After reading research materials and interviewing the tourists and local residents, we have some doubts in mind. So, we stated our doubts while interviewing the chief of the Village, Mrs. Rui-fang Chang, on November 19, 2014. The following are interview results.
Question 1: Can you talk about the geographical location and environmental characteristics of Chiuchuang Village?
Answer： Chiuchuang Village is located on the easternmost part of Taipei. It is narrow and long. However, it is the second largest village in Nangang District, and the population also ranks the second in this district. In total, more than 3,200 households reside here. In addition, the sweet-scented osmanthus bridge is in the center of the village, which belongs to one of our characteristics. Most important, we are proud that our village is the cradle land of Pouchong tea.
Question 2: Could you tell us the features of Shanshuilu Eco-Park?
Answer： As you can see, every architecture and facility inside the park were built on the basis of ecology. That is, you can see ecological footprints everywhere here. For example, we have the special walls made of aluminum cans. This means the awareness of environmental protection resumes in this area. Do you know how to build the wall? We retrieved the old aluminum cans, compressed them, designed them, and made them not only as practical walls but also modern art. Look! Those children are riding our homemade bicycles. In fact, these bicycles were recycled. We fixed them and refined them. In addition, you can see many works of art made of recycled materials including the odor truck car washer over there. And so are recreation devices. We try to make the devices and facilities in ancient style, so that not only tourists but also we can return to the past and enjoy the atmosphere of the old days.
There are some things conserved to show the world the development of the village in environmental protection. For example, we even conserve unsorted garbage to remind people of garbage classification. Next, you can see the equipment of biogas generator although we do not really use it now; however, we still keep the equipment to show the world. Then, the tree bank is an area to put old, ruined trees temporarily. Moreover, the ecological pool collects all the water flowing from the mountains. This pool supplies the water to the park. The rainbow bridge was made of recycled wire poles. We assembled old, useless wire poles and ornamented them with colorful materials. Isn’t that beautiful? By the way, we plan to build a log-cabin café in the visitor center of Shanshuilu Eco-Park in the future.
Question 3 I know the regenerated soil is quite popular here, but what’s the source of soil and how is it made of?
Answer： Regenerated soil, also known as renewable soil, is a kind of recycled soil from Sangjuku Landfill, the old name of Shanshuilu Eco-Park. It is made up of several distinct horizontal layers, that is, a layer of soil and another layer of leftover (such as rotten leaves and peels). The mixture is made up of around five or six layers and when it is fermented and done, the soil possesses more nutrition that is a source of food for plants.
Question 4 As we know, to build a landfill, the government needs to levy the private land. What's the procession of the outcry from the populace?
Answer： When the government levied the estate from the populace on the mountain, there were not many protests from the residents who lived in the mountains. However, it was the residents who lived on the plain because levying the land deprived them of the root of tea and coal. At that time, there was more impact on tea farmers who had tea plantations. Relatively, there was less influence on miners because there were too many accidents in collieries and most of them attended another occupation, leading to the decline of the coal industry.
Question 5 It is obviously not easy to build Shanshuilu Eco-Park, so how do Chief or other related people maintain the park?
Answer： Normally, it is maintained by EPA staff, but because of the vast land and a labor shortage, we have some problem managing the park sometimes. For example, hoeing up weeds is a problem.
Question 6 What’s your opinion about the government’s building a funeral home here?
Answer： As to the topic of building the funeral home, I disagree with it. The government has invested 400 million dollars to get the mountain recovered and build up Shashuilu Eco-Park, so it will invest more funds to build a funeral home and destroy the beauty of the park. It is not worth enough trying it.
Question 7 It seems many people complain about the transportation, so what’s the solution to the inconvenient traffic on the way to the park?
Answer： People who come here usually bring their family, so it is convenient for them to drive here. Because fewer people take the public transportation and therefore the number of runs of scheduled buses is few. However, in the future we will consider increasing the number of runs of scheduled buses. Some people suggest setting up YouBike to Shanshuilu Eco-Park, but owing to dangerous mountain roads where there is still a large vehicle traffic, we still prefer the public transportation. However, the MRT has no routes here, so we can only turn to buses. In fact, we have negotiated with bus companies many times, but because of few passengers, the problem seems suspending.
Question 8 How do you overcome the problem of the food selection inside the park? How about the space allocation?
Answer： We have taken into consideration providing more food selection inside the park. We plan to build up a cafe house and invite bids for management. However, owing to the sparse number of tourists and the provisions relating to food sale, so far there is no solution. The space allocation problem indeed troubles us. Since Shanshuilu Eco-Park is wide, so a lot of space has not been utilized properly yet. We know the problem and we are dealing with it at present.
Question 9 Is there any disposal program still continuously done in the park? If yes, is there any drawback?
Answer： Yes. We are still responsible for some, but not much waste disposal because there are still places to put large waste such as spring beds and iron stands. No worries. The waste stored here is well-managed and it won’t cause any pollution. Instead, it becomes a demonstration of environmental protection and make tourists better understand our park and the issue of EP.
Question 10 What’s your further opinion or plan about Shanshuilu Eco-Park?
Answer： Shanshuilu Eco-Park has just opened for a short term, so not many people know it. Therefore, we hope to expand its popularity through the mass media, letting more people know that Sangjuku Landfill isn’t like it used to be. Sangjuku Landfill has become a beautiful ecological park and green landscape and the future development is promising. （Photos in below are taken by our team members.） |
