Taitung: Conscious Tourism and Slow Food in Southeastern Taiwan.
The summer I spent there gave me just enough time to explore Taitung. Taking things slow, food was at the core of my experience - and with it the stories told by the people I met along the way.
A long way from Taipei’s hustle and bustle, mountains and rift valleys meet the ocean in Taitung, standing as a barrier that sheltered the region for centuries, contributing to preserving local traditions and the imposing natural landscape.
Facing the Pacific on Taiwan’s east coast, Taitung is home to stunning natural landscapes. The county is renowned for both its scenery and the rich biodiversity: its lush mountains, fertile highlands and pristine beaches have attracted both domestic and international tourists for decades, and a bustling surfing scene combined with an improving infrastructure network has led to an increase in the number of visitors throughout the past decade, including some that decided to stick around for the long run.
Translating a legacy.
In order to make Taitung more accessible to domestic and foreign tourists alike, several programs are being implemented to highlight smaller realities in the region. The Cross-Generational Bilingual Training program, for example, is designed to spotlight producers and businesses that showcase the best Taitung has to offer, offering them the tools they need to overcome language barriers and giving visibility to hidden gems that would otherwise be hard to discover.
One of the projects that have recently been launched is a new website to make off-the-beaten-path experiences in Taitung accessible to an English-speaking public, offering a streamlined way to arrange visits and activities. The project behind the site assists local businesses by giving them the tools they need to market themselves, English language training to help them communicate effectively with foreign visitors and a newly launched platform to book visits in advance, offering a curated list of outdoor activities and cultural tours, as well as several coastline exploration options and a wide range of culinary experiences tourists can choose from.
Hello Taitung!
Johannes and Sho, owners of Chubby Rabbit in Luye, on the cover of the first issue of Hello Taitung.
Along the same lines, Hello Taitung is a magazine in English, sharing stories about people who chose to make Taitung their home, how they adapted to the region and how the locals welcomed them.
I’ve had the pleasure to meet some of these people over the summer and got the chance to ask about their journey over locally sourced meals. Amongst them were Johannes and Sho, who chose to settle in Taitung and opened Chubby Rabbit (恰比兔子), their own restaurant in Luye (鹿野). Sourcing their ingredients from producers in the area, their Italian-inspired menu offers international dishes that incorporate local ingredients that are typical of Taitung, like their silaw & magao pizza.
Silaw (席烙, also spelled siraw) is salted and preserved raw pork belly that’s a traditional preparation of the Amis tribe. On their pizza, Johannes and Sho pair the sharp pickled pork strips with the bright citrus aroma of maqaw (馬告, also spelled magao and known as 山胡椒, Mountain Pepper), with its intense lemongrass and ginger notes.
I spent a delightful afternoon around Taitung City with Sho and Johannes when we first met, discussing anything from local agriculture practices to the automotive industry before deciding the best way to escape the heat was to take shelter in the local cinema and watch Barbie. A true sign that wearing pink on a sweltering Tuesday afternoon in July is an experience that brings people together, regardless of where they come from.
A gastronomic hub on the rise.
With the number of tourists growing each year, gastronomic tourism in Taitung remains an untapped niche, but the region is the perfect place for visitors to explore the deep bond between local food and the culture and history of southeastern Taiwan.
The indigenous Austronesian culture of Taiwan’s early inhabitants was impacted by external influences that shaped every aspect of the island’s everyday life, including the foodscape. The current cultural landscape was shaped by interactions with early Hakka Chinese settlers, periods of Spanish and Dutch colonial rule and the annexation to Imperial China leading to a large influx of Han Chinese during the Qing dynasty. That was followed by a half century of Japanese occupation up until the end of WW2 and a long period marked by American aid and agricultural influence that left a clear mark on the island.
Influences throughout the centuries led to indigenous communities being forced to relocate and to large parts of their cultural texture being wiped out, including some food practices. Local communities, however, are still holding on to their culture and efforts are being made to actively preserve customs and traditions.
This cultural diversity and the interplay between the different ethnic groups is reflected in festivals, cuisine and art, showcasing the local culture’s blend of ancient traditions and external influences such as, for example, crops like coffee, brought over by Dutch settlers and introduced on a larger scale by the Japanese, and fishing methods like oceanic spearfishing, a Japanese heritage still practised in Chenggong harbour amongst other places.
The local Slow Food network has been carrying out extensive mapping of local producers and food businesses for years now, publishing a series of guides to restaurants and a comprehensive overview of must-visit spots in Taitung. On top of listing the best spots to try hyper-local food, the guides focus on the people stories that drive the food scene in Taitung and their life stories, outlining itineraries to experience local flavours and dive into the region and its culture through the locals’ foodways.
Food education as a focus.
Food education is at the core of Slow Food Taitung’s activities, ranging from courses for adults and workshops for kids and families.
Twice a year, Slow Food Taitung organises an open-air market in which local farmers and restaurateurs have the chance to come together to network and push themselves to create dishes that hold up to “good, clean and fair” standards while showcasing their ties to the territory. The event serves as an effective way to give visitors a broader view of the regional cuisine in a single session, but also as a way for producers and restauranteurs to network and exchange ideas and inspiration.
The 2023 “Feast of the Future” Taitung Slow Food Festival in Taipei focused on sustainability in connection to traditional food practices.
Once a year, Slow Food Taitung also heads up to Taipei for a large event in the capital. The 2023 edition was held in December in Huashan 1914 Creative Park, central Taipei, with chefs showcasing their vision of foodways for the future, adapting traditions and local ingredients to a changing world, keeping up with the times without losing sight of ancestral food practices.
From breakfast traditions to fermentation, seafood and waterways and their importance for the local environment, every edition focuses on a different topic to give visitors plenty of food for thought and the chance to sample new dishes created by the vendors for the occasion. A list of the themes for previous editions of the festival is available on the Slow Food Taitung website at the link here.
On April 20th and 21st, 2024, Taitung Slow Food Festival is setting up camp at Beinan Archeological Site, close to Taitung Station, offering experiences for adults and kids alike, to make sure young generations understand the importance of good, clean and fair food from a very early age. Nutrition, ecology and culture will be at the core of the experience, with tastings and workshops centred around the link between sensory education and the creation of lasting memories related to food, a key to appreciating each ingredient, understanding where they come from and showcasing local excellences.
Taitung Slow Food Festival 2024 Spring Festival 《Eating Table 》
20-21/04/2024, 10:00-17:00
Beinan Heritage Park, Taitung City (No. 200 Culture Park Rd., Taitung City, Taitung County)
Discover more about Slow Food Taitung and keep track of their upcoming events:
Exploring Taitung has never been easier. Discover the rich traditions of the region, its history and the gastronomic events to showcase local products. Build your itinerary and choose to travel slow to appreciate all that Taitung has to offer.