and Changhua Christian Hospital and was withdrawn. The hospital left became a remains after various business fail to bring the prosperous days back since the business market in Changhua was slack already. Changhua used to be the origin of handicraft industry and light industry. However, the light industry had encountered the ongoing offshore migration since the Ten Major Construction Project proposed by the Premier Chiang Ching-kuo. This migration then led to the decline of the local business. Xiao-xi Street didn’t regain the attention until recent years. The railway hospital had been a remains for decades. Local personalities held different perspectives on the issue. Some, like the officials, legislators, boroughs, the gentry, said that the hospital should be changed into a parking lot. Others, like Laiho Culture Foundation & Museum, Changhua County Cultural Affairs Bureau, Pasoa Cultural Foundation and Railway Cultural Society, said that it should be kept as historical site because of its cultural value. Through their efforts, the railway hospital were determined to be the County- designated heritage which is the equivalent term to Second Grade Historical Site. It would be redesign by the experts and scholars and was planned to be rebuild in 2012. We are aware of the necessity of proper usage, management and repair after the system are ready. That’s why we cultural organization have decided to found a forum aims to bring the culture to life. Through cooperation and brainstorm, we discuss and put our ideas together in order to present to the government as reference. Because of the preservation issue, the famous movie ‘You Are The Apple Of My Eye’ and the rebuild project of the community, Xiao-xi community caught the eye of the tourists and thus boosted the local development.

V.The origin of the Xiao-xi Story Café I started the café business since the 93th year of the Republic Era. The mayor at that time proposed the distinguishing feature project of Changhua to Changhua County Cultural Affairs Bureau. The three former period of the project were surface reconstruction. Before that, I’ve already started the Xiao-xi story café and the Zhang-yin factory by using the spare space which was right next to the San-Ho hotel. In addition, BaGua parlor was now Yong-Xin Street. Nevertheless, local people found it inconvenient after the government finished the project. In my opinion, I think that the government should involve the people and raise the public awareness of the project before they work on the project. On the other hand, the lack of proper usage, management and the repair system are going to ruin the project which is a real pity. I think that it doesn’t have to cost a lot to reconstruct the place. Actually, it takes strong intention and creative ideas. If you feel easy in this space, people will feel it, too. This concept happens to be the best embodiment of resource reconstruction and the original idea of my Xiao-xi story café. I hope that it could be a place for tourists or local people to just tell stories and enjoy.

VI.Are there any historical sites here in the neighborhood? There are thirteen old shrines in Changhua. It’s an old city with four gates named Le-Gen gate(Eastern gate), Xuan-Ping gate(Southern gate), Qing-Feng gate(Western gate) and Gong-Chen gate(Northern gate). Each gate crossed with an Earth God Temple. The one in Eastern gate is now face the Yuan-Qing Temple on the intersection of Min-sheng Rd. and Chen-Ling Rd; the one in the Southern gate is on the intersection of Ming-Zu Rd. and Hua-Shan Rd; the one in the Western gate is on the intersection of Yong-Xin Street and Zhong-Hua Rd. It’s said that you would be rich if you go worship the Earth God in the Southern gate. Therefore, there are lots of bank managers and employees go there to pray for their business; the one in the Northern gate are now behind the Formosa Watch on the He-Ping Rd. Besides these four Earth God Temples, there are plenty of temples here for everyone. On the opposite side of Pasoa parlour is the Yong-An market built by bamboos in the early times. People called it bamboo market. It was destroyed in a fire during the 60’s. Before the accident, there were Chen’s temple and Yong-An Matsu Temple in it. Because of the ominous atmosphere there, there would be five Matsu visit from other places on every August 15th of Lunar Calendar until November. It had been a tradition for three decades. Matsu from Yong-An Temple appeared in the its believers’ dream in the hope of reconstructing Matsu Temple. If the temple could be rebuilt, plus the railway hospital in the neighborhood, they would surely bring considerable business opportunities.

VII.Which Taiwanese Meatball store in Changhua is the classic one? The one on the opposite side of A-Zhang Meatball would be the classic one. The shop owner still maintained the traditional way to make the meatball. It’s said that the Giddens used to eat in this shop. However, he chose the other shop named A-Zhang meatball as the scene in the movie due to the original shop had been rebuilt. We do hope that every meatball shop in the neighborhood bloom in business, though. After all, every shop has its own feature when the customers’ flavors vary. That is, the guide just lead the tourists here. It’s the shop owners’ responsibility to take good control of the quality.

VIII.We found that Xiao-Xi Street is narrow when there are plenty of cars. Some found it too narrow to pass. This problem bothers many tourists. What’s your opinion?
Recently, Changhua City Office allowed the one-way traffic streets including Chen-Ling Rd., Cheng-Gong Rd and Chang-An Rd to be the two-way traffic streets. In fact, I think that it would cause the traffic jam instead. Although there are parking lots, the parking space is limited when there are too many vehicles. In my opinion, first we should set up a parking lot outside the old city district to allow tourists to walk or ride a bike within. For those inside the old city, we should allow the two-way traffic street in a limited, orderly time. For instance, when there are fewer tourists, the vehicles are allowed to go in and out with the direction of electronic roadblock. That way, the government could really raise the local peoples’ convenience of living. Also, the map should note especially about this. Set not only the signs on the streets in the old city district but also the tour guide which offer better touring quality for the tourists. The crowds and the vehicles are the key to the traffic jam. The parking lot in Wan-Fang Movie Theater were improved. However, the vehicles on the Yong-Xing Street are getting more and more, causing serious traffic jam. There’s another solution that we could build an underground parking lot in the old city district to keep the original look of it. We could make use of propaganda strategy to rebuild the old building in this district but keep it like the way it used to look. I’m not the mayor, though. I don’t have the right to carry it on. The only thing I can do is to give suggestions. So I spread my ideas and faith in the Bagua parlour to get everybody together and work on it.
“Thanks for the detailed comments from Mr. Su”