Changhua City Hall Xiaoxi Cultural Association Bagua Salon

Changhua City Hall

 

After doing research on the tourism resources available in Xiaoxi, interviewing the shop owners, and conducting a survey on tourists, we came up with a few questions to ask with regard to the management and utilization of the tourism resources of Xiaoxi. To allow the mayor to better understand our project and our goal, we made a project proposal in advance, in which we explained in length our project and the issues we would like to inquire into. As our director of personnel was just transferred to our school from the City Hall, we requested him to ask the mayor whether it would be possible to arrange for us a meeting with him, and to present to the mayor our project proposal.

Question 1: Is it possible to have a unified but unique local design for the signposts on Xiaoxi Street, like those of the Old Street of Tamsui and Sanxia?

As of now there is a bronze-made signpost beside Ding Guan Buddhist Temple; it has a classical beauty to it and fits well with Xiaoxi, but it is kind of rusty, so we could include its renovation into the list of future renewal projects.

Question 2: Does the City Hall hold regular events to attract tourists and promote Xiaoxi?

Yes. The City Hall has in the past year held three major events in relation to Xiaoxi: (1) the Changhua Cuisine Expo, where with 199 dollars NT one can have a taste of 12 different local cuisines, allowing one to know about these traditional foods; (2) the promotion via train, where two hours of free time are given to tourists to walk around Xiaoxi, try out the foods, and get to know the neighborhood; (3) to have actors eat out around Xiaoxi during their filming processes.

Question 3: The Railway Hospital has already been registered as a county-level relic. Are there plans in the future for events that would involve the Railway Hospital?

The Railway Hospital is now recognized by Changhua County government as a county-level relic. It was once Gaobinge Tavern, a place where literary figures, intellectuals, and other persons of influence would gather to talk about business and the like. If it is possible to reform and transform Gaobinge Tavern, it would probably make a good marketplace. But, as the administration of the Railway Hospital is not under the jurisdiction of the City Office, the mayor will propose to the Railway Administration and the county government that plans of reform be implemented, since it would be a waste not to preserve the historical and cultural heritage represented by Gaobinge Tavern.

Questions 4: Are there other plans of restoration for Xiaoxi?

After I took office significant changes were made to Xiaoxi Street. For example, Changan Street, Chenleng Road, and Heping Road were all once one-way lanes, but after they were changed to two-way lanes, the flow of tourists and customers grew by 50 percent. Also, we utilized the City Office internet and the local periodical Changhua Culture to enable more people to learn about Xiaoxi Street through the web. Further, we attracted more tourists with local cuisines, such as A-chang Taiwanese Meatballs. There are in fact two Taiwanese meatball shops that go by the name of A-chang: the one more towards central Xiaoxi is the older and whose flavor is the better out of the two, and hence has had media coverage on food programs. The one further away from central Xiaoxi, however, actually has better business; the owner here is quite clever, using Giddens’ promotion signboard to attract potential customers’ attention. Changhua Taiwanese Meatballs, across from A-chang, have the owner’s two daughters (both of whom had studied in the States) run the shop, and are known as the “meatball sisters.” They even made it once into the newspaper.

Question 5: Is it possible to establish something like a visitor center on Xiaoxi Street, so that tourists can learn about the history and culture of Xiaoxi?

For the time being the visitor center is set inside the train station. In the future a visitor center will be set in the Railway Hospital. The visitor center is set now in the train station because Xiaoxi Street is just outside of the train station.

Question 6: Can Xiaoxi Street be made cleaner by instituting policies such as regularly cleaning the streets and clearing away the garbage?

Currently there are cleaning teams in charge of regularly keeping Xiaoxi clean, but with the rise of the number of tourists the amount garbage produced also grew proportionately. The City Hall will continue to increase the number of public litter bins. We will continue our effort to keep the streets clean.

Question 7: Can you make red brick or stone brick pavements so that the streets of Xiaoxi can gain more distinctive character?

Pavement for the old Xiaoxi Street, as well as that for the road section between Changan Street and Chenleng Road, has been completed. However, more road signs are still needed, and since there’s probably no one that’ll simply stare at the ground while walking, and there’s probably more people concerned with what’s going on ahead of them, the pavement will end at that, and in the future more road signs, instruction signs, and guiding utilities will be implemented.