陳書耘
God works in mysterious ways.
The legendary life of a small town can be a good example.
Located up in the hills of
northeast Taiwan, Chiufen was discovered to be a bountiful gold mine;
gold was even seen on the ground without much digging. The gold rush
began in 1890; it attracted thousands of people to move there in hope of
finding gold. For those people, Chiufen, as the "gold capital of Asia"
in the 1930s, helped them realize their golden dreams.
As the digging progressed, the
gold mine thinned out. To protect the environment from over-mining, the
government terminated all digging in 1971. Gold diggers gradually
departed for other working opportunities elsewhere, and Chiufen had
become a trashy town with nothing to charm the crowd.
Surprisingly, Chiufen once again began to receive wide spread attention
in recent years. With the aura of an old mining town still apparent,
the government instituted a policy to develop the sightseeing resources
of Chiufen. Several movies were made there, adding to the glamour of
the town. A number of artists moved there to be close to the mountains
and rustic life, and numerous teashops were set up to take advantage of
Chiufen』s newly found fame. On holidays, the town is swarmed by visiting
tourists and the once-deserted mine has regained life.
Although there is no more gold in Chiufen, the town is still sparkling a
blazing light with its unique attraction