The New Immigrant Family Service Center of Miaoli County is holding the "2023 Local Characteristics / Multi-cultural Lectures for New Immigrants – Local Traditional Skills – Bulrush Weaving" event on Sunday, September 24, 2023, from 8am to 12:30pm. New immigrants and their family members are welcome to participate in the activity.  

During the Japanese occupation period, bullrush weaving was one of Taiwan's top five exported agricultural products, the output value of which was next only to sugar and rice, and was an important lifeline of Taiwan's exports. In the past, many fields in Yuanli district did not grow rice but Triangular Rush, commonly known as Yuanli Rush. The leaves are degenerated and the stem is triangular tube shaped (three-diamond shape). The plant is very similar to monophyllus, which grows along the sea coast, but blossoms differently. Therefore, Yuanli is called "The Town of the Bulrush Land", where tens of hectares of bulrush fields used to be, producing 200 beds of straw mats per day. According to statistics, 16 million straw hats were exported in 1935. If calculated in Taiwan dollars at that time, the output value was tens of million dollars.

Traditional skills are gradually disappearing. To maintain local traditional skills and culture, local communities are committed to passing on traditional skills. To provide new immigrants who have left their home countries for marriage in Taiwan and their families with an opportunity to learn local traditional skills, the New Immigrant Family Service Center is inviting a bulbrush weaving lecturer to introduce the story of bulrush development in Taiwan and the difficulty and future prospects of traditional industry development. Attendees will also learn about and experience bulrush weaving.   

We invite new immigrants and their families to participate in the activity and learn about the local multicultural environment of Miaoli County. New immigrants and their family members are very welcome to sign up for the event. The number of places is limited. Please call 037-277115 or 037-277117 to register.