The Living Basin of Sun Moon Lake, Experience the Dancing Soil and Orange Daylilies
Located in the south of Sun Moon Lake, Tousher is stuck in between Shuili and Sun Moon Lake, just 10 minutes’ drive from Xiangshan Visitor Center. The “Sun Moon Lake Tousher Live Basin Agri-tourism Area” (thereinafter referred to as Live Basin Leisure Area) located within Tousher basin is an area specialized in the production of loofahs at the highest altitude in the country as it possesses the world’s rarest peat soil and the world’s sole basin turf zone. The crop it produces is mainly the sweet and crunchy luffa. The Live Basin Leisure Area has been proactively developing ecotourism during the recent years.
Tousher basin was once the granary of Nantou Yuchr Township. The soil texture of the basin is soft, and the unique geology causes the peasants to cultivate more laboriously than general fields. On the other hand, it becomes quite charismatic when it comes to tourism promotion. Would you like to experience firsthand the loose property of farmland soil? Put on rain boots and walk into the basin to feel the softness of peat soil. This basin had once been a shallow lake with thick silt sedimentation. Its moisture content is comparatively high that some parts of the earth may easily subside upon being stepped on.
Still feeling astonished and thrilled after experiencing the exiting muddy ground, the docent leads us right to “the dancing soil”. Although the earth here is harder that it is unlikely to subside upon being stepped on, it tends to shake too easily! As everybody jumps up together by hearing the order, the one beside feel immediately the tremble of the ground as though a group of people were standing and playing on an extra-large spring bed. Since we are all who get used to walk peacefully on the steady ground every day, it is fun and strange to stand suddenly on this kind of dynamic surface.
The bamboo crane stuck in aside conceals some sort of mystery as well. The docent asks us to draw it out to discover, out of the blue, that the bamboo crane is like a roll of toil paper which continues nonstop without any pauses. The overall length of the bamboo stick above the ground is two meters, but there exist still three more meters hiding under the surface. The drawn-out stick can be stuck back into the mud at ease for the texture of the soil is distinctively mellow.
Loofah and Japanese Honeysuckle
Loofah is the major fruit and vegetable produced in Live Basin Leisure Area. Yellow flowers bloom in the fields of loofahs, giving a special sensation with their simple and elegant color. In addition to fruits and vegetables, Japanese Honeysuckle, one of Chinese herbal medicines according to the catalog of Compendium of Materia Medica, is also planted in Live Basin Leisure Area. Walk into the field to pick the Japanese Honeysuckle flowers and appreciate the smell resembling to the scented white champaks. The sweet nectar veiled inside the stamen of Japanese Honeysuckle is revealed as the docent extracts agilely the stamen with his fingers while introducing the flower: crystal clear nectar on the stamen intersperses mild sweetness in the mouth.
It is not hard to imagine that our lunch is the DIY loofah dumplings made from loofahs, the leading role of the origin. Stir and mix well the seasoned fillings into which the shimmering loofahs have already been blended to make the perfect combination of filling and dumpling skin. We sample the home-cooking rural dishes and consume the dumplings we have made by ourselves. The taste of freshly plucked loofahs is indeed light and pleasant. Do not forget to savor the luscious relish of luffa when visiting the site.
Tea tree is another peculiar plant planted inside Live Basin Leisure Area. The tea trees create a sight of a vast expanse of whiteness during the period of puberty, and the leaves will transpire the scent of camellia once being rubbed with fingers. The postprandial activity is the making of luffa soap by applying the leaves of tea tree. Everybody works in cooperation: some soak soap base in hot water, tear the leaves off from the tea trees, and juice a basin of sap by means of a blender while others cut loofahs into appropriate sizes and put them into the mold for use. The soap base is blended with the filtered tree sap after melting, and the mixture is then mingled and stirred evenly before being poured into the prepared coating.
Orange Daylilies that Grow on the Plain
The orange daylilies we have seen before are planted on the hillside; the flower’s land of orange daylilies in Huadong Valley and the one in Taichung Spring Mountain Leisure Farm, for example. The orange daylilies of Live Basin Leisure Area are actually planted on the flat grounds, creating impressive scenery which differs totally from that of Huadong Valley. Since the section belongs to private industry, admission fee is required. There is a large orange daylily field planned out inside the park, and other improved varieties in diverse colors have also been grown in addition to the usual yellow, orange flowers. Some orange daylilies have broken out into blossom. The mountain landscape and trees set off by the saffron petals in the front present a magnificent spectacle. Many visitors who travel with their family are busying with taking pictures as a souvenir.
