Dalong Community Introduction
The Dalun Community is located on the west side of the Shueishang Interchange of the Zhongshan Expressway, 500 meters from the interchange in the direction of Chiayi County Government along the Jiapu Highway (County Road 168). It is an intermediate rural community situated between urban and traditional agricultural settlements. The residents' reliance on the land is not for economic needs but rather for psychological attachment to their roots. Due to this strong sense of hometown affection, community elites are actively engaged in community work, jointly fostering a high cultural standard, focusing on environmental sustainability, and promoting healthy vitality with the goal of creating a beautiful community environment and an ecological organic home for sustainable development. **Community Landscape Features** - The "Water Storage Pond," once an essential irrigation facility in underdeveloped rural water conservancy, still retains two large public water bodies within the community. The public land beside these ponds was designed and created by community volunteers in 2003 and 2004, transforming it into a beautiful community nursery garden and the Dalun No. 3 Eco-Park. **Community Nursery Garden** - The community team initiated the "Garden Mutual Aid Association," drawing inspiration from the ancient spirit of mutual assistance and utilizing six weekends to complete the community nursery garden spanning over 100 square meters. Subsequently, the community team expanded from the original women’s group, with many husbands, fathers, and sons joining the community building efforts, thus establishing a robust manpower foundation for community work. This strong consensus has ensured the smooth success of various activities promoted by the community. **Dalun No. 3 Eco-Park** - This park is primarily constructed using ecological methods, creating spaces for rest and leisure pavilions and eco-friendly pavements. It also includes compost bins to demonstrate household organic composting methods, aiming for the overall space to serve an educational and entertaining function. Additionally, the "Dalun Sugarcane Siding Park" is another important landscape feature of the Dalun Community. A "siding" was a sugarcane transshipment station that held significant historical importance in Taiwan's sugar industry culture. In earlier years, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation's small locomotive would transport raw sugarcane to the Nanji Sugar Factory, passing through Dalun Village, prompting the establishment of the Dalun Sugar Siding. After the small train ceased operations, the siding fell into disrepair, becoming littered with debris. With the residents' concerted efforts, in 2004, a plan to establish the "Dalun Sugar Siding Community Exchange Center" received an 850,000 NT subsidy from the Council for Cultural Affairs. Using ecological methods, community participation, and labor procurement, the project cleared the tracks that had been buried for over 20 years, reconstructed a standard platform for the small train, and completed the greening and visual beautification of the ecological space. A rare foot-powered water pump was also repaired, and to commemorate the history of the siding, the community purchased a "raw sugarcane cart" and a "molasses cart" from the Taiwan Sugar Corporation for display in the siding park. This lush, ecologically rich cultural space that also emphasizes spatial regeneration and cultural revival adds a multifunctional community recreational park covering 1,200 square pings to the plains of Chiayi County. The Dalun Community is a large natural park exclusively for its residents. The community team's vision for development is embodied in the phrase "Green fills the pond, butterflies flutter, Dalun Garden, water hometown," following three principles: mutual assistance, ecological methods, and waste reuse, to create every beautiful corner within the community. When you visit, please take the time to appreciate the lovely Dalun Garden, where green fills the pond and butterflies dance!
