National Parks of Taiwan

With binoculars in hand, they watch birds on the treetops. With mini mics in hand, they vividly interpret for tourists. With medicine and gauze in hand, they take good care of injured birds. With their hands in each other’s for the rest of their life, they are the legendary couple in the national park.

Li-min Yin, an interpreter at Yushan National Park’s Tataka Station and full of vigor and with a sweet voice; Liang-li Liu, an assistant professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management at Kainan University and an organized person with a moderate manner and a good command of lame jokes. They are a couple with apparently different personalities, but share a common interest: ecological conservation.

Liang-li has been a volunteer interpreter at Yushan National Park since his college years. With a Bachelor degree and a Master degree in biology at NCKU and NTNU respectively, he furthered his pursuit of a Ph.D degree in wildlife and fisheries sciences in Texas. Busy as he always has been, he never stops being a volunteer for the nature, as he has cared about macaques and black-faced spoonbills. He was a senior colleague to Li-min in ecological conservation.

Li-min majored in history in college, but was strongly interested in ecological conservation. In the years when she worked as a journalist and frequently went into aboriginal tribes for interviews, she had been deeply moved by the simplicity of aboriginal cultures. Later she became a field research assistant for ecological study under Professor Ying Wang of NTNU, and has since walked into the domain of aboriginal cultures and ecological study. She met Liang-li back then, who was a graduate student advised by Professor Wang, but they didn’t know that Cupid had aimed his bow and arrows at them.

Afterwards, Li-min recommended herself for the position as an interpreter, and sent one resume to Yangmingshan National Park, which was quite close to where she lived, and the other to Yushan National Park, which she had never been to. In the end she headed for Yushan, and first served in its headquarters and then volunteered to transfer to Meishan Station, where she had stayed for seven years, until a recent transfer to Tataka Station. “Most people would beg to get transferred to the headquarters, but I am so talkative and especially so interested in interacting with tourists that outpost stations are where I belong,” she said with a hearty laugh

Li-min was like a bird flying high in the mountains, and Liang-li, who had joined the interpreting job regularly, was entirely attracted to the hospitable and radiant Li-min. With such disparity in personalities, the couple, however, is just made for each other. They represent a blend of activeness and quietness, and of toughness and tenderness, just like pebbles in the stream or clouds around the ridge, a perfect match under the nature’s hand.

They Draw Everything They Achieve Something

Liang-li and Li-min make an impression on many people through the couple’s works. The insightful Yushan National Park Headquarters (YNPH) discovered the couple’s talents, and published a series of award-winning works.

One year senior to Li-min, Liang-li has been like a teacher that helps her learn and grow. Starting from their first book, The Footfalls in the Verdant Valley, the text has been written by Liang-li, who excels in logic, while the illustrations drawn by Li-min, who has keen perception of aesthetics.

Interviewer & Text ／Wan-ching Lai
Translator／ Kuanyu Ou
Photo provided by／Liang-li Liu

Such teamwork has not only won praises but also achieved impressive accomplishments. Through their works such as Dancing feathers in Yushan, People’s Words & Birds’ Chirps, as well as the award-winning The Footfalls in the Verdant Valley: the Story of the Birds, their unique style became widely known.

Li-min never scribbles to meet the deadlines, but always takes her time instead. Normally it would take a couple of years for her to finish all the illustrations for just one book. “These books are published not for getting paid but for sharing our thoughts. So there is no hurry. We won’t publish unless we are ready.”

Despite the lack of formal education in arts, Li-min is by no means an amateur when she draws. She never uses erasers and always finishes a drawing at one go. “I don’t have that much patience. I am quick in drawing. It wouldn’t take me more than one day to draw a piece of illustration because I’ll get sick of it if I spend too much time on it,” laughed Li-min. Take The Footfalls in the Verdant Valley for example. She just first sketched the outlines of a bird on black paper with a white pen, and then drew the details of it. “This is a great strategy I’d like to recommend to parents. They may draw with their kids on black paper using crayons or pastels to create colorful paintings. In this way kids would get a sense of accomplishment and enjoy drawing a lot more.”

Free and easygoing, Li-min may draw anytime and anywhere. She doesn’t have a decent studio, but with a ballpoint pen and on a casual sheet of copy paper, she can draw all the vivid postures of animals. An art professor at NTNU once sighed that if such a natural as Li-min had received formal trainings on arts, she would have become an extraordinary painter.

Living in the Mountains as Love Follows Around

Li-min is modest about her talent in drawing, seeing it as a hobby that helps her kill time. What she really feels enthusiastic about is to promote the integration between national parks and aboriginal cultures.

The couple fell in love at Yushan National Park, and their son was named after Yushan, too. “Because he was born in Yushan, that’s why we named him ‘Yu-sheng‘.” Currently in the third grade, little Yu-sheng inherited the strengths of his parents, and was taken to Meishan Station by Li-min at the age of about two months and had spent a happy childhood there.

So fond of aboriginal cultures, Li-min has maximized her passion for aborigines. She chose for her son a nanny from the Bunun Tribe, and Yu-sheng had been growing up with other kids in the tribe, acquiring Bunun language, learning Bunun dance, listening to Bunun fables, and identifying himself as a Bunun.

Working in the national park has enriched Li-min’s life. To her, she feels no difference between work and life when in the mountains. When on duty, she is the most talkative interpreter, grabbing tourists’ attention with vivid stories. During her off-duty time, she dedicates herself to the tribe by organizing the “Yushan Ma-su-hua Culture and Performing Arts Company,” where she designed the flag, choreographs, and arranges performances for the Company, and practices and goes on tour with other members.

