Dalu Community Introduction
Dalu Community is located on the west side of the Shueisha Interchange of the Zhongshan Freeway, specifically 500 meters towards the Chiayi County Government along the Jiaping Road (County Road 168) from the interchange. It serves as a middle-type rural community situated between an urban environment and a traditional agricultural settlement. The residents' connection to the land is not driven by economic necessity but rather a psychological need fostered by a strong sense of belonging. This love for their hometown has led community elites to actively engage in community work, jointly creating a culturally rich environment that emphasizes ecological protection and healthy vitality, with the aim of establishing a beautiful community environment and an organic ecological home for sustainable community development. The community's environmental landscape features a "Water Reservoir," which was an essential irrigation facility during the less developed water conservation era. Currently, there are still two large public ponds within the community. Public lands beside these ponds were transformed into a beautiful community nursery garden and Dalu No. 3 Eco Park in 2003 and 2004 through the efforts of community volunteers. The "Community Nursery Garden" was pioneered by the community team’s "Garden Mutual Aid Association,” following the ancient Chinese spirit of mutual cooperation known as "Xianghuan Gong." Utilizing six weekends, they created a nursery garden covering over 100 pings. This team initially comprised women but later expanded as many husbands, fathers, and sons joined the community construction effort, laying a solid manpower foundation for Dalu’s development due to the strong community consensus, which facilitated the successful implementation of various activities. The "Dalu No. 3 Eco Park" primarily employs ecological engineering methods, creating spaces for relaxation including pavilions and eco-friendly surfaces, and also incorporates compost bins to demonstrate home organic composting techniques, aiming for the overall space to serve both educational and recreational purposes. Additionally, "Dalu Sugarcane Transit Station Park" is another significant landscape feature of the Dalu community. The "Sugarcane Transit Station" holds an important position in Taiwan's sugar industry culture. In earlier days, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation's "Wufenzi" train would transport raw sugarcane to the Nan-jing Sugar Factory, passing through Dalu Village, leading to the establishment of the Dalu Sugarcane Transit Station. After the train ceased operation, the transit station was neglected and became a messy area. With the unity and efforts of community residents, in 2004, the "Dalu Sugarcane Transit Community Exchange Center Establishment Plan" received an 850,000 NTD subsidy from the Cultural Affairs Council for community construction. They employed ecological engineering, community participation, and hired labor to clear tracks buried for over 20 years and rebuilt a standard Wufenzi platform, completing ecological space greening and visual beautification while restoring a rare pedal water pump. To present the history of the sugarcane station, they specifically purchased an "raw sugarcane cart" and a "molasses cart" from Taiwan Sugar, placing them in the Transit Park. This green, ecologically abundant cultural space, which embodies both spatial regeneration and cultural revival, has added a multifunctional community recreational park covering 1,200 pings to the plains of Chiayi County. Dalu Community is an extensive natural park dedicated to its residents. The community team upholds the vision of community development: "Green fills the pond while butterflies dance, Dalu Garden is the water hometown," following three principles: mutual aid cooperation, ecological engineering, and waste reuse, handcrafting every beautiful corner in the community. When you visit, please take the time to appreciate the Dalu Garden, filled with greenery and fluttering butterflies!
