Hengde Park Introduction
In the early days, Dadushan lacked a water source, and residents had to fetch water from the foot of the mountain using ox carts or by carrying it on their shoulders, or rely on water ponds to collect rainwater, making life extremely inconvenient. In the 49th year of the Republic of China, Professor James Hunter, an American teaching in the Department of Sociology at Tunghai University, empathized with the residents' difficulties in accessing drinking water and advocated for the establishment of the “Dadushan Top Neighborhood Life Improvement Committee.” He pledged to assist residents in installing running water, estimating the total cost to be around 2.4 million NTD. In addition to securing funding from the Council of Agriculture, the Taiwan Provincial Government, and Taichung County Government, Professor Hunter donated his life savings of 600,000 NTD to help the residents of Dadushan establish simple running water facilities. The water supply project was completed in April of the 52nd year of the Republic of China. At that time, only Taichung City and Fengyuan had running water in the Taichung area, while the nearby Tunghai Villa area did not have running water until the 72nd year.
