Dalan Community Introduction
Dalun Community is located on the west side of the Shui-shang Interchange of the Zhongshan Highway, specifically 500 meters along the Jia-pu Highway (County Road 168) towards the Chiayi County Government after exiting the interchange. It is a transitional rural community situated between urban areas and traditional agricultural villages. The residents' reliance on land is driven not by material economic needs but by a psychological need for a connection to their homeland. This strong sense of local affection has led community elites to actively engage in community work, collaboratively creating a high cultural standard, emphasizing environmental sustainability, and focusing on health and vitality, with the aim of establishing a beautiful community environment and an organic ecological home for sustainable community management. Community landscape features - The "Water Reservoir" is an essential irrigation facility from the era when water conservation technologies were underdeveloped in rural areas. Currently, the community still retains two large public ponds. In 2003 and 2004, community volunteers designed and created DIY projects on the public land next to these ponds, transforming them into a beautiful community nursery garden and Dalun No. 3 Eco Park. The "Community Nursery Garden" was initiated by the community team through the "Garden Mutual Aid Association," which follows the ancient spirit of mutual assistance, completing a 100-ping community nursery garden over six weekends. Subsequently, the original women's team expanded with many husbands, fathers, and sons joining the community construction team, establishing a solid human resource foundation for Dalun's community work. Thanks to this strong community consensus, various activities promoted by the community have been successful. The "Dalun No. 3 Eco Park" utilizes ecological methods to create spaces that not only include resting pavilions and eco-friendly surfaces but also feature compost bins to demonstrate household organic composting methods, aiming for the overall space to serve an educational and entertaining function. Additionally, "Dalun Sugarcane Station Park" is also one of the important landscape features of the Dalun community. The "sugarcane station" served as a transfer point for sugarcane and has played a significant role in the history of Taiwan's sugar industry. In the past, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation's "Five-Pun" small train transported raw sugarcane to the Nanjing Sugar Factory, passing through Dalun Village, which led to the establishment of the Dalun Sugarcane Station. After the train ceased operation, the sugarcane station fell into disrepair, becoming a dump due to neglect. With the united efforts of community residents, the "Dalun Sugarcane Station Community Exchange Center Establishment Project" received an NT$850,000 subsidy from the Council for Cultural Affairs in 2004. Using ecological methods, community participation, and labor procurement, they cleared the tracks buried for over 20 years and rebuilt a standard platform for the "Five-Pun" train, completed greening and aesthetic improvements of the ecological space, and restored a rare foot-operated water pump. To present the history of the sugarcane station, they specifically purchased a "raw sugarcane car" and a "molasses car" from Taiwan Sugar Corporation to display in the Sugarcane Station Park. This lush, ecologically rich cultural space represents the regeneration and cultural revival of the sugarcane culture, adding a multifunctional community park of 1,200 ping to the plains of Chiayi County. Dalun Community is a large natural park exclusively for its residents. The community team adheres to the vision of "green flourishing by the pond with butterflies dancing, Dalun Garden, the hometown of water," following three main principles: mutual aid through labor exchange, ecological methods, and waste reuse to personally create every beautiful corner within the community. When you visit, please take a moment to appreciate the beautiful Dalun Garden with butterflies fluttering over the lush green pond!
