Liudui Hakka Cultural Park

Today we��re cycling in Pingtung, and we��re going to visit the Liudui Hakka Cultural Park.
Pingtung has public bicycles that you can rent with a credit card or iPass. Today we��re riding on the first and so far the only bicycle path in Taiwan that runs under the freeway.
When the Hakkas immigrated to Taiwan from China, one group went to the north and one group came to the south. Around 1721, times were difficult, crime often broke out and looting was prevalent in this part of Taiwan. The Hakkas in the south formed six military camps to protect themselves. ��Liudui" means ��six camps.�� The conflict eventually subsided, but the six villages in which Hakka people in the south lived came to be known as ��Liudui.�� this is Liudui Hakka Cultural Park.

Here at the cultural park, you can learn a lot about Hakka culture, including what Hakka people in southern Taiwan eat.
This is pork knuckles. Savory, spicy and garlic-y.
There are lots of really great displays here. This was a real tobacco barn, originally built 65 years ago. Lots of tobacco was produced here because the government gave price guarantees on tobacco, which makes good money to begin with.
In the park, rice paddies and tobacco fields are living displays and they cycle through them several times a year.
This is the ��bagong,�� or the earth god, a real earth god. When do people pray to him? Once in the morning and once at night. For what do people pray to him? Anything. ��Bagong�� is like everyone��s uncle, people pray to him like they do to their ancestors.
To be honest, this is my first time in Pingtung City and at the Liudui Hakka Cultural Park. We, just like 99% of everyone else, usually go straight to Kenting for the beach to go surfing. If you want to get to know Hakka culture and enjoy this wonderful cultural space, this is where you should come!