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Field Trip - 2018 Spring

CLD, NTU
Apr 20, 2018
2 min read

Field trips held every spring and fall are our biggest events in a year.

There are always more than 100 students joining the trip each time.

This is a great chance for all to meet new friends from different classes, just like a big party.

Each time, we visited different counties and places together, experienced interesting things, and left sparkling memories in each other's mind as life-long treasure.

This spring, we visited Huataoyao (華陶窯) in Miaoli County (苗栗), a place where we haven't been to for years.

Hwataoyao’s name literally translates into “flowers, ceramics and kiln”, which is exactly the summary of all that Hwataoyao has to offer.

Established in 1984, Hwataoyao is one of the few ceramics producers in Taiwan to utilize a traditional wood-burning kiln.

There, we learned the traditional art of pottery and were able to take a close look of the old kiln with more than 20-year history.

We also had a special lesson on the Taiwanese traditional architecture, local plants, and the beauty of Chinese poetry, which was perfectly emerged into the design of this pottery park.

Hwataoyao's location gives it a perfect condition (in both the topography and climate) to create a garden of representative plants and trees of the island.

Regarding the architecture, Taiwan is a mix of immigration from China and colonization of foreign powers, and Hwataoyao perfectly combined all these elements in its architectures.

The red brick is adapted from the Dutch colonial period 400 years ago, while black roof tiles are reminiscent of the Japanese colonial period.

Traditional Chinese style touches such as wooden doors symbolize the roots of Taiwan’s Han Chinese population.

Through guide, we experienced our oriental living and custom and found that this place has well kept the stories of our parents and grandparents behind each plant and architecture.