For business executives accustomed to fast-paced decisions and global markets, Taiwan's rural townships can seem a world away from commercial strategy. Ride the Dongfeng Bicycle Greenway, however, and the land tells its own story: one of reinvention, resourcefulness, and quiet tenacity.

This is more than a scenic cycling route. It is an axis linking historical memory, agricultural heritage, and local innovation.

From Economic Artery to Cycling Destination

The Dongfeng Bicycle Greenway—named for Dongshi and Fengyuan—runs approximately 13 kilometers from Fengyuan District in Taichung City to Dongshi District. Its predecessor, the Dongshi Branch Rail Line, was built during the Japanese colonial period and decommissioned in 1991. For decades, it served as a vital corridor for goods from central Taiwan's mountainous interior, carrying agricultural products, timber, and camphor to wider markets.

Today, through coordinated policy and community engagement, the old rail line has been reimagined as a dedicated cycling path, free from vehicle traffic and rich in scenery. Connected to the adjacent Houfeng Bicycle Path, the full route extends to Houli Train Station, where it links with the Taiwan Railways network. It is one of the rare low-carbon routes where riders can transition seamlessly from bicycle to train.

For those who think in business terms, this transformation offers a compelling model: the successful redefinition of an asset. Old infrastructure need not represent an endpoint—it can be the starting point for something entirely new.

The Reinvention of Dongshi's High-Grafted Pear Industry

The stretch from Shigang to Dongshi is the greenway's most captivating segment. Trees line both sides of the path in an unbroken wash of green, and as the route draws closer to Dongshi, rows of fruit trees come into view—their branches bowed under clusters of white paper bags, each one a quiet testament to generations of agricultural craft.

Beneath those bags grows one of Dongshi's greatest sources of pride: the high-grafted pear. The industry owes its character to the region's exceptional climate—cool winters and wide diurnal temperature swings that yield fruit with crisp, sweet flesh and delicate skin. Local growers use traditional hand-grafting techniques to splice Taiwanese rootstock with Japanese varieties such as Kosui and Shinko. Each developing fruit is then bagged to protect it from pests, disease, and excess sun. The result is export-grade pears of remarkable quality.

The industry faces real pressures—an aging farming population and stiff competition from imported fruit—yet Dongshi's growers have responded with determination. Smart agricultural monitoring, production traceability systems, and agritourism initiatives such as the Pear Blossom Festival and fruit-picking experiences have opened new avenues for the industry. It is a living example of a local sector redefining its value rather than retreating from difficulty.

Beneath the white paper bags grows one of Dongshi's finest products: the high-grafted pear, prized as a premium export-quality fruit. (Photo: Don Chen)

An Ume Plum's Worth of Inspiration: Building an Experiential Industry Chain

Arriving in Dongshi, the author stopped for lunch at a small restaurant run by a young local who had returned to their hometown. The space was clean and unfussy, the menu straightforward, and the food honest—neither heavy nor oily. More than the meal itself, what left an impression was the care visible in every detail: the thoughtful décor, attentive service, and quiet pride of someone who had chosen to come home.

On the ride back toward Houli Train Station, an unexpected encounter brought the journey into sharper focus. Just off the path stood a small processing facility where several women operated machines that stripped the fine fuzz from basket after basket of ume plums (Prunus mume). This, it turned out, was the Dongshi Fruit Market—known locally as the “ku-chhài,” or stripped vegetable, market—once a vital distribution hub for agricultural produce from Taichung's mountain townships.

The market operates at a fraction of its former scale, yet it remains a living reminder of Dongshi's identity as a fruit-producing heartland. As the old railway gave way to a cycling path, tourism became a new kind of lifeline for the region. The harder question is whether that lifeline can generate real momentum—not merely preserve a memory, but power genuine renewal.

The answer may lie not in any single product, but in integrated storytelling and systematic planning. Imagine linking the greenway's roadside farms, processing facilities, markets, eateries, and histories into a seamless orchard-to-table experience. Add youth entrepreneurship resources and brand-building support through local revitalization programs, and Dongshi becomes not just a place of production, but a cultural destination—somewhere with a distinct way of life to share with the world.

At a roadside processing facility, several women operate machines to remove the fuzz from freshly harvested ume plums. The site is part of the Dongshi Fruit Market, once a major distribution hub for produce from Taichung's mountain townships. (Photo: Don Chen)

What the Land Can Teach: A Lesson in Resilience

The Dongfeng Bicycle Greenway is more than a recreational corridor. It is a living thread connecting past and future, agriculture and daily life, history and innovation. For business executives, the journey offers something beyond leisure—a reminder that truly resilient systems are defined not by optimized efficiency alone, but by the capacity to adapt and regenerate value in the face of change.

On this land that continues to breathe and strive, the stories of Dongshi and Dongfeng stand as some of Taiwan's most compelling testaments to the power of place. Business and community need not run on separate tracks; each can inspire and sustain the other. This ride, then, is more than the opposite of a daily commute—it is an invitation to think differently.