Maybalay Leisure Agricultural Area

The clansmen of Maybalay tribe in mountain forests pass on the culture of Atayal through living. From hunting, collecting to farming, they honor the wisdom of coexistence between human and nature.

The greenish carpet woven by green trees and bamboo forests in different color shades is placed in each corner of Maybalay Leisure Agricultural Area. The Atayal people who reside here integrate the culture of tribal agricultural recreation into the coexistence between human and nature in daily life and the interdependence of living organisms on the land through performing the natural endowment of dancing, singing, playing music and art, hunting, collecting and farming. Travelers are likely to fall in love easily with this small tribe in the mountains.

Fruits and vegetables, chickens and fish are cultivated and bred with attentive care by the small-holder farmers of Maybalay tribe on the land left by their ancestors. In order to assist visitors with recognizing these peasants, understanding the planting patterns, the production source of the ingredient and the environment, Maybalay Leisure Agricultural Area launches the package tour of “Lohas agriculture, travel with ingredients”. The rich content of ingredient travel involves the participation of a 2-day tour. First of all, visitors will arrive at “Peace Tribe Health Village”, the service center of Maybalay Leisure Agricultural Area and put on Atayal’s traditional clothes to sing along with the clansmen and learn about the local history of Maybalay’s war of resistance against japan and Rutux belief. What immediately follows next is the highlight of this ingredient tour. The clansmen will introduce the growth characteristics of the ingredients, edible parts and catering culture by presenting the pictures of the locally grown agricultural products and the wild ingredients that grow in nature; then the participants will be instructed the how of carrying traditional pannier and holding cutting tools and plastic bags before they head to the neighboring trails and farm to harvest wild veggies, pick fruits and vegetables and catch shrimp for making their own lunch. After meal the visitors will be led to Maybalay River where they can play in the water before experiencing the ancient eating method of Atayal people and learning the how of lighting a fire, making grilled pork skewer, simmering sweet potatoes and preparing flavor dishes in bamboo tube in the evening. Sitting under the starry skin while relishing the special meal of Atayal savor and listening to the traditional music while enjoying welcome dances with everybody else, the valuable experience of tribal life is what the visitors can hardly obtain in daily life. The experience program of Atayal’s living culture on the next day allows all participants to get familiar with the harvesting and planting process of wood-log mushrooms, to learn archery and witness the way of making traps and to carry out a sightseeing tour on aboriginals’ hunting paths. Visitors who are interested in bamboo craft are suggested to partake in bamboo cup, bowl and bamboo chopsticks DIY program. The activity of millet mochi pounding at the end of the whole tour invites everybody to conduct physical training and take a hearty meal. During ingredient travel, visitors will be able to understand profoundly the living culture and plating wisdom of indigenous people as well as peasants’ pains taken to cultivate crops so that the foods can be thoroughly cherished.

To peasants in Maybalay (Peace) Tribe, farming is not only the source of supply of household fruits and vegetables but also the source of income of managing farming experience activities such as fruit and vegetable picking program. Like the owner of Qingye Sweet Persimmon Orchard Yang Chia Hsin who came up on the mountains to operate the orchard as his personal leisure and entertainment because of having taken a fancy to the environment of Maybalay (Peace) Tribe. Being an enthusiast of studying fruit trees, Yang Chia Hsin treats his orchard as a laboratory where more than 40 varieties of fruiters including sweet persimmon, kiwi, Brazilian grape tree, passion fruit and Mandarin orange are planted. He looks after all the fruit trees all by himself and harvest different kinds of fruits at all seasons. In addition to his being self-sufficient, fruit picking programs are also available upon reservation. Chang Chuan Chih, the owner of “Ya Fu Happy Farm” was originally a professional soldier who terminated his military career and returned to his homeland for partaking in farming business. Being at the same time the docent of Former Residence of Chang Hsiao Liang in the adjacent Chingchuan Tribe and the principal of Wufeng Hunter School, the humorous and eloquent traits of Chang Chuan Chih enable himself to describe the historical histories and culture of Atayal people in a vivid and lively manner that the tourists are deeply impressed. Under the guidance of the tribal foster mother, Chang Chuan Chih tries to grow sweet persimmons, Mandarin oranges and highland vegetables and invite tourists to come for gathering. Here at Ya Fu Happy Farm, Chang Chuan Chih watches the homegrown fruits and vegetables in the fields and feels steady and sure. Wearing a smile on his face every day, Chang Chuan Chih has successfully built his farm into a happy farm.

Located above Atayal’s ceremonial venue where ancestral spirits are worshipped in Maybalay (Peace) Tribe, “Gebalun” is covered with thousands of Japanese cedar. Lin Hsiang Hsin, the owner of Gebalun has planted nine thousand nest ferns in wooded place, together with mountain pepper (Makao) and alianthus prickly ash which serve as the essential ingredients of Atayal’s flavorful meal grown on the slope lands where sufficient sunlight can be absorbed. Nest fern is a commonly-seen vegetable used for making stir-fried tribal dishes of enjoyable crunchy texture; owing to its strong and rich fragrance, alianthus prickly ash is usually cooked with meat in a broth to accentuate the savor of the soup; also known as mountain pepper, Makao is a holy seasoning indispensable for Atayal cuisine.

In the upstream of Guyan River at Maybalay (Peace) Tribe, a fresh, cold, pollution-free water source is conserved by an uninhabited green forest. The father of Ko Ju Cheng, the owner of Guyan Trout Farm, utilized this pure and clean water source to rear trout and sturgeon, the two types of fish which also enjoy clean waters. The fish were mainly sold to the restaurants outside. Laster on when Ko Ju Cheng returned to his hometown to take over the business from his father, he established an eating house where highly-praised, scrumptious trout dishes are developed and cooked by Ko Ju Cheng couple. It takes about two to three years for Guyan to raise trout from egg incubation to full fish. Ko Ju Cheng couple catches fresh fish every day and presents the soft and tender texture of the fish meat through making them into freshly-cut sashimi, steamed with garlic spread, fried and makao-seasoned dishes. They even pickle the whole fish using salt and makao and make it into a vacuum-packed trout gift so that visitors can still relish the wonderful taste of trout through steaming or panfrying at home.