The Harvest Festival of Amis: Preservation and Innovation of the Minority Groups and Their Culture

“Nga’ay Ho” Hello!

YHA Youth Cultural Exchange Tour has come to its third year and this year is being hosted by Taiwan YHA at Hualien, Taiwan. With the theme of preserving the minority groups, participants can enrich their understanding in Taiwanese aborigines and even participate in the biggest annual festival of Amis “The Harvest Festival”.

Taiwanese aborigines are the indigenous peoples of Taiwan, who number more than 530,000 and constitute nearly 2.3% of the island’s population. Kanew, Amis who has chosen to work for his tribe, is going to be our docent throughout the tour and explain with us the culture of Taiwanese aborigines. Participants can grasp the preservation and innovation of the minority groups and their culture through a series of rural cultural activities and discussions.

(Thanks for all your support! All reservations are full.)

Theme: Preservation and innovation of the ethnic groups and their culture

Date: 24-27 August, 2017 (4D3N)

Locations: Taipei and Hualien, Taiwan

Participants: Youngsters aged 18 to 30

Fee: HKD2,700 (Member); HKD2,800 (Non-member)*

The price includes meals, accommodation, transportation, guided tour and insurance during the tour, as well as the flight ticket incurred in between Hong Kong and Taiwan. (Does not include participants’ personal spending during the Tour)

*Complimentary 1-year YHA senior membership will be offered

Registration Deadline: 20 July 2017 (Thu)

Enquiry Email and Hotline: [email protected]  /  (852) 27881638

Others:

1. Participants are required to prepare a presentation about “Preservation and innovation of the ethnic groups and their culture”. The format of presentation can be PPT, video or photos.
2. Each participant has to prepare gifts which represent Hong Kong, for exchanging with participants from Taiwan and China.

Please click here for the itinerary. (Traditional Chinese only)

About the Harvest Festival of Aims

The Harvest Festival, also known as “Harvest Ceremony”, is one of the most important and stately festival for Aims, one of the indigenous tribes in Taiwan. Not only does the festival being held to celebrate the harvest, but also to have the meaning of respecting their ancestors. Similar to the Chinese New Year, Amis will wish for a bumper grain harvest, growth of population and stock breeding in the coming year. Tafalong, one of the tribe of Amis, name this period of time as “Pipik Dan No Mihca”, meaning the momentous turning point of the year.

About Hualien

Hualien has the largest area among all the counties in Taiwan. It faces the Pacific Ocean to the east, and Central Mountain Range to the west bordering Taichung City. Taiwanese aborigines have been staying in this gorgeous and calm region for more than 5000 years.

About a hundred years ago, Japanese discovered this treasure and started to spread its culture and custom here. During the tour, we will explore the influence of Japanese culture to Hualien’s tribes in the sense of customs, notion and housing.