Dingcai Garden Folk Museum Introduction
Dingcai Garden Folk Museum is a folk culture park that has received funding from the Council of Labor Affairs, crafted by Mr. Chen Ming-hui. A native of Chiayi, Chen aims to prevent the early rural life from being forgotten by handcrafting a replica of Taiwan's rural life in the 1950s. Through creative ideas, he has transformed Dingcai Garden in Xin Gang Township, where he has lived his whole life, into a paradise, brick by brick. To thoroughly present the landscape of the agricultural era, the park has no walls, and visitors can see ingenious reuse of waste materials throughout, showcasing a strong sense of local flavor. The park features many agricultural tools and household items from Taiwan's 1950s and 1960s, such as a 八仙桌 (eight immortals table), stone mill, stone mortar, straw raincoat, ox cart, ancient jar, old telephone, mailbox, red sleeping bed, long bench, and a miscellaneous cart that once sold household goods, among others. There is even a unique Chiayi bus ticket booth, saved by Chen Ming-hui after being phased out, which is the last remnant of early buses in Chiayi and can be considered a "county treasure." All of these artifacts are housed in a small wooden cabin made from wooden utility poles, giving it a distinctive charm. The park also features a unique "Pigsty Inn." In the past, raising pigs had a savings meaning for Taiwanese people; leftover food would be given to pigs, which would be sold once fattened for money. Chen Ming-hui has transformed the pigsty used by Taiwanese in the past into an inn, primarily hoping to spark curiosity in visitors about pigs and their role in the early agricultural society. Additionally, the folk museum encompasses various early industries such as ceramic art, incense making, organic fruits and vegetables, Xin Gang candy, soy sauce, winemaking, and turkey farming, and it has specially planned exhibition and sales spaces, as well as experiential activities for each industry. Visitors can freely interact with ancient artifacts and enjoy childhood pleasures such as barbecuing, controlling kilns, fishing for frogs, catching loaches, netting dragonflies, digging for earthworms, playing spinning tops, and marbles, making it a highly worthwhile recreational park to visit.