“In the nearly seven years at Meishan Station, the aboriginal cultures had been the focus of my life.

In Bunun language, mu-sa-hua translates as ‘Meishan Village,’ meaning where there are lots of Yellow Rotang Palms. The Company had performed at places including the Presidential Office and Taipei 101, and is a major indicator group of the tribal development of and integration between aborigines and national parks,” said Li-min. Her experience with the Company has established an example of the integration between national parks and aboriginal cultures, and is significant to aboriginal cultures.

During those days at Meishan, the couple was separated by the Pacific Ocean, with Liang-li working on his Ph.D. in the U.S. and Li-min enjoying the mountains and forests with their son. For about six years, Li-min had had to work and take care of Yu-sheng all by herself. Only when Liang-li had a break did the whole family get to briefly spend some time together. But Li-min never took such days as hardship but as something sweet and enjoyable.

Cultivate t Next Generation with Spirit of LOHAS

The couple has worked mostly with their son by their side, which contributes to Yu-sheng’s strong legs for mountain hiking. Yu-sheng had climbed Mt. Jade Main Peak when he was only five. They started at 6 in the morning, and got to Paiyun Lodge around 10 a.m.. When Yu-sheng was too exhausted to keep walking, he would nag to hear stories about the mountains. The stories lighted up the excitement in his eyes and drove away all his fatigue in an instant. In the end they were 600 meters short of reaching the peak due to the heavy rain and strong wind. It wouldn’t have been impossible to go for the summit if they had really tried, but Li-min just wouldn’t want to push their son too hard, which might turn him away from the mountains after he grows up.

“Yu-sheng had been growing up with Bunun people, and I sent him to Taipei when he was almost the age for elementary school. He had then attended a kindergarten in Taipei for six months, and been taken care of by Liang-li.”

In those six months, Li-min missed Yu-sheng so much that she had many sleepless nights, in which she would get up and draw illustrations. She said that half year was the most productive time she’d ever had. She would transfer the feeling of missing her son to the creation of works, and would draw all night long and finish a whole piece by daybreak, and then head straight to the Station for the day’s work.

Not long afterwards, Li-min put her son to Siang-lin Elementary School at Alishan for the first two grade years before she transferred him back to Taipei again for his third grade.

Siang-lin Elementary School is the nearest one to Tataka as “nearest” means a 21-km drive for Li-min to send Yu-sheng to school. “We would get up 5-ish every morning. Even in the near-0℃ morning in winter, Yu-sheng and I were still high-spirited and had fun all the way to the school,” said Li-min. Sometimes they would spot some animals like snakes or Mikado Pheasants, and would pull over and go take a look. That’s how little Yu-sheng got trained to be capable of ecological observation, and binoculars have been his favorite toy.

“For the national park, environmental education is given on a regular basis. YNPH has been doing a lot of “foundation” work at all those elementary schools in the mountain area.” All the faculty and staff and students of each grade may join the lectures provided by the interpreters of YNPH, whom all the kids would watch and listen to with full attention.

“Our volunteers would share with kids their experiences. Everything from the stars in the sky to the Sambar Deers on the ground, all the ecological facts kids have got are first-hand data. The kids have become the little seeds and little volunteers for our national park. They would go home and pass on some correct concepts about conservation.” Li-min said the Park tends to meet some frowns if the interpreters directly talk to the adults, but through kids it’ll be more effective. Such seed projects have never been halted because the Park really wants conservation to become part of kids’ knowledge.

Sturdy Arms Gentle Support

The thoughtful and prudent Liang-li has always been the strongest support to Li-min. On the day of this interview, Liang-li had sorted out all the pictures for the interview in advance, and brought his laptop computer to explain each picture in detail, showing a typical meticulous personality of a professor. Li-min is in bliss to have Liang-li as her partner as he always files every little thing for Li-min. Even for some letters or e-mail years ago, as long as what it is about and the approximate date are given, Liang-li could find it at once with such unbelievable capability of filing.

The seemingly rational Liang-li, in fact, is an extremely gentle person. “When we were in the lab, the professor once wanted us to measure the animal carcasses in the fridge and reorganize them. So there were dead animals everywhere in the lab, kind of scary.

All the other students just took the measuring tape, measured the animals, and then threw them to the side, you know, just like a machine. But Liang-li held the animals in his hands with care, and recorded everything in detail, and then gently put them down. I was really impressed by the respect he showed to the carcasses.”

As a husband, Liang-li is just as gentle and considerate. He learned Li-min’s strong devotion to the mountains, so he took over most of the responsibilities of taking care of Yu-sheng, even though he was loaded with his teaching job. He would get up early to prepare steamed buns for Yu-sheng and send him to school, and cook dinner after coming off work, only to leave Li-min carefree. And Liang-li is also the best mentor to Li-min. “Every time I got injured animals at the outpost, I would call him and describe the appearances and conditions of the animals, and learn by phone how to apply first aid. After a while I became quite experienced, and many of my colleagues who got injured animals would get me to handle it, which I’d feel quite honored to do.”

Li-min is full of endless power to create while Liang-li has thoughtful capacity to act. During the interview, the couple elaborated in excitement on their next plan – conservation of macaques – and they were more than ready to show me all the photos of macaques. The couple is always as energetic as fully-charged batteries that never seem to run down. Their passion permeates every corner of Yushan National Park and touches the heart of every tourist visiting there, filling the mountains and forests with love.