I decided to push this post ahead of the others I have waiting to be published as this weekend will be a big one at Fulong Beach on the North East Coast of Taiwan with summer in full swing as well as having both the Fulong Sand Sculpture Art Festival (福隆國際沙雕藝術季) and Fulong Full On (福隆海灘派對) happening at the same time.

With it being a July weekend and having two summer festivals happening simultaneously at the beach you can imagine there will be large crowds of people. If you are making plans to get yourself to Fulong for the festivities make sure you get on the train or the bus early so that you're sure to get yourself there.

The 2015 Fulong Sand Sculpture Art Festival (福隆國際沙雕藝術季) has been on since May 12th and will finish up on July 12th. The event is held annually at Fulong Beach and features beautifully designed sand sculptures artists created by artists from around the world.

The theme for the Sand Sculpture festival this year is "Toy Nations" and 27 artists from 13 countries were invited to take part in the event designing sand sculptures from their childhood memories.

Considering most of the artists are likely my age they have designed sculptures with Lego characters, remote control cars, teddy bears, robots, toy soldiers and the Monopoly board game as well as some traditional Taiwanese sculptures.

The sculptures are large, beautifully designed and quite impressive to someone like myself who has no idea about the art form. I've seen ice sculptures in Carnaval de Québec and at the Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival (哈爾濱國際雪節) which are also quite impressive, but it seems to me that it'd be a bit more annoying to design a sculpture with sand than it would be with a block of ice.

The best thing about the Sand Sculpture Festival is that when you are done checking out the sculptures you can enjoy the beautiful beach. Fulong is probably the best beach in Northern Taiwan and it is easily accessible by train as the Fulong Train Station (福隆車站) is across the street from the beach parking lot.

Sand Sculpture Art Festival Website

Fulong Full On (福隆海灘派對) is an all day event taking place on Saturday July 4th starting at 12:00pm. The event is being organized by Taipei Trends and will feature water balloon tosses, relay races and sand sculpture competitions, etc. with food, drinks, live music and DJs.

The purpose of the party is to promote beach culture, get people outdoors and to network with each other in order to bring together the community of expats in Taiwan as well as our Taiwanese friends.

For more information about the event check out the event page linked below or read the article from the Taipei Times which describes it in greater detail.

Fulong Full On Event Page

If you are looking for something to do this weekend, why not take a trip to Fulong and enjoy the beach and the two events that are taking place? I won't be there personally as my skin is about as red as a cooked lobster from hanging out at the beach all day earlier this week. I hope if you go though that you have a lot of fun and meet some new friends!

For more info about how to get to Fulong and what buses and trains are available check the Fulong Full On event page on Facebook where they have done an excellent job preparing information about getting yourself to the beach.

Gallery / Flickr (High Res Shots)

Featured

Aug 19, 2023

Ogon Shrine (黃金神社)

Aug 19, 2023

Mar 11, 2023

Tamsui Police Commissioners Residence (淡水日本警官宿舍)

Mar 11, 2023

Dec 18, 2022

Manyueyuan Forest Recreation Park (滿月圓國家森林遊樂區)

Dec 18, 2022

Apr 30, 2022

Shanjia Train Station (山佳車站)

Apr 30, 2022

Feb 26, 2022

Baiyun Police Station (白雲派出所)

Feb 26, 2022

May 8, 2021

Sanxia Loyal Spirit Monument (三峽忠魂碑)

May 8, 2021

Nov 14, 2020

The Taoyuan Valley (桃源谷步道)

Nov 14, 2020

Aug 1, 2020

New Taipei City Martyrs Shrine (新北市忠烈祠)

Aug 1, 2020

Mar 14, 2020

Bitou Cape (鼻頭角)

Mar 14, 2020

Feb 29, 2020

Linkou Guanyin Temple (林口竹林山觀音寺)

Feb 29, 2020

When Chiang Kai Shek (蔣介石) and his Chinese Nationalist Party retreated to Taiwan in the latter part of the 1940s, they brought with them over two million people including soldiers from the ROC armed forces and with them their families.

Due to the delusional nature of the political situation at the time, they came up with a plan to set up ‘temporary’ housing for members of the armed forces and their families until such time that the Nationalists could retake the mainland from the Communists.

To serve this purpose, “Military Dependents’ villages” (眷村) were set up around Taiwan offering shoddy quickly assembled housing to those families. Unfortunately, those 'temporary' homes became 'permanent' as Chiang Kai Shek’s dream of going home was never going to come to fruition.

When the villages were built, they were they were very poorly constructed and extremely small. There was no possibility for the residents to hold ownership rights over their homes as they were property of the state, which eventually led to problems decades later.

Over the years many of these buildings have become abandoned, have fallen apart and have become somewhat of a slum for an aging population. These villages also occupy prime real-estate space within cities where development is often more important than the welfare of citizens.

The government began an aggressive program of demolishing the villages in the early 1990s and started to replace the decaying villages with new high rise apartment buildings which had space allocated for the displaced families who lost their homes.

If you pay attention to the news in Taiwan, you can often see stories of residents of some of the remaining villages protesting the destruction of their homes - especially in Taipei where very few remain. City and county governments all over the island are trying their best to have them demolished but obviously have to contend with civic groups and people who are unwilling to move creating an often tense atmosphere that plays out well in Taiwan's dramatic media environment.

A family taking some selfies at the Rainbow Village.

Taiwanese people are well versed in exercising their rights and taking to the streets to voice their displeasure with government action (or inaction) often leading to mass protests and government shut downs. One of the most interesting and creative forms of protest in recent history however came from an 87 year old man who was in a battle to resist having his home torn down.

The story of Taichung's “Rainbow Village” (彩虹眷村) and its famous creator Mr. Huang Yong-Fu (黃永阜) has become quite well known throughout the country and is a fitting example of how a protest done right can be really effective.

Mr. Huang is a military veteran who was born in Hong Kong and fought against the communists in the ROC army. After living in Taiwan for more than 60 years, the city government in Taichung decided it was time for the village he lived in to be torn down. Mr. Huang who people now refer to as the “Rainbow Grandfather” (彩虹爺爺) came up with a way to protest that was quite unique and also gave him something to do to pass his time.

Rather than fighting the government - he started to paint. As a self-taught artist, he painted colourful murals all over his home, as well as the gates around it and the walkways. He used very bright colours and painted very random and imaginative figures including plants, animals, monsters, celebrities and traditional cultural heroes.

The village that Mr. Huang lives in is next to Ling-Tung University (嶺東科技大學) and when students from the university noticed what he was doing they took pictures of his progress and spread them around online which quickly went viral (back before 'viral' was actually a thing)

The “Rainbow Village” soon became a tourist destination as people from all over started to visit while he was still busy painting. The tourists offered donations and supported the by-then almost 90 year old artist. His peaceful protest fortunately gained enough sympathy from around the country that the email inbox of the mayor of Taichung quickly became so full of complaints that plans to demolish his village were quickly shelved.

Bottles of Coke that Mr. Huang sells to people who visit.

The Rainbow Village is still around today due to the effort and creativity of Mr. Huang. If you are in Taichung, the village is well worth a visit - If you do visit though, remember that the Rainbow Village is actually the home of a retired 90 year old man and his family. If you like what you see, don’t be shy to drop a small donation in his donation bucket or at least buy a soda or a hand-made souvenir.

The life of a retired soldier isn’t one of great wealth, so think of your visit like that of going to a museum. Mr. Huang invites everyone to enjoy his home and his art and doesn’t ask anything from you, but if you appreciate what he’s done - help a guy out and he'll be happy to take a picture with you!