Naluo Tribe Introduction
From Neihuay to the Nalu Tribe, after passing the Nalu Police Station, remember to roll down your car window, take a deep breath, and feel the air. Depending on the season, the atmosphere of the herb tribe will be filled with various fragrances. Regardless of whether you can identify those scents or not, you will certainly agree that these aromas share a common name: happiness. Nalu is a tribe primarily inhabited by the Atayal people, whose understanding of natural crops is rooted in their blood. They possess delicate thoughts and skilled hands and understand the philosophy of coexisting with nature. Therefore, under the guidance of the Indigenous Peoples Commission, Hsinchu County Government, and the Hsinchu Seedling Improvement Station, the Nalu Tribe began planning the cultivation of "aromatic medicinal plants," commonly known as herbs, more than a decade ago. They also established a production and sales team, sparking a wave of herb cultivation across the country. However, just as the herb industry was thriving, Typhoon Aere in 2004 devastated their bright prospects. Severe landslides destroyed all the flower fields and severely impacted the residents' confidence. Fortunately, the head of the production and sales team, Wu Hsiu-Mei, firmly believed that with the improvement of living conditions in the country, the demand for herbs would only increase. Therefore, she led the team members to research and develop processed herbal products, allowing the Nalu Herb Tribe not only to provide raw materials but also to produce high-value-added herbal products. Over a decade, they established an intimate connection with herbs through organic cultivation, driven by sheer determination. Today, the herbal hydrosols from the Nalu Herb Tribe not only supply well-known skincare manufacturers in the country but are also procured by strict-quality-control German brands from across the ocean. The persistence of the herb tribe has finally brought them happiness. Head Wu mentioned that while the general impression of herbs is often limited to Western products, the "Compendium of Materia Medica" actually mentions as many as twenty-eight herbs and fragrant flowers, including narcissus. The ancient emperor Shen Nong "first tasted a hundred herbs, first had medicine," indicating that herbs are not foreign imports. Herbs can be found within the roots of Chinese culture in food seasoning, folk health care, beauty maintenance, essential oil diffusion, and pharmaceutical extraction. Therefore, combining Western herbal knowledge with our existing cultural characteristics is the right approach to developing a local herb lifestyle. For example, when rosemary is mentioned, people often think of it paired with grilled meat, but Wu says that adding rosemary when stir-frying clams (or other shellfish) actually enhances the flavors more. If you want to learn more about herb cuisine or even make your skincare products, why not book a flower field stroll and let Head Wu and the members of the production and sales team guide you into their herb kingdom?
