According to the population data of Hengshan Township (橫山鄉), Hsinchu County, in 1998, there were about 16,500 people living in the township, but by the end of May 2020, the number of residents was only 12,667. In the past 20 years, the population has decreased by about 4,000 people. Most young people have moved to the big cities to study or work. In order to attract young people to return to their hometown and revitalize Hakka villages, the Hsinchu County Government and the Hakka Affairs Council provided subsidies of nearly NT$3 million to renovate the Jifeng Rice Mill (吉豐碾米廠), which has been abandoned for more than 25 years on Hengshan Old Street, and in 2020 set up the youth regional revitalization base "Hengshan Studio (橫山喜市)" here.
(All images: Hakka TV)
Hengshan Township was once an important town for the tea industry and the birthplace of Taiwan pears. During the Qing Dynasty, Hakka ancestors settled in the area and began cultivating the land. The public security and environmental conditions in the Hengshan area were not very good at that time. Not only were bandits rampant, but indigenous tribesmen and the Han Chinese people, including the Hakkas, often clashed due to land disputes. Because of this, in order to prevent attacks from bandits and the indigenous people, the Hakka houses in Hengshan Township are built in a maze of laneways. The irregular alleys and rugged turns often made outsiders lose their way, while locals familiar with them traveled freely.
In recent years, Hengshan Township, which has a special cultural landscape, hopes to use the power of community creation to rediscover the stories of Hakka villages, as well as unique local issues and cultures through the newly established workshop "Hengshan Studio." The regional revitalization base also connects all the villages of Hengshan Township, including the schools, farmers, and businesses.
Born in Hengshan Township and now one of the young people working in the Hengshan Studio, Chen Yi-si (陳宜偲) worked in Taipei for 10 years. Because she didn't want her grandma's Hakka traditional food recipes to be lost, she decided to return to her hometown to establish the brand "Noon Turnip Cake (晌午粄食)." In doing so, she has preserved the flavor of the traditional Hakka food Niu Wen Shui (牛汶水, a dessert made by pouring sweet longan soup over rice cakes and then adding peanuts). Because of her efforts, everyone can have the opportunity to eat this classic Hakka food.
Hengshan Studio hopes to build a platform to provide knowledge exchange and experience sharing, so that local youth can dig out local history and gather together Hakka villages’ resources through in-depth interviews to understand the development status and problems of the 11 villages in Hengshan Township. At the same time, the studio can also be used to provide consultation, advice, and training courses. It hopes to create an entrepreneurial environment and local brands with local characteristics, so that young people who want to return to their hometowns can find the resources and support they need here, and work together to preserve the local Hakka culture and rediscover Hengshan’s once forgotten culture and stories.