Blooming Sea of
ON a fine crisp and clear late autumn day not long ago, Travel in Taiwan spent a day visiting the rural Xinshe District in Taichung City – specifically, the Sea of Flowers in the Xinshe Festival.
The festival was held in Xinshe for the first time and we were fortunate to have officials escort us to view the sprawling grounds.
The rural Xinshe District in Taichung is located on a wide plain between foothills and rising mountains along the Dajia River, east of Taichung. The district is known for its farms, which grows mushrooms, citrus fruits, grapes, carambolas, pears, loquats, sugar apples, pineapples, persimmons, bonsai and flowers.
According to Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station (Council of Agriculture) deputy director Liu Man-Wai, Xinshe is called “Taichung’s back garden”. A decade ago, tourism was a minor moneymaker here. However, since the great 1999 earthquake which was centred in central Taiwan, government authorities have expended significant resources to stimulate the local economy, with tourism as a primary focus. Today, the area has become one of the more popular destinations in the greater Taichung region, holding special lure for day-trips. The main attractions are the local farms, the farmand-mountain scenery, open-air cafés and the many quaint rustic cottages and chalet-style accommodation.
The festival was held on the grounds of the Taiwan Seed Improvement and Propagation Station, established under a different name during Taiwan’s 1895-1945 period of Japanese occupation. Liu told us that the first Sea of Flowers, held in 2005, was an effort to create greater “brand visibility for Xinshe produce and boost the leisure-agriculture industry. Large swaths of colourful flowers were planted over 30ha of showcase fields – including sunflowers, lavender, cosmos, spider flowers, sage and begonias – and a series of related events were staged.
“Each year, we grow in size and sophistication and in recent years, we have attracted more than 1.8 million visitors. Our goal is two million.”
The festival is always held in late autumn. This, said Liu, is because Taichung weather is “close to perfect” for both plants and visitors then – not too hot, and minimal rain. There are many new-theme exhibitions each year, with the 2013 festival which ran from Nov 9 to Dec 8 boasting Happy Farming Exhibition, Cinderella Exhibition, Amu Forest Exhibition,