From ancient times, Taiwan has been known as "Formosa" the beautiful island. Blessed with gorgeous natural scenery and a wealth of agricultural resources, she also possesses a rich diversity of local culture and traditional crafts. With the 21st Century’s emphasis on environmental protection and coexistence with nature, these resources find opportunity for full realization.
Many years ago, to achieve sustainable agricultural development, a group of farmers created a model for leisure farming management that combined farming culture, production and ecology.
To ensure that farmers and marketers benefited from this model, the Taiwan Leisure Farming Development Association was established in 1998. With the preservation of farming culture, integration of agricultural resources, leisure tourism marketing and eco-education as its goals, the Association acts as a bridge between producers, marketers, government officials, academics and tourists.
Following years of collective management by the Government and Association and farm owners, the local tourism and leisure farming industries were successfully combined. This not only provided an ideal environment for eco-education and promoted the organic food and health food industries, but also enabled Taiwan's unique culture to flourish once again in farming villages, and continue for future generations.
Through collective effort, Taiwan's Leisure farms have received more than 10 million visitors.
More than NT$100 billion in business opportunities and 20,000 new jobs are created every year.
Now, we'd like to take everyone on a tour of Taiwan's leisure farming industry!
- Roam - Experience the Leisure
Just take a walk in a countryside village and you'll see verdant rice paddies and simple farm dwellings that bring back childhood memories. Taiwan's natural beauty abounds in her Leisure farms. Having painstakingly created an accessible environment, farm operators await your arrival, eager to satisfy your desire to experience the simple pleasures of farming life.
As the seasons change, village scenery, culture and ecology show their different faces. Leisure farms that feature farm life and natural environment are ideal venues for outdoor activities.
Or maybe your requirements are simpler. Perhaps you just want to get away from work and have a relaxing change of scenery… enjoy a cup of coffee outdoors… make a pot of tea amid beautiful surroundings… or sip a glass of the owner's personal brew. You could also throw a piece of pottery or make some handicrafts and rediscover your long forgotten creativity.
At Leisure farms, you can also enjoy all the plants and flowers. Listening to the owner's explanations, you'll not only better understand the local plant ecology, but also get a feel for the concepts underlying the design of the gardens. Farm owners also have some thoughts they'd like to share!
The feeling of being surrounded by lushly verdant mountains and fields will fill you with a sense of happiness and appreciation.
- LOHAS - Experience the Fun
A thought needs to be followed by action. Why not use that holiday time to visit the kind of place best suited to your needs - a leisure farm!
There are more than 200 Leisure farms spread throughout Taiwan, providing farming, forestry, fishery and ranching experiences. You can follow the farm's resident expert into the fields to see various plants and insects. Through observation in the wild, children will get a better understanding of how plants and animals live. After looking at some animals, you can go to the outdoor earthen kilns and bake some yams… Or go to the orchards and pick some fruit. Or even pluck some leaves and make original designs on your t-shirt.
Through fun activities like these, you'll surely revisit the sweet memories of summer vacations spent back home in the countryside.
Next you can grab a shovel and go into a vegetable patch to plant some veggies… or barefoot into a rice paddy to lay some rice seedlings. Or experience the large millstone used to grind rice into flour... You can also watch the fire at the large hearth, over which delicious-smelling dishes are being prepared. You’ll savor the special flavor.
At night, you can even take your kids out for some nocturnal observation.You can watch all kinds of local insects go about their nightly activities. Then, everyone can make their own sky lanterns, writing their heartfelt wishes on the sides. As the lanterns ascend into the firmament, people's hearts are likewise uplifted.
At Leisure farms that feature forestry experiences, there are experimental forests, makino bamboo forests, native plant Leisure farms, etc. Well-planned walking paths wind through mountain forests and fields, so that as you explore the sunny- and rainy - day faces of the forest, you can also get in some exercise! Those that are more ambitious and wish to get even closer to nature can take the "River Tracing" and "Discover Nature" tours offered by the Leisure farms. These offer more in - depth leisure tourism experiences.
Taiwan is surrounded by ocean. Together with experienced fishermen, try your hand at catching some lively, slippery fish - an experience that many tourists have probably never had! In recent years, outdoor education has attracted increasing numbers of children, who listen attentively to the guides' vivid explanations.
