The century-old stone terraced fields in Songshan Community Shimen
Updates : 2024-12-02
Popularity 96
Travel tips
- Stop by visiting Qingshan Waterfall and Shimen Cave.
- Walk along the trails and enter the center of the terraced fields like the Utopia.
- April and May, the iris season, is the best time to visit the stone terraced fields.
- Go to the terraced fields viewing platform to overlook the scenery of the century-old stone terraced fields.
Introduction
Songshan Terraced Fields, located near Jianshan Lake in Shimen District, New Taipei City, is the only century-old stone terraced field in Taiwan built with volcanic rocks from Yangmingshan. More than 300 years ago, the ancestors used the three legs of a tripod method to construct the stone walls on the slopes of the ridges. The layers of stones intertwined to form beautiful geometric patterns, which match the nearby field paths uniquely beautiful. April and May are the iris season, and mid-to-late June is the season for the blooming of garden cosmos. This season, the sea of flowers and terraced fields complement each other, and the scenery is more beautiful than one can take in!
Rural regeneration is restoring the terraced fields and cultivating the thousand-year-old rice.
Shimen Songshan Community has many terraced landscapes and rich natural resources. However, the decline of agriculture has led to the outflow of young people. In 2014, Songshan Community successfully proposed a rural regeneration plan and became the seventh community in New Taipei City to complete rural regeneration. Besides, farmers have planted the terraced fields with crops, introducing and growing the Japanese Koshihikari rice variety in the restored century-old stone terraced fields. Because the total ages of the twelve participating farmers are over a thousand years old, this rice is known as "thousand-year-old rice."
The most beautiful paths on farmland are in the Shimen mountain area.
Shimen Songshan Community cooperates with corporate groups and schools by combining environmental restoration and guided tours. They use their working holidays to repair the terraced fields and stone slopes and lead visitors to experience farming, such as seedling cultivation, transplanting, weeding, and harvesting. Through land restoration and farming inheritance, they have advocated combining education with entertainment. The community also promotes non-toxic organic farming, industrial counseling, and rural experience, striving to restore the past rural style.
Services & Facilities
- Viewing Deck
- Hiking Trail
