Why Taiwan? – Social Enterprise (Thanks to 青年旅遊網 for introducing me to 陳靖賦 ) “I’ve got class, so I can’t show you around Jhushan tomorrow,” Chen Jingfu apologizes after I arrive at the Green Bamboo Cultural Center. He’s the first stop I make while visiting Taiwan’s Bamboo Mountain, the preface to a wealth of knowledge and experiences I’ll have in the town. Chen is the key to understanding what Bamboo Mountain has been and what it will be. With a little luck and the @Taiwan Youth Trekker association, I’ve been introduced to the artisan-cum-social-organizer. He’s been working with bamboo his whole life believing that it is a material that can change lives and communities. “I’ve always been interested in bamboo. Bamboo grows with you and your life,” Chen tells me. “My first workspace [when he was an artist in Taipei] wasnt called ‘Bamboo Workshop.’ It was called ‘Life Workshop.’” Chen is originally from Jhushan, so he knows a great deal about the small town and its bamboo-based economy that has been slumping in recent years. Despite the environmental benefits of the fast-growing, wood-like grass, bamboo has come to feel quite antiquated in Taiwan and China. It carries a long history that makes it a point of traditional pride but also a marker of backwardness. “Backward” is never a word one wants associated with one’s product in Mainland China where consumers are particularly sensitive to be perceived as unsophisticated and not with the times, and while Taiwan feels more open-minded towards the idea it seems bamboo is not part of the average person’s choices. Plastics and metals are cheaper, easier to work with, and fit the times. “I’ve put together this pamphlet.” Chen gives me a pamphlet filled with the names, addresses, and phone numbers of local bamboo factories and workshops. They specialize in a variety of stages of bamboo production: sourcing, curing, and a variety of crafts. It’s an effort to make the town’s specialized economy more accessible to a bamboo-blind world. This is only part of what Chen has been doing for the last two decades. The Green Bamboo Cultural Center is his creation, and he has worked hard to bring together Jhushan’s crafts into a comprehensive and accessible culture that can be appreciated by all kinds of visitors. “Nobody wanted to share information about what they were doing in their factories. They were scared of being copied. But, I didn’t see it like that. I know someone will copy my designs, but by the time they copy it I’ll have something new out. That’s the beauty of bamboo. It can make nearly anything.” After 17 years, Chen now knows pretty much every bamboo artisan in Jhushan (and probably Taiwan) partly from establishing and building the Green Bamboo Cultural Center. Everything on-site is made with bamboo. Everything. When visitors ranging from students to researchers come, they’re introduced to buildings, furniture, jewelry, clothing, food, insect repellent, and even shampoo all made with bamboo. In addition to lodging, food, and hundreds of varieties of bamboo, the center offers a variety of activities ranging from bamboo weaving lessons to excursions up the mountain to harvest bamboo shoots. Finally, Chen is also leading research to see how bamboo can be used to meet the more contemporary needs of a modern society which has led to quite a few interesting uses of bamboo charcoal. The center is now an official cultural heritage site that receives support from the government. Chen has made quite a few steps towards preserving and enhancing Jhushan’s bamboo culture. “Wow!” Chen exclaims when I take out the bamboo bike. Unlike others who have seen it, he immediately gets up close and starts tapping here and there testing the density of the frame. He puts on his glasses and spends several minutes going over the frame. “We have a hard time finding youth who are as interested in bamboo as you are,” his wife, Sandy, tells me. “This is guizhu,” Chen decides after inspection and I ask him what variety of bamboo he thinks it is. In just a few minutes, Chen probably understands the bamboo bike better than I do. “The stress points are here and here,” he tells me. “The nodes of the bamboo should either line up together or alternate at the halfway points between nodes for the maximum strength.” Chen is a wealth of knowledge that has been accrued over 40 years. “It took me a long time to learn this, but I can share it with you all now.” I’m excited by Chen’s enthusiasm, interest, and advice. After a couple of days of staying at Green Bamboo Cultural Center, we have drawn up new diagrams for how to make the joints and seat post. He has shown me techniques to choose good bamboo and fishmouth the bamboo. And, he’s suggested some bamboo varieties to use. Of which, he donates a stack of fishpole bamboo for the next bamboo bike. “You need to come back,” he tells me. “Then we’ll hold a bamboo bicycle workshop here. It will definitely fill up!” I agree and add him on Facebook where I find he has already posted photos of the bamboo bike and received 70+ Likes. The trip to Jhushan has been very fruitful for me largely due to Chen and his work. I take the stack of bamboo and promise to return with a bike for them. I believe this is the beginning of a good relationship. “I’m sorry I can’t show you around Jhushan, but on my days off I teach a course on social enterprises to college students.” Chen’s interests stem from bamboo but his influences stretch through Taiwan.
Posted on: Sat, 12 Oct 2013 02:27:40 +0000
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