As for Leisure farms that provide ranching experiences, just the idea of playing cowboy on a vast expanse of land is enough to get many people excited.
Sauntering about verdant grassy plains, feeding adorable cows and sheep, helping milk the cows, making friends with all the cute little animals, admiring the plants and flowers near the lodge… and wouldn't it be great to make some of your own dairy products! Actually, just watching the cows and sheep grazing on the grassy plains becomes a wonderfully relaxing experience.
- Slow Food - Experience the Taste
The concept of local production and marketing includes the ideas of LOHAS and "slow food". It mainly involves using locally derived ingredients in food preparation, and not processed foods or foods transported from elsewhere. The food culture inherited from our ancestors has gradually been replaced by modern trends. Fortunately, through the promotion of Leisure farms, this ancient wisdom is being preserved for future generations.
When you visit a leisure farm, you absolutely don’t want to miss out on the enjoyment of picking organic fruits and vegetables. Visitors not only physically feel the warmth of the earth and joy of the harvest, but also get to eat the things they have picked and experience the fresh taste of nature's bounty.
Leaving the city behind and heading for Leisure farms or inns located in the mountains, you'll discover delicious cuisine made from fresh, locally derived ingredients. Whether it's Chinese or Western - style preparation, visitors are treated to high - class culinary creations. With "Monascus cooking" for example, newly picked flowers from the farm, and fresh, fat fish from the fish farm are made into delectable dishes by the host. It's truly a wonderful experience.
Using self - grown or hand - picked vegetables, naturally raised livestock, and freshly - caught fish, the Leisure farms' "home recipes", "specialty snacks", "ethnic cooking", "aboriginal dishes" and "European cuisine" offer visitors a variety of culinary choices. Some Leisure farms go one step further. Apart from putting visitors minds at ease by serving healthy organic meals, they allow visitors to experience the process of soil maintenance and water purification - both essential to the cultivation of healthy ingredients.
- Aesthetics - Exploring New Realms
It has been said that, when you go to a farm or inn, a new journey has begun to unfold.
Indeed, when you set foot in a leisure farm, it's as if you've crossed over into to different realm-one shaped by the host's taste, content, and ideals.
From the interior and exterior design of the buildings to the planning of the surrounding environment, visitors can get a sense of the host's life philosophy, cultivated over many years. Guests will feel the kind of comfort and coziness usually found while staying in the home of a friend.
Taiwan has a diverse culture, which is reflected in the various forms of architecture found in her Leisure farms. We can see Chinese Minnan-style buildings, modern red-tile roofing, refined Western-style gardens, and more.
Some Leisure farms are like an enchanted garden, far removed from reality. It's as if you've been transported to a European castle nestled deep in the forest. The architecture and interior décor are so beautiful as to impress even the most experienced of travelers. If you stay the night, you'll feel all the more relaxed. Here you can fully appreciate the taste of the host. Perhaps it's a good time for a session of yoga, to completely, thoroughly relax your mind and body.
Leisure farms that feature aboriginal cultural themes are even more distinctive. Looking around, you'll see natural scenery, a variety of artistic expression, as well as the promotion of local agricultural products. And of course, when you visit Leisure farms with aboriginal themes, you won't want to miss the music and dance performances. Let your senses be baptized in the heavenly sights and sounds unique to aboriginal culture.
Perhaps you have questions, and hope that a new experience will stimulate your search for answers. A trip to a leisure farm could be just the ticket to help you find the answers you’re looking for.
- Welcome to Taiwan Farm, enjoy your life!
One journey's end is another's beginning.
Satisfaction comes from sharing the fruits of labor; dedication leads to moving communication. The future of Taiwan's leisure farming industry will depend on the effort and interaction of operators and tourists.
Leisure farming combines the leisure concepts of roaming, LOHAS and slow food. Through explanations, experiences, taste, an atmosphere that appeals to both sense and sensibility has been created. Farming villages have become spaces suitable for travel and living.
In recent years, the Taiwan Leisure Farming Development Association has actively participated in international marketing and observational itineraries. We hope these platforms will help promote Taiwan's leisure farming to the rest of the world, so that more international travelers will visit Taiwan's farming villages - and more travelers will know the beauty of Taiwan's scenery and the warmth of her people.
Welcome to Taiwan Farm, enjoy your life!
