Naruh Aboriginal Village Introduction
Driving from Neiwan towards Naluo Village, after passing the Naluo Police Station, remember to roll down the car window and take a careful whiff; depending on the season, the air in the Herb Village will be filled with various fragrances. Regardless of whether you can identify those scents, you will certainly agree that they all share a common name: happiness. Naluo is a village primarily inhabited by the Atayal people, whose understanding of natural crops is deeply rooted in their heritage. With their delicate thoughts and skilled hands, they embody the philosophy of coexisting with nature. Therefore, under the guidance of the Indigenous Peoples Commission, Hsinchu County Government, and the Hsinchu Seed Improvement Station, Naluo Village began systematically planting "aromatic medicinal plants," commonly known as herbs, over a decade ago. They also established a production and sales team, sparking a trend of herb cultivation across the country. However, just as the herb industry was flourishing, Typhoon Aili in 2004 devastated this promising vision overnight. Severe landslides destroyed all the flower fields and severely impacted the confidence of the village residents. Fortunately, Sales Team Leader Wu Hsiu-mei firmly believed that as living conditions for the people improved, the demand for herbs would increase. She led the team to study and develop the processing and utilization of herbs, allowing Naluo Herb Village to not only supply raw materials but also produce high-value-added herb products. After ten years, they stubbornly established a close connection with herbs through organic cultivation. Today, the pure herbal essences from Naluo Herb Village not only supply domestic well-known skincare brands, but even the most rigorously quality-controlled German brands come from afar to procure their products. The persistence of the Herb Village has finally brought them their happiness. Team Leader Wu mentioned that while everyone seems to associate herbs with Western products, in fact, the "Compendium of Materia Medica" mentions as many as twenty-eight types of herbs and aromatic flowers, including daffodil. The legendary Emperor Shennong "was the first to taste herbs and thus led to the beginnings of medicine," showing that herbs are truly not foreign imports. Herbs can be found deeply rooted in Chinese culture in areas such as food seasoning, folk health care, beauty maintenance, essential oil aromatherapy, and medicinal refinement. Therefore, integrating Western herb knowledge while leveraging our existing cultural characteristics is the way to create a localized herb lifestyle. For example, when rosemary is mentioned, most people think it pairs well with grilled meat, but Leader Wu points out that using rosemary when stir-frying clams (or other shellfish) enhances the flavor even more. If you want to learn more about herb cuisine or even make your own skincare products, why not schedule a walk through the flower fields, where Leader Wu and the team members will guide you into their herb kingdom?
