The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Central Library held a summer event on June 11 that helped scholars this year to better understand the cultural aspects of Taiwan through visiting both the Wen Sun Farm and the Human Rights Memorial Park.

In the morning, the scholars arrived at the Wen Sun Farm; located on a band of gentle slopes that often has small showers of rain which offers the best conditions for tea trees to grow. This place was also known to be the central tea leaves production area in modern Taiwan. The Farm began during the Japanese colonial days of Taiwan where tea tree saplings and tea making techniques were being taught. At the farm, scholars learnt to use the tea leaves they harvested themselves to create tea flavored jelly. They also designed their own tote bag with different leaves coated with paint.

In the afternoon, scholars visited the Jinmei Human Rights Memorial Park. Founded in 2018 as a National Human Right Museum, it was originally a detention center that housed political criminals during the darker times of the Martial Law Period in the Taiwan’s history. At the time of its founding, it was Asia’s first historical site that described in detail of the human rights violation back when Taiwan had a period of authoritarian rule. It was also proof that the democracy Taiwan had today came at a cost and was not easy to obtain.

Through learning about what drove Taiwan’s economy and the dark history of Taiwan’s modern politics, the scholars now had a more in-depth understanding of Taiwan’s social culture.