Shanhua is situated in the Chianan Plain
to the south of Zengwun River.
With a natural water resource,
there is a sugar factory, brewery,
and flourishing agriculture.
Crops include rice, sugarcanes, sesame, and strawberries.
After the establishment of the Southern Taiwan Science Park,
Shanhua became even livelier.
Apart from the Science Park,
there also was an increase in installation arts and parks.
Shanhua is a city worth moving to.
Hi, everyone. I’m Grace.
I’m now in Shanhua.
It’s located in the center of old Tainan.
Welcome joining me to visit Shanhua!
There are lots of farmlands and orchards in Tainan,
so we have hundreds of agricultural products.
Now I’m going to the strawberry field,
so follow me to pick strawberries!
Winter is strawberry season.
People who like strawberries must not pass up this opportunity.
Let’s go strawberry picking together!
Look, they are so pretty.
And… cut the stalk.
And put it in your bucket.
You can pick the red and pretty one,
and this one is not red yet,
so let’s go on.
This one is so pretty!
Bring it home!
Strawberry picking is simple.
Strawberries that are big and red are sweeter!
Also make sure that the strawberry stem isn’t too long,
or you might bruise the strawberry.
By the way, why does Shanhua produce strawberries?
Why people plant the strawberry in Shanhua?
We believe that strawberries are of great economical value,
so that’s why we introduced them here(Shanhua).
Back in the days, Mr. Huang Ta-chou
introduced Japanese strawberries
and encouraged farmers to plant them.
To date it has been over 30 years.
How to grow and take care of strawberry?
Strawberry seeds or strawberry planters
are best placed where they are suitable for growth.
For instance, in shaded areas,
or partial shade.
Strawberry season is between November
and the April of the following year.
After the Lantern Festival and before Tomb-Sweeping Day
is when it’s in full season.
There are larger harvests so prices are relatively cheaper.
For those interested in hand-picking strawberries
you can choose to go at that time 可以選在這個時間來
to get the most bang for your buck.
Beside picking strawberry,
they also have the ice cream and the strawberry jam.
So let’s try the strawberry ice cream.
You can really taste the strawberry in the ice cream,
and you can smell the strong odor of the strawberry.
Strawberries are a symbol of happiness.
Many couples come here to pick strawberries!
Huh, how come I smell tea eggs?
Here we can also taste the strawberry and tea flavored eggs.
It smells so good.
And you can taste the sweet of the tea and strawberry.
It’s so lively on the strawberry farm.
It seems like everyone is busy picking strawberries!
How was the harvest today? (Not bad)
Did you pick any that are especially beautiful?
I think they’re all the same.
Shanhua strawberries are awesome!
If you have the chance to Shanhua,
don’t forget to come here to pick strawberries.
Now we’re at the Shanhua Brewery.
Follow me to look around here.
Let’s go!
Let’s welcome Mr.Hsieh.
Hi, Executive Director Hsieh.
Hi there, welcome to our factory.
Let me introduce
our beer museum.
I’ll take you on a tour inside. (OK)
Within the Shanhua Beer Museum,
you can understand the whole beer making process.
You can also see the different packaging over the years.
It is a concentrated history of the brewery.
Are there any reason that the brewery
was constructed in Shanhua?
The brewery started construction from 1973.
When choosing a location,
we took into account Zengwen
and Wusanto Reservoir being close by.
Quality beer can only be made with quality water.
Being close to a water source is also an important aspect.
The main water source for Shanhua Brewery
is from Wusanto Reservoir.
When water levels are low,
water is sent from Zengwen Reservior into the Wusanto Reservoir.
With such a water resource advantage,
no wonder Shanhua was chosen as the location for the brewery.
In addition to different kinds of beers,
the Shanhua Brewery has also developed
a cleaning agent with natural anti-bacterial effects
from the alcohol of the fermentation broth
of beer and other grains
added in with the extract of spent hops.
It can be used to wash dishes, vegetables, or fruit.
Could you tell us a little about how to brew beer?
The main ingredient of beer is malted barley.
We choose high quality barley
imported from Europe.
Taiwan Beer is made from ingredients such as
barley, japonica rice, and hops.
After the barley is imported,
the barley sorting machine
retains the big and full kernels and filters out the rest.
The selected barley will be steeped in water and then placed
onto the germination bed
to start the malting process.
Then the drying process takes place along
with the removal of the sprouts from the kernels.
The kernels, now known as malts are
then preserved for further use.
Here is the brewhouse of the brewery,
and you can see the control room there.
This is our saccharification equipment.
The next step in the beer-brewing process is saccharification.
The process involves the addition of crushed malts
into boiled japonica rice,
so that the starch undergoes saccharification
and becomes gliadin.
