The most productive of Shanshang is fruit, the specialties are pineapples, mangos, dragon fruits, greenhouse papayas, water caltrops, winter melon, orchids. Nevertheless, with the big flock of youngsters into the cities, rural labor is facing the aging and industrial decline. The government rolled out numerous preferential conditions and subsidies to encourage young farmers to return and make a creation. In USR plan’s stand, TUT starts mainly from constructing the combination between local peasants and public resources, focusing on community construction of young farmers’ return, and optimizing ecosystem of young farmers’ return to promote community and industry development and at the same time build up the brand model of young farmers - community culture - brand forge.
The key of local rural community creation has to find its root in producers themselves, consciousness, and attitude. The person in charge of K. Fika cafe is Chen Yun-Ju and head-water’s Peng Wei-Kai chose to go back to hometown; they give their endeavor and in the meanwhile set up the basement for their dreams. Apart from their own business, they also actively join the festivals in Shanshang District so as to keep the Shanshang Garden and Old Waterworks Museum at bay and go into communities to activate the local economy.
K. Fika cafe: the refreshment of Shanshang
Strolling from Shanshang Garden and Old Waterworks Museum all the way to Shangshan downtown, there is a two-story white building near Shangshan elementary school. She chose to accompany her parents in her hometown despite the fact that she spent years abroad and got a master's degree in curating in Australia. From 2019, the museum gradually brought visitors to Shangshan; however, he found that there was a lack of local graceful cuisines and recreational space. Hence, she decided to combine produce of local farmers, to develop specialties and drinks of Shangshan. The outline bears north Europe style and rural Shangshan temperament, which articulates the unique field landscape. She insisted on using Shangshan ingredients to make stylish dishes, making sauces on her own without preservatives and conditioning packages to ensure the health of customers; Strictly choosing the coffee beans with the use of more than 20 kinds of African Arabica beans to create the flavor exclusive of K.Fika. The business also more tightens her family. Her mother, the former curator of Shangshan Library, rolls up the sleeves on every cuisine as well.
We knew Yun-Ju in the 2019 Shangshan Papaya Festival and since then she has started her return. From menu design, cuisine development, drink making to 178 cuisine map marketing in 2020, there were a series of intense combinations. Later we found Yun-Ju is an alumni of TUT and she wasso willing to provide intern chances for students. Through the teamwork of USR plan, K. Fika can further serve as the driving force of Shangshan community industrial development. In a sense, it can grant the tourists a down-to-earth place; in the future, K. Fika will enable more people to contact the history, culture, and industry of Shangshan by playing the role of local tour design hub, and thus make it possible for the local creation with Garden and Old Waterworks Museum.
Head-water Smoothie: the consistent nature of the owner and the store
Peasant Peng Wei-kai’s father moved to Shangshan as a farmer, who grew green bamboo shoots at first but later chose pineapples due to higher financial value. He bears a distinguishing affection for pineapples because he had spending weekends from primary to senior high on the farmland. He takes on the career later. In 2019, the Shangshan Papaya festival and the young farmer market at the opening of the Garden and Old Waterworks Museum started his slashing career. At first, he only developed fruit-related drinks and products for the activity, yet later he ran his own smoothie store on account of the fondness of this dessert. The store is located on the road near highway no.3 to the museum. The tidy yet heartwarming store serves drinks, dried fruit and smoothie made from local fruits, which enhances the sale of local produce and activates the community economy as well.
Wei-Kai’s sweety pineapple boasts a strong local touch among Shangshan young farmers in this plan. TUT personnel and students ordered nearly 200 boxes in the total number of 1000 ones at the marketing press conference for Shangshan pineapple entrepreneurial subscription! Such the savory pineapples that makes us think about how to get Wei-Kai or even Shangshan District to be well recognized. A series of discussions on how to roll out local touch pineapple gift boxes and drinks could be one of the ways to better Shangshan fruits.
In October 2020, K. Fika and Head-Water won a big wave of compliments by special drinks assisted by this plan in the Shangshan District community construction and industry promotion outcome exhibition. We also got the approving vote from Shangshan District director to deepen the assistance to young farmers and enlarge the community construction as well as industry promotion, by which we can further strengthen the combination between old waterworks museum and Shangshan local creation.