Reborn from Trash
Yurts Rebuilt by the Community

Interview Summary

Q: Would you please tell us what was the landscape like around Guotianzi Area 30 years ago? Was there Yicheng Tong Temple a long time ago? How long have the surrounding department stores been here?

1. There were mostly old cottages and only a few two- or three- story houses around the school. Among the houses, there were some Japanese-style dormitories. Surrounding the houses, there were mostly ponds, vegetable gardens and fields, etc.

2. In 1907, the site of today’s Yicheng Tong Temple was a vegetable garden. The farmer of the garden was called Uncle Yi. He built a cottage next to the garden to worship some gods. The place enjoyed great prosperity. Then, the land owner, Mr. Chungho Chen donated the land and money to build a temple in 1966. The temple was officially re-named Yicheng Tong in 2003.

3. In 1973, FE21’ MegA Department Store (originally named A.MART Shopping Center) opened on Sanduo Street. It was the first department store in this area. It was rebuilt in 1991. Then, Shinkong Mitsukoshi Department Store was built in 1993. Pacific SOGO Department Store joined them there in 1996. Connecting the nearby hotels and cinemas, the department store district was gradually formed.

Q: How did the residents in the area make their living?

Guotianzi includes the areas from the east border, Fusing Road, to the west, # 13 Pier, and from the north border, Chingnian Road, to the south border, Sanduo Road. The majority of the residents here were laborers. The second large populations were farmers and fishermen. A few of them were vendors.

Q: Where did the residents buy the necessities?

In the past, there were no convenience stores. The residents went to grocery stores, traditional markets, and night markets to buy necessities. Around the school, in addition to Lingya Market, there were some small markets on Hsingchung Road and Rende Street selling the necessities. Meanwhile, there was the hectic Guanghua Night Market nearby.

Q: What impressed you the most during the long years when you taught in our school?

There were two things that impressed me the most. One was the establishment of the activity center. That site originally was an idle swimming pool. It was very difficult to manage since the place accumulated water whenever it rained, and it was surrounded by weeds. During Principal Yunshin Lee’s term, the pool was demolished to build the activity center. Thus the school greatly changed. The other was tearing down the old East, West, and North Building to reconstruct today’s North Building. Classrooms there are newly equipped and are spacious for activities. During Principal Yushing Huang’s term, the school has been modernized and brought into the era of high technology.

Q: Would you please tell us how students went to school in the past? What did they do after school?

Students lined up as a team to walk to school and back home. There was a team in each neighborhood, but there were two teams in the bigger neighborhoods. Each team had one captain and two vice captains. When the team was moving, the captain led the team at the front of the line, and the two vice captains were at the end of line.

After school, students had to finish their homework first. Then, they could go out to play. At that time, they played dodgeball, shuttlecock, rope skipping, baseball, cards, puppets, etc. Some of them had to take care of their younger siblings. Some of them learned skills (writing, drawing, mental calculation, playing piano, etc.).

Q: Would you please tell us how the landscape around Guotianzi Area changed? Has the environment changed for the better or worse?

The landscape of the city was old and under development in the past. Now there are many magnificent high-rise buildings and shopping areas. Urban green is well done today. The city has been beautified and the landscape has changed for the better. In sum, the city is in progress.

Reflections

Bowei

This afternoon, we learned about the life, culture, and customs of Guotianzi Area of 30 years ago. At that time, the highest buildings were three stories high. Nowadays, there are many 20- to 30-story skyscrapers. They are 10 times higher than the previous houses. “#11 bus (on foot)” is the oldest transport; students in the past had to line up as the “Great Wall” to walk to school. By contrast, today’s students go to school by scooters or by car. Working in a grocery store was the dream career, whereas people earn more than 100,000 NTD per year nowadays. In addition, there is no chance for a person to have an empty stomach in Kaohsiung nowadays, because there are hundreds of stalls in the night market. their salary.

However, it is unfortunate that although now we own advanced technologies in our life, our living environment has been worsened. I think that trying to balance the both sides is the best.

Jinhan

After today’s interview, I found that Guotianzi Area has changed a lot. Even the buildings, and the names of many places are very different from those in the old days.

It appeared to me that the most special was the way students went to school before. The biggest difference was the transportation. Students in the past walked. Now cars are very popular, and needless to say scooters are everywhere.

I also learned that most department stores and congested places are located in Lingya District of Kaohsiung.

Tingjun

The interview this afternoon let us learn together the true face of Guotianzi Area of 30 years ago. Then, it was the most populous region in Kaohsiung. There were many markets and fields, and its past was full of cultural customs.

Every house was an antique cottage. They appeared soundly perfect, but do we know the secret behind the scenes? In fact, Taiwan was restored from Japanese occupation 60 years ago. Most people’s income came from farming.

No matter whether in the past or now, residents in Guotianzi Area are full of happiness, because they do not need to worry about eating late at night. There are nearly 80 vendors at night. They would not be hungry at all.

Although the modern life is very convenient, people have less opportunity to get together. It is a pity that fresh air has disappeared because of the increasing numbers of cars. It can be seen that the sky is less white and blue, but more gray. I really hope that it can be improved in the future.

Yishiang

This is my first time interviewing people. I was very impressed by the interview with Teacher Tsai. Each of us prepared a question for him. He told us about the past environment around the school in great detail. Thus, the pictures of cows and ridges are in my mind all the time. The interview gave me a better understanding of the area. It also let me know the history of the school. I really learned a lot.

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