Park Introduction
Due to agriculture reform and transformation, the Demonstration Leisure Farm subordinate to Kinmen County Agricultural Research Institute (the Institute) has turned its direction in the 1990s towards natural ecological and educational park and applied a series of eco-design oriented construction with ecological techniques for purposes of education and farm eco-environment improvement. Thanks to the intact preservation of ecology environment and the diversity in biology, seasonal biological cycle is kept going on in habitats; hence various ecology conditions are presented in difference seasons. For example, various plants present themselves in the park, such as lycoris radiata, lilium formosanum, ardisia crenata sims, syzygium buxifolium, rosmarinus officinalis, lavender, glycine tomentella hayata, etc.; as for animals and insects, there are fireflies, thorn bugs, cormorants, kingfishers, white-throated kingfishers, pied kingfishers, hoopoes, etc. – even Eurasian Otters which are dying out in Taiwan have rejoined mother nature once again. It is a schoolroom of nature that presents us with full of surprises! With your heart devoted to observe and experience, you will be taking home “loads of harvest”!
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| Front Gate |
Water Mill |
Wooden bridge |
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| Leisure Hut |
Irritation Reservoir |
Hero Slope |
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| Ecology Pond |
Ecology Equalization Pond |
Blossom Arcade |
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| Glycine Tomentella Hayata (The Root) |
Lycoris radiata (red spider lily) |
鸕鷀 |
1、 Front gate: delivering a welcoming message with a gate in Southern Min style, which resembles horseback.
2、 Water mill: the experience of collecting water in an ancient village, giving you a taste of our ancestors’ wisdom and diligence, as well as testing your physical coordination and reflections.
3、 Wooden bridge: on the path on which Houlong River crosses the research institute, there are three wooden arch bridges which are diverse in their unique, elegant designs.
4、 Leisure hut: simple, straightforward, with neat outlines, located between hills and a river under the Hero Slope, would it remind you of the rhymes in your childhood: “A river runs past my home, stands behind us a slope…"
5、Irritation reservoir: apart from being the all-year-long irritation water source for experimental fields, it also helps in flood control, water purification, production of natural products, as well as leisure and education.
6、 Hero Slope: the highest elevation in Leisure Farm. Climb up Hero Slope and you can overlook the entire beauty of this farm, or even see beyond the top peak in Kinmen – Mt. Taiwu, the “Sky-pillar Stone Chamber” (擎天石室) on which was the residence and military command center for former presidents: Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo.
7、 Ecology pond: a water conservation pond in opening design is adopted, combined with hydrophytes and extended path of water flow, offering adequate time for the deposit and filtration of organic compounds, absorption of pollutants and water purification, resulting in a habitat with diverse biological conditions.
8、 Ecology equalization pond: constructed with local, natural materials, maintaining the original appearance and natural bends of the earth bank and integrating with the surrounding landscape, resulting in less impact imposed upon the ecology environment; its structure is capable of providing animals, plants or insects with a proper habitat, as well as offering a disaster prevention and ecology recovery capacity.
9、Blossom Arcade: with a sloping roof and a circular arch, the Blossom Arcade is a place for visitors to relax and feel the surrounding farming atmosphere. It reveals the whole industry which is the fundamental and closely bound to our daily life.
10、Glycine tomentella hayata: a genus of healthcare plants in the perennial bean family Fabaceae, originated in Kinmen, nick-named as “The Root” due to its taproot. It is also deemed by island inhabitants as the source of life, a heaven-sent and magical herb for health care. Its taproot is as thick as an adult’s finger, straight and 50cm-long, difficult to pull out from the ground, hence called “The Root”(一條根), “Weighty Pull” (千斤拔), “Heavy Pull”(千觔拔). It is highly effective in invigorating spleen and replenishing qi, nourishing liver and kidney, physique strengthening, blood circulation stimulating and muscle relaxing.
11、 Lycoris radiata (red spider lily): autumn winds rise in every August when burning heat being taken over by cool breeze. Odd, yet in pride, in full blossom are the red spider lily that sees beyond autumn breezes and swings all along. Without green leaves, abrupt and hasty it might appear – that is the endeavor of its three years of preparation. Blossom! Let the amazing flowers stand abloom, may those who forget about us remain enjoying our beauty again at this time of year.
12、Eurasian Otter: Eurasian Otter is listed in the international and domestic catalogue of protected animals; it is a species of Class 1 endangered animals. Eurasian Otters haven’t appear on the main island of Taiwan, and the only registered discovery of them is in Kinmen.