Taichung City Government-Topics-Hiking and Treasure Hunting ~ Bao Zhi Lin(2005-10)

Words and Pictures by Yang Jing-Yi, Translated by Cara Steenstra

Situated on JunFu Road in Beitun District is

the Taichung City Environmental Protection

Bureau's "Bao Zhi Lin" Recycling Center. It was

once a pre-fab house used by a school after a

disaster. Abandoned furniture is fixed up then

recycled and sold at a cheap price to the public.

The public's response was great and business

was good, and it received a grant from the

Environmental Protection Bureau to build it a

new home, becoming the first of its kind in

Taiwan, a center for environmental protection

education and recreational purposes. The Bao Zhi

Lin Artistic Environmental Protection

Commemoration Park was formally reopened in

August this year.

The park area is spacious, with a nice view of

greenery. Apart from the factory that renews

abandoned furniture, there is also a display area

for these recycled furniture, a classroom, a

pagoda, a pond and recreational facilities in the

park. There is also free wireless internet

connection in the facility.

The "Environmental Protection Classroom"

provides free classes for young school children

where they can learn how to craft various things

out of recycling daily objects. Children can learn about environmental protection through fun and games. Parents or school organizations interested in these activities could call the facility for more information. The "Hundred Year Old Furniture Display Center" has several pieces of furniture that are almost a century old. There are chairs that are remodeled from old Chinese plaques, redwood cupboards and even washbasins crafted from bamboo. These antiques regain their former glory with the careful touch of the technicians there. This display center is very popular, many recycled furniture that are put on display are quickly snapped up. What might have once been a discarded piece of furniture is transformed into something attractive by the technicians here. Smart consumers would have to move quickly. Their anniversary sale every December and January ought not to be missed either.

Take a walk along the garden paths at dusk and

you will hear the songs of birds and insects as

you take in the scene along the way. Bao Zhi Lin

not only provides the community with an educational environmental and multi-purpose

display areas, it also supplies the public with

money saving recycled furniture. Their belief in

environmental protection and their efforts in

educating the public in reusing and recycling are

definitely worth supporting.

Bao Zhi Lin File:

1008-1, JunFu Road, Beitun District, Taichung City

(opposite Jun Gong Elementary School)