After filtration, hop is added
and the whole concoction is boiled,
and set aside for precipitation and cooling.
The resultant mixture is known as wort.
The next step is fermentation.
This is our current fermentation equipment.
Breweries continuously replace and upgrade their equipment.
We are using the latest technology for fermentation.
It’s actually very cold inside the fermentation room,
so when you visit here, remember to bring a jacket!
Here is yeast room,
and bottle stores yeast.
The cooled wort is poured into fermentation vats,
Along with beer yeast and
germ-free air to start the principal fermentation process.
The resultant beer is known as a lager.
The fermentation control room also has a wall for control systems.
In the early days we used this control panel
to control the whole process.
Now all we need is a single computer!
The following steps are storing,
filtering,
packaging
and finally, delivery.
This is our packaging factory.
So we can see the beer is being packaged here.
From bottling, labeling, and boxing
the whole process is automated.
After touring the beer making process,
how can we pass up a chance at trying the delicious beer?
Today you’re lucky
to come to our promotional center.
Give it a taste.
Cheers!
It’s very smooth.
And you can smell the aroma of the malt.
Cheers!
Enjoy your beer,
but remember don’t drive after drinking.
Sesame is an important ingredient in Taiwanese cuisines.
People love the aroma of sesame,
and use them to make dishes more delicious and beautiful.
Shanhua is also a place that has the products of sesame.
They even hold the festival of sesame every year.
Let’s welcome Ms. Hong.
Hi there Director-general Hong.
Hello, hi everyone.
Ms. Hong, which season can we collect the sesame?
There are two harvest seasons per year for sesame.
In the summer, it is harvested around June and July.
The second season falls around November and December.
Most farmers choose the second season,
because you won’t be able to harvest if it rains
or there is a typhoon in the summer.
Why is sesame good for our health?
Sesame is rich in iron, calcium, and anthocyanin
so it improves cardiovascular health.
Oh, no wonder after I drink a bowl of sesame oil chicken soup
my whole body feels warmer.
Sesame contains vitamin E,
so it is also good for the skin!
No wonder apart from sesame oil and flaxseed oil,
sesame can also be made into soap and mosquito repellant.
In addition, it can also be made into sesame powder,
sesame paste, and sesame candy.
The dreg left over from oil extraction can
also be turned into organic fertilizer.
Wow! Nothing is put to waste!
Could you tell us how to recognize the good sesame oil?
Normally the sesame oil you see
is black in color.
Here, ours is brown
and amberish.
If the temperature is too high when extracting sesame oil,
the oil turns black and the taste gets bitter.
It will be bad for our health.
When choosing sesame the most important thing is freshness.
Sesame oil made from sesame picked straight
from where it’s produced
is both fresh and nutritious.
There are many sesame fields in Shanhua.
During harvest seasons, farmers would tie them up into bundles
and dry them under the sun for two weeks.
After that is the process of threshing.
Sesame purchased by the Shanhua Farmer’s
Association must pass inspections
before being shipped to processing plants.
The first step in processing the sesame seeds is baking.
The sesame seeds
are fed into an oven on a conveyor belt.
Once the required temperature has been reached,
oil can be extracted from the seeds,
and the leftover residues can be used as fertilizers or mulch.
The extracted oil can now be bottled and packaged.
The Farmer’s Association not only sells sesame oil,
but also sesame oil chicken soup.
Bei-an, try some of our Shanhua sesame oil chicken.
We made this ourselves.
It’s hard to find sesame oil chicken made with local sesame.
You can taste the sweet of chicken in the soup,
and it smells so good.
The chicken is very tender and very chewing,
and you can smell the aroma of sesame in this sesame oil chicken.
Those that like sesame oil chicken are in for a treat.
You don’t have to wait until the sesame festival
to eat sesame oil chicken.
You can also find many sesame related products in Shanhua!
We can collect the sesame seeds from this.
And we have the products like sesame cookies
and sesame oil chicken in Shanhua.
Shen Guan-wen is an indispensable person of Taiwan’s education.
So you can see the Guan-wen Road and the monument
of Shen Guan-wen in Shanhua.
Shen Guan-wen was born in the Ming Dynasty
and arrived in Taiwan in 1662.
He lived in Shanhua
and contributed greatly to local education
and medicine development.
He created Taiwan’s first poet’s club, the East Yin Club.
He had many literary works
and was respected as a leader in Taiwan’s culture and education.
He even was idolized by later generations.
At the Shen Guan-wen Monument, there is a list for test takers.
Many people come here to pray for good grades.
If you come to Shanhua be sure not to miss it!
After our trip in Shanhua,
I hope you are more interested in this multivariate place.
Now, it’s your turn to find out good food, good views,
and good people in Shanhua.
See you!