The virtual history of tourism: From the remnants of life in Penghu Hua-Zai village

Abstract

Hua-Zai is a village on Penghu Wangan Island, located on the east side of the Taiwan Strait of Taiwan. West of the village near the coast, north, east and south surround on three sides to hold a gentle hill. That is the traditional village-type of Han Chinese immigrants facing the sea settlement. Locals call the quiet Hua-Zai Village, by its name Jung-She, or "Flower Village", this name first appeared in the Qing Dynasty in 1699, learned on the basis of local genealogy, the late Ming having recorded that ancestors settled. It is believed to have existed as a settlement since Han Chinese from mainland China began settling there three centuries ago. The Hua-Zai Village obtained the valuable World Monuments Watch (WMF) announcing that it is on the "List of 100 most endangered sites", and recognized that the settlement has been there for three centuries of the Chinese Han people immigration and cultural development, in 2004. The new designation for Hua-Zai Village may finally bring about much-needed government support for the challenging work of preserving the houses in the village, which is considered the largest and most well-preserved early Han settlement in Taiwan. The islands geographical environment restricts and decides the life appearance. Hua-Zai Village's geographical environment limits agriculture cultivation, but the fishery resources are rich, the settlement keeping the Han traditional houses, temples, cowshed, water wells, the wharves and the industrial structures. Those architectural styles are regarded as the model of the Han people's traditional settlement, which dates back 75 to 150 years, have not been modified and reflect designs handed down from early Han settlers. Village maintenance is traditional, the farming and fishing way, facing up to bad living conditions, the performance fusion on the diverse geographical environment and the building structure. Lifestyle is keeping a relic of ancient times. In recent years, as more than half of the village's approximately 151 old houses were damaged, although some 50 structures still remain intact, the landscape has partly been marred by the damaged buildings. Even today, some of the remaining 100 villagers - mostly senior citizens and children - live the same way their ancestors did, fishing, collecting seaweed and growing their own food. Despite the settlement's long history, the houses' unique architectural features and historical significance were not appreciated. There still maintains the old wisdom of living in harmony with nature that is valuable, and deserves to be preserved, protected and passed on. The tourists can not understand the meaning of settlement construction and lifestyle. Hence, this study wants to use the humanities histories display on the geographical environment, and humanities history's evolution and geographical environment's vicissitude. In order to reach this plan target, reference to human geography research and old photographs, measured every house, recorded details of their decoration and analyzed the skillful way the coral stones were stacked and held together by a lime and mud mortar. Moreover, by using 3D laser scanner Collected spatial data for drawing 3D models and edit the script, which judged the buildings original appearance and simulated lifestyle. Construct Virtual History of Tourism-to return from the remnants of the Hua-Zai Village life. © 2011 WIT Press.