2009 tung blossoms spread snow-white warmth over Taiwan

The festival opened with the performance of a tung blossom dance at a village resort in the county, organized by the Cabinet-level Council for Hakka Affairs to celebrate the fall of what is popularly known as “April Snow” or “May snow” because of the way the fallen blossoms carpet the ground.

Liu noted that the tung blossom festival has become a significant annual event for the Hakka people and he invited the public to appreciate the clean-white beauty of the tung flowers at a slow pace and to taste the rich culture the Hakka people have created.

According to the council, 10 county and city governments, as well as 45 civic groups, have organized 100 activities around northern and central Taiwan to allow the public to experience local cultures and lifestyles while appreciating the beauty of the tung flowers.

The festival, now in its eighth year, is organized by the council to promote a culture industry centered on the Hakka, an ethnic group known for its diligence, frugality and hospitality.

Attracted by increasing trade opportunities in the unique culture industry,which covers the fields of tourism, ecological conservation, local cuisine and creative handicraft production, more and more local governments have become involved in organizing festival celebrations and this year, Yilan County, Keelung City, Taipei County, Taoyuan County, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Taichung County, Changhua County, Yunlin County and Nantou County have all prepared tung blossom appreciation activities to attract visitors.

Huang said the tung blossoms have also drawn the attention of foreign tourists over the years, adding that this year, the council has placed advertisements at airports in Tokyo and Beijing in the hope of attracting more visitors to Hakka villages in Taiwan. In addition, it has also prepared free tour brochures providing information about the events in the 2009 Hakka Tung Blossom Festival that will run through May 17, he went on.

The information, including maps of the best places for tung blossom appreciation, is also available on the council's Web site at http://tung.hakka.gov.tw.

April and May are the months when the tung trees are in full bloom in central and northern Taiwan and the white flowers have become a symbol of the Hakka people. Every year, the flowering season is celebrated in Hakka villages with traditional music and song, coupled with the consumption of Hakka delicacies.

The Hakka originally lived in central China but gradually migrated south during different dynasties and settled in Jiangxi, Fujian and Guangdong provinces, as well as in Taiwan, after fleeing from war and famine, where they become known in Chinese as literally “guest people.”

A 2008 survey by the council found that Taiwan's Hakka people, using a broad definition of the term, accounts for 25.6 percent of the country's total population. The first wave of migrants came from China to Taiwan in the 1690s, when China was under the rule of the Qing Dynasty.

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