Mountain villages are slow to adapt to the fallout of their newfound consumerism.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/03/27
By Hsu Le (徐樂), TNL Staff

從山上回頭看嘉蘭部落。Photo Credit: 徐樂

I think for most people like me, the first time we come in contact with nature, our impressions are sweeping vistas and deep seas; a sense of wonder that pervades the senses. When I studied abroad, I was always impressed by the pure, unspoilt nature of national parks. When I returned home to Taiwan, I snorkeled in Lanyu Island through crystal-clear seas and a whole textbook worth of fish.

Maybe this raised my expectations too much; I developed a constant urge to go further into the wilderness, which is how I ended up in a mountain village in Taiwan’s eastern Taitung County during the course of my mandatory military service.

Before arriving in the small village of Jialian (嘉蘭), I had more experience in the mountains of the United States than in Taiwan itself; it would be a new experience in these cold stone houses.    [FULL  STORY]