The Shin Gang Ao Agricultural Leisure Area

As the vast waves strike the shore of the blue sea, Gueishan Island proudly guards the land of Toucheng. Stroll around the humble fishing and rural village while listening to the Pacific song composed by the sea breeze and rice fields.

With the shallow, flat surrounding waters of Gueishan Island, the Wushi Fishing Harbor in Yilan Toucheng, and the location on the pathway of Kuroshio Current that flows northward throughout the year, shoals of fish, dolphins, and whales are drawn to gather and forage in these waters, making the area one of the three main fishing grounds in Taiwan and an important resource for three local townships; Geng Shin, Gang Kou, and Wai Ao, while developing the Shin Gang Ao Agricultural Leisure Area.

“Dear guests, please pay attention to your left and discover the magnificent scene formed by tons of whales and dolphins!” says the tour guide as “Kai Jing Hao (CT3-5863)”, a whale-watching boat from Yilan, sails towards Gueishan Island while carrying a large number of tourists. The tourist’s sight moves along with the captain’s broadcast to joyfully discover the dolphins riding the bow waves. Spinner dolphins, common bottlenose dolphins, and Fraser's dolphins are the most commonly seen dolphin species during the whale-watching tour around Gueishan Island. At times, tourists can also enjoy the spectacular view created by false-killer whales and dwarf sperm whales.

From April to October each year, visitors can go on a whale-watching boat ride at the Wushi Fishing Harbor and sail out to the sea. An island tour or trip around the island is also available for visitors to enjoy. Formed by a volcanic eruption, Gueishan Island maintains a natural landscape of primitive wilderness since it was a military control region in the early years. Unique geological features of a volcanic island such as the smoke of brimstones, the undersea sulfur spring composed of blue and yellow sea waters, and grassless, dark wilderness are all included in the itinerary of the land and boat trip throughout the island.

While peddling on a tricycle in the Wushi Harbor area, honey guava ice cream, a popular frozen food that can only be found in this area, is sold by Lai Jian Hong, the owner of “Jian Hong Frozen Food”, using a local guava specialty to create this delicious dessert.

Cultivated on the sandy land near the Toucheng sea, honey guava differs from other regular guavas and contains a softer, sweeter pulp and high-quality yellow pericarp. The fragrant, rich honey guava ice cream flavor is made with a native guava specialty in generous quantities so the genuine fruit granules of honey guava can be enjoyed in every bite. Since the honey guava yield is relatively low, it is regarded as an exceptionally desired product in the local area. Silky in texture, honey guava flavored ice cream uses milk to present the unique scent of guava. This mouthwatering delicacy has long become the preferred snack of local surfers.

“Beiguan Farm” is a time-honored leisure farm in the local area. In addition to the well-known Beiguan Crab Museum, the highlight that draws regular customers to return to the area is none other than the signature menu developed by Ma Ma Lee. Being a culinary enthusiast, Ma Ma Lee has innumerable ingenious culinary concepts. She prefers to make all her dishes using homegrown fruits and vegetables and, therefore, established the chef's tasting menu. This menu offers meals that allow visitors to savor the taste of complete freshness and sweetness of, for example, the blanched homegrown eggplants served with thick soy sauce, mayonnaise or XO sauce. The broth of seafood soup boiled with dolphin fish caught through friendly fishing methods such as “angling gear” is also impressively sweet and refreshing.

Among the many scrumptious meals on the menu, there is a dish made with radish that is sun-dried and prepared by Ma Ma Lee. Though seeming to be ordinary, the dish, highly praised by the gourmands, has become the private home cuisine designated by many professionals. As insisted by Ma Ma Lee, the Beiguan Farm dedicates itself to diligently practicing the works of environmental protection. Bestowing great importance to the coexistence between people and nature, the farm uses its efforts to shorten the distance between the farm and the table and produces natural ingredients based on eco-friendly farming. Don’t forget to buy some Caozaiguo and homemade snacks made with kumquat by Ma Ma Lee so that you can continue to enjoy the pleasurable taste of rural delicacies on the road.

Operated by the second generation, the Toucheng Leisure Farm developed and initiated environmental education programs such as the paddy culture, agriculture renaissance, three fortunes of agriculture, and native seasonal ingredients experience based on the incorporation of the farming and traditional life of the local peasants within agricultural production and a rural setting.

The farm maintains a few clean paddy fields and several conventional straw huts, which turn into the authentic area where students and school children experience environmental proficiencies. The young participants are allowed to transplant rice seedlings in the field, tread on the soil, twist straw ropes, and make scarecrows upon wearing a farmer’s suit. From learning about the life of farmers and circular agriculture through which paddies can be fully employed from rice barns and rice polishing to milled rice, the children will begin to appreciate the environment, develop the concept of treasuring land, and giving love to others.

The summer camp that is intricately planned and organized by the Toucheng Leisure Farm each year is exceedingly popular for urban families. Designed by making use of the field resources and collaboration with local social welfare units, the program that involves a wide variety of activities encourages children to motivate their mothers to “buy and eat native, in-season ingredients” to “reduce the carbon footprint of food” after returning home from the farm. In this way, food and agricultural education will be applied in real life and the incalculable value of agriculture can be appreciated.

Hiding amidst the mountain forests and green fields of Toucheng, the Cang Jiu Winery is the first green building winery to offer a guiding tour and wine sampling service in Taiwan. While mainly pursuing the fine taste of kumquat wines brewed by the winery, tourists make special trips to the site. For instance, the “Gueishan Island Sunrise” kumquat wine is brewed with the entire kumquat, including the peel. The sweet and aromatic essence of the kumquat is extracted to produce bitter and sweet flavors in the first sip and purely sweet flavors in the second sip with a fantastic aftertaste after the third sip. The liquor is greatly favored by female customers.