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Mayor’s Policy Address (4th Session, 19th Meeting) – Culture and Tourism Bureau, Miaoli County

 Among the plans to make Miaoli a healthy city that is pleasant to live in and perfect for traveling, cultural tourism plays a crucial role. Below are the results of the Bureau’s cultural tourism implementations over the past six months:

 

 Promoting the art of woodworking - the “Taiwan International Installation Art Exhibition of Wood Sculpture” was held. 6 artists were invited to demonstrate their extraordinary wood carving skills on site, and a total of 65 works were exhibited. The “Taiwan International Wood Carving Competition” was held, which saw participants from 6 countries, including Taiwan and France, with a total of 129 pieces fighting it out for first prize. In the end, 61 works were selected for the exhibition. The “2020 Sanyi International Wood Carving Art Festival” was held which also promoted the idea of “downshifting” and provided artists and local community residents with a stage and exhibition space, as well as activities such as the Tea Culture Experience, Linking the Corners of Slow City Living, and the Woodcraft Downshifting Bazaar. The Bureau has put together a total of 104 sessions for wood carving masters to showcase their remarkable skills, and 6 sessions of the Mobile Museum “Sanyi - The Beauty of Woodcarving” tour - which saw a total of 58,000 participants.

 

 Promoting performing arts activities - Despite the impact of the pandemic and by following the relevant measures to prevent the spread of the virus, the cultural venues managed to organize various activities - a total of 28 visual arts exhibitions and 32 performing arts activities were held at venues managed by the Culture and Tourism Bureau, Miaobei Art Center, as well as at venues in various townships, towns, and cities. In total 33,129 people were welcomed.

 

 Promoting local characteristics and culture - Activities including the “2020 Hakka Roundhouse Play - Holiday Arts Performance”, “Tea Picking Play Promotion” and “Concert for Hakka Singers of Miaoli County” were performed to help keep the language and culture alive. The Bureau also provided assistance to 6 public offices with subsidy grants from the Hakka Affairs Council to help organize folk festivals and arts activities, as well as value-added industry innovation programs. The “2019 Implementation Program for Promoting Hakka as a Common Language” was awarded the country’s best program by the Hakka Affairs Council which saw a prize of NT$5 million. In the future, the Bureau will continue to do its utmost to promote the development of a Hakka-friendly environment, Hakka language certification, and its usage rate as a means to deepen Hakka culture.

 

 Promoting culture and creative industries - in 2020, subsidies for 4 public offices, 15 community development associations, 7 youth groups for social welfare work, and community development industries were granted by the Bureau. The Miaoli 2020 Selection Program for Excellent Cultural and Creative Products was held to find the county’s most creative products while providing guidance and marketing to the creators. A window display of Miaoli’s cultural and creative handcrafted products was shown at the Arrival Hall (1st floor) of Terminal 2 at Taoyuan International Airport. The Bureau has kicked-off the Taiwan Cultural Memory Bank program, collecting and gathering cultural data to be optimized and digitized. A total of 3,300 interpreted pieces of data are expected to be processed. The “Miaoli Hakka Culinary Experience Promotion Program” was organized, which saw 15 restaurants participate, an in-depth guided culinary experience was proposed which will be available in the market in collaboration with local travel agencies. In line with the Executive Yuan’s “Locomotive Park Construction Program”, firefighting equipment and relevant exhibits at the Railway Pavilion were upgraded.

 

 Preserving cultural assets - the county’s “Yuanli Old Watergate” was declared a historical site, and Warehouse 5, Miaoli Railway Station”, “Dorm 13, Chuhuangkeng”, “Dahu Workstation, Zhuolan Office of the Forestry Bureau”, and “Wu’s House in Dahu” were registered as historical buildings in the county. The Bureau has also continued with its 3 restoration projects, including the “Restoration of 5 Buildings at Chuhuangkeng”, and 2 historical building restoration projects and design planning, including the “Restoration Program for the former Taiwan Food Bureau, Miaoli Warehouse”. A total of 14 sub-programs are currently being carried out for the “Development Program for Revitalization of the Oil Well”, and the Bureau is proactively drawing up grant plans to propose to the Central Government. The 59th issue of the Miaoli Archives was published and a book launch organized. The 60th Miaoli Archives “Compilation of Taukat and Pazéh Cultures” and “Research of Panawagi Traditional Songs and Music and their Preservation Program” were published.

 

 Tourism promotion - the cat-mascoted “Tour Miaoli” Facebook fan group surpasses 120,000 followers. Nanzhuang Line Shuttle Buses, which carry local and foreign travelers to and from the county’s scenic spots, attracted more than 18,990 passengers since the service started on January 1, 2020. At present, there are 56 “information stations” across the county serving more than 500,000 people. The Bureau will continue to apply for more grants from the Central Government for additional stations. With the Central Government’s “Small Town 2.0” aiming to promote travel to small towns, Touwu Township has had the distinction of being selected this year. The “International Slow Fish Coastal Program” was facilitated using the “local creation and industrial upgrading” as its main focus to link 4 coastal towns for industrial and tourism promotion in the hope of driving the development of coastal tourism. In conjunction with the Tourism Bureau’s “Year of Mountain Tourism”, 5 county trails, including the “Huoyanshan Nanan Ancient Trail”, were selected among the top 5 in Taiwan’s Top 100 Trails. The Bureau is also planning to promote co-operation between the surrounding scenic spots and a variety of local enterprises to launch trail packages and travel information to boost tourism opportunities. Alongside the “Central Taiwan Regional Governance Platform”, Nantou county and Hsinchu county have jointly launched the “Central Taiwan FunPass”. 10 types of “Miaoli Limited Edition” e-passes were also introduced which can be purchased on platforms such as Central Taiwan FunPass, KLook, and KKDAY”.

 

 Lastly, the development of cultural tourism facilities - the Bureau has attained a grant of NT$17 million for the “Experience Sightseeing - Regional Tourism and Environment Creation Program” from the “Tourism Bureau, Ministry of Transportation and Communications”. The related projects of the program were tendered in August 2020. The second phase (funding of NT$99.5 million) of the “Hakka Literary Garden Program” is currently in process and is expected to be completed in November 2020. For the third phase (funding of NT$100.89 million), the Bureau has applied to the Hakka Affairs Council for a subsidy. The third phase of the program will focus on the “Wilderness Garden” concept, designing a garden that is representative of Miaoli and leading visitors to learn more about Hakka literature. Investments within the base of the program will be publicly announced in accordance with the provisions stipulated in the Act for Promotion of Private Participation in Infrastructure Projects. Investments will be focused on the construction of hotels and campsites so investments are flexible. Large hotel groups will be invited to take part in the investment to diversify the base. The Old Mountain Line Rail Bike project has attracted over 400,000 visitors annually since July 1, 2019, becoming a new highlight and reaching a new milestone for Miaoli county’s international tourism.

(Data from April 1, 2020 to September 30, 2020)

Updated:2020-11-03 PM 06:03:01
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