News--Welcome to National Chiayi University

　　National Chiayi University Department of Marketing and Tourism Management, Tatung Institute of Technology (TTC) Department of Tea Culture and Business Management, and Orange Hotel–Wenhua Chiayi co-organized “When Food Meets Poetry” at the Huochiuan Center on the morning of April 16th. The new immigrant mothers in Taiwan were specially invited to celebrate Mother’s Day and experience the traditional customs of the Dragon Boat Festival in advance. The event was joined by NCYU Vice President Chishih Chu, TTC President Wang Rong-Sheng, Chiayi City Employment Service Association Director Chang-Li Mei and other guests of honor, who read out poems and savored the tea.

　　According to statistics from the Ministry of the Interior, there are currently about 0.65 million new immigrants in Taiwan, accounting for more than 3% of Taiwan’s population. That number has surpassed the population of Taiwan’s indigenous people, which is around 0.57 million a few years ago. To promote intercultural exchange, the organizer invited 12 new immigrant mothers from Central and South America and Asia to taste tea, explore the origins of the Dragon Boat Festival, and read out festive, classic poems.

　　Hot Alishan Oolong rose tea and cold aromatic marigold tea seasonally grown at the greenhouse on the Sinmin campus are offered at the event. the Huochiuan Center prepared delicate refreshments, which presented the most representative elements of the Dragon Boat Festival culture – the dragon boat, standing egg and zongzi. The “Dragon Boat” used the sweet pepper as the base, naturally grown at the greenhouse on the Sinmin campus, to mimic the shape of a dragon boat. The lovely mini “Standing Egg Flower Basket” was decorated with aromatic plants and eggs laid by humanely raised chickens at the greenhouse on the Sinmin campus. The organizer hoped to offer the new immigrant mothers a heartfelt feast for the palate, eyes, and ears.

　　NCYU Vice President Chishih Chu indicated that the teachers and students is dedicated to contributing their respective strengths to the development of the community, with funding from the Ministry of Education’s Higher Education Enhancement Project. The objective is to distinguish NCYU from other educational institutes and fulfill its social responsibility as a university. As food safety has continued to be a major public health issue, natural farming methods are adopted at the greenhouse on the Sinmin campus, NCYU. Drip irrigation is used as part of the cultivation process for more effective use of water resources, as the water shortage across Taiwan has reached alarming levels.

　　Rachel West (Zheng Rui-Qiu), a new immigrant from South Africa, said it has been 7 years since she moved to Taiwan after marriage. She thanked the organizer for introducing them to the traditional culture of Taiwan, and for giving them beautiful carnations and cards, so that they could send their love and best wishes to their family members far away. There is no such food as zongzi in South Africa, and she was more than happy to taste it in Taiwan. Du Ruo-Lei (Lorena) from Colombia, who likes the triangular shape of Taiwan’s zongzi in particular, mentioned that she came to Taiwan for her children to learn Chinese. She thanked the organizer for the carnations, of which she would like to take pictures and send them to her mother in Colombia.