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Guangfu Township in Hualien, Taiwan

The next morning Cole gives Azhou the purple Teddy Bear he won from basketball at the night market. Our family drives to Guangfu Township, an area known for its indigenous Amis culture. We stop at a 7-11, pick out some dried sour plums and other treats, then walk to Guangfu Sugar Factory. The factory has a shop that sells homemade ice cream made with sugarcane. The kids choose from over 20 flavors and we eat ice cream by the pond. Guangfu was once full of sugarcane plantations and a center for sugar production. We walk and admire the old Japanese style wooden houses that were built during the Japanese colonial era, eat ice cream cones, and feed giant koi fish in the pond. For lunch we go to a traditional Amis restaurant to taste aboriginal cooking. Purple rice, yan kao yu (salt cooked fish), duck, small shrimp, raw scallion, and soup. The kids love the seafood and want to eat fish eyeballs like my grandparents would always do. My cousin teaches them how, and they really enjoy it! After tasting lots of good food, we learn about aboriginal farming and cooking at Mataian Wetland Ecological Park.

Things to know:

*Guangfu Township is located in Hualien.

*It is notable for its rich indigenous Amis culture. 

*The area was once full of sugarcane plantations and a center for sugar production.

*Mataian Wetland Ecological Park is a natural marshland with over 100 special of aquatic plants.

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