To promote green energy, the government has proposed establishing a photovoltaic power station in Taitung County’s Chihshang Township (池上), provoking strong opposition from residents of Chihshang and neighboring Guanshan Township (關山).
Even though a public hearing is scheduled for tomorrow, there is slim hope of a compromise.
Chihshang Mayor Lin Chien-hung (林建宏) said that the township welcomes the establishment of a tourism factory, but not a photovoltaic power station, because solar panels are a blot on the landscape, while detergent used to wash them could contaminate waterways.
The Chihshang tourism sector has undergone significant growth in the past few years. Aside from Chihshang rice, stunning natural landscapes make it a unique spot.
A TV commercial made by Mr Brown Cafe in 1997 first popularized the ethereal beauty of its vast expanses of stepped green rice paddies and a romantic bicycle route on a road later dubbed “Mr Brown Boulevard.”
However, it was EVA Air’s “I See You” international advertising campaign in 2013 that put Chihshang firmly on the tourism map.
The advertisement featured Taiwanese-Japanese actor Takeshi Kaneshiro (金城武) enjoying a pleasant bicycle ride along lush green paddies and then sitting under a red cedar tree to sip tea. The ad went viral, resulting in visitors flocking to the site’s postcard-perfect surroundings to take photographs with the tree, which has become known as the “Takeshi Kaneshiro tree.”
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre regularly attends Chihshang’s Autumn Harvest Art Festival to perform in the fields, attracting tourists from Taiwan and abroad.
With its fields of rice wafting gently in the breeze and ever-changing clouds drifting over the rolling indigo mountains, the landscape is a magnificent backdrop for the dancers, a visual feast of art and nature combined.
Due to Cloud Gate Dance Theatre’s influence, many artists and art lovers have moved to Chihshang permanently or for a short stay for inspiration. One of the most famous examples is literary icon and painter Chiang Hsun (蔣勳), who was chief adviser and the first artist in residence when Chihshang created an artists’ residency sponsored by the Lovely Taiwan Foundation.
It is hard to imagine large solar panels among idyllic rice paddies and lush nature.
A solar power station owner has leased 10.8 hectares from Taisugar’s Chihshang Sugar Factory, planning to establish four hectares of solar panels.
Residents have expressed their firm opposition — with good cause.
Chihshang has relied on its agriculture and tourism, and has only flourished into an arts town with the help of artists and young people. If people were to install glaring and glinting solar panels beside green paddies, they would ruin the landscape and undermine tourism.
Furthermore, Chihshang rice is famous for its exquisite taste because it is grown in good weather and a pristine environment with clean water, not to forget the outstanding cultivation skills of growers in the township.
If detergent were to seep into the soil and pollute the water, it would put a strain on the product.
To keep Chihshang and its rice in pristine condition, the central government should think twice about establishing a photovoltaic power station there.
Shiao Fu-song is a lecturer at National Taitung University.
Translated by Rita Wang
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