The Toucheng Leisure Farm in Yilan County, Taiwan, just one hour from Taipei City, has more in mind than offering their guests accommodation and entertainment. In fact, the educational aim of the Toucheng Leisure Farm is to get their guests to find their way from stressful city-life, where material luxury has become the mean of pursuing happiness, back to a basic and simple life, where harmony and happiness are inhabited in the connection with nature, where simple things can bring full satisfaction and relaxation.
Each activity offered at the Toucheng Leisure Farm, is meant for guests to appreciate the value of nature and the necessity to only use what is needed, instead of what is wanted. The founder of Toucheng Leisure Farm, Chuo Chen Ming, is concerned with maintaining the property of the Farm in such a way to not disturb nature. Animals and plants must live without disturbance in order for the circle of the ecosystem to sustain. A small example is that the Leisure Farm wants to maintain big and in my opinion frightening spiders with their big nets in order to keep the insects population low. Moreover, there is a minimal use of pesticides, if any for crops. The belief is that the more you leave nature take its path, the more you can profit from it, such as clean, natural spring water or tasteful crops for instance.
Activities such as working on the rice paddy are meant to give the guest an idea of how hard it was in the past to grow and harvest rice, but also to become aware of how valuable food commodities are. Also the farm inhabits a variety of animals, including goats, water buffalos, pigs, ducks and chickens. All raised in an ecological and animal-friendly manner and fed with the food that is left over from each breakfast, lunch or dinner. Hence, the food is not thrown away but ‘recycled’. In turn, these animals, besides the water buffaloes, are slaughtered and served for lunch or dinner. The taste of the organically raised chicken is thus incomparable with the taste of chickens raised in mass production. The reason why the buffaloes are not slaughtered is that, back in the past, when these animals where used for field work, they have become part of the family. They were not eaten because of respect to their deeds for the family. Again, nature is equally respected as humans.
Whether it’s fishing at the pond, working at the rice paddy, feeding the animals, picking fruits, distilling wine, collecting eggs at the hen-coop , bamboo craft, t-shirt painting, or just hiking up the mountain to enjoy the sunrise; all activities are meant to bring one back to nature and its importance for man-kind. Moreover, Toucheng Leisure Farm, teaches us that it is the simple things in life that make us happy, setting us apart from all the technology, which we are occupied with all day long and showing us what to do with our time, if we are not busy with work, shopping, chatting on FB, or watching Television.
Therefore it is equally important for children and adults to come to Toucheng Leisure Farm and learn while enjoying the environment. There are no seminars or lectures, but only learning by doing, raising awareness unconsciously. It seems like being outside all day, on the fresh air, having refreshing drinks and fruit-snacks is having an automatic relaxing-effect on our body and mind.
By Deschna
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