"There is a unique promotional point of Qishan Tangchang (sugar factory): Among the shutdown sugar factories across Taiwan, you can't find another one that keeps the factory park so well like it." Mr. Kuo Jun-hong, the Deputy Executive Director of Qishan Tangchang Community Development Association, said, "This is the greatest asset in our efforts to seize the green local tourism opportunity."
The Association spent many years developing its advantages. In 2002, this century-old sugar factory ceased operations. Only a portion of the land was operated in-house or leased out, while the vast space and buildings remained abandoned and idle, and the environment gradually grew dirty and chaotic.
At that time, Mr. Guo Jun-hong's parents were officers of the Association, and they made efforts to find a place where they could process community building and care for the community's elderly. After several discussions, the members agreed to lease the warehouse inside the sugar factory park as an operational base. This decision burdened the Association with financial baggage and marked a turning point in its transformation into a self-reliant money-making organization.
Making "Being Seen by Everyone" The Primary Goal
"My parents persuaded us to return to our hometown when I took the family for a home visit during the summer vacation." Mr. Guo Jun-hong was a semiconductor engineer who valued efficiency and precision. Since the goal was to make the sugar factory a source of pride for Qishan residents again, he started with the end in mind: to reach the national stage, so that people would want to visit when they see it.
His main proposal is "Green Tourism." He hosted small and large activities to stir the inertia of the community. For example, he asked all residents to participate in the agriculture experience trip, organizing an excellent educational place, and cooperating for the promotion. In 2022, the Association obtained the first Excellent Community in the National Environmental Education Award for Kaohsiung City.
About the same time, he decided it was time to extend the Association's scale, so he applied the "Empowering Employment Program (EEP)" of the Ministry of Labor and obtained a one-year project to subsidize 8 project staff. The Association has been approved the project for 3 consecutive years since it applied. During the preparation period, Mr. Guo had decided that all the manpower recruited in the first year would be used to "lay a solid foundation," including developing the guiding ability of the employees, explaining the steps of the DIY experience, understanding customer needs, and having the sensitivity to interact accurately.
He confessed that due to the large size of the sugar factory, the Association has enough space, so it targeted customers in schools, private enterprises, and local organizations with over 40 people and organized the trips by the travel agency; Therefore, no matter the guiding tour, DIY experience, or product line developing. Mr. Guo targeted unemployed young people as the primary recruiting target, considering their physical strength, communication skills, and willingness to negotiate.
However, "In the first year of learning by doing, we observed that the groups of middle and elderly aged are also the targets that need to be care for. Furthermore, their life stories better match local elements and are more mature in communicating with strangers. Therefore, we extend the recurring ages. Now, our youngest project staff is 19 years old, while the oldest is 55 years old."
After the service function has been prepared, the Association gradually accelerated the only task: "Merchandising" Qishan's characteristics, creating "Novelty feelings" to attract customers and through the "Creativity" to sell the products.
"Full Utilization of Bananas" Attracts Tourists with Its Novelty
Mr. Guo Jun-hong recalled: "There were only I, my wife, and my brother who worked in the Association many years ago. There were only 2 to3 tour trips and spent us many efforts only on receiving hundreds of tourists in each trip; therefore, we had no spare time to develop new trips and products." Fortunately, the EEP project team assisted us in time. The project staff once expanded trips to 30 in three years and shared the guiding trip workloads. Those new products are mostly designed by "Banana," which is Qishan's priority agricultural crop. The marketing strategy was also named "Full Utilization of Bananas".
"Bananas aren't just for eating; the whole crop is actually useful." The project manager, Ms. Zhu Hui-jing, who has a food product background, said, "The middle part of Banana which like a tree trunk, is called the False Stem. If you throw it away, that is the largest waste; However, after being cut, spun, and dried, the fibers can be used to weave beverage bags, handmade paper, and even clothing." This weaving experience course has become a standard feature of sugar factory visits.
"There are more curious eyes from the tourists on making Banana Buns, Banan Soup, and Banan Milk Painting, the courses they have never heard of." Another project manager, Mr. Qiu Wei-cheng, shared that Banana Buns are made with bananas that have spots on their skin. The dough is mixed with bananas to make the wrappers, then filled with cooked minced meat, shallots, dried shrimp, and other fillings. After shaping, they are placed on banana leaves and steamed. The Banana Soup uses unripe green bananas, along with chives, fried shallots, lean minced meat, and other ingredients, resulting in a texture like water caltrop or yams.
Mr. Guo Jun-hong proved by numbers: In 2024, they received nearly 15,000 visitors which is an increase of 27% compared to the year of 2022. In between, 70% are students, the local organizations, or the staff from the public sector take 20%, and the remaining are company groups.
Developing Unique and Creative Products, Vietnamese Customers Are Also Buying Them
To sell products, Mr. Guo Jun-hong established "Qishan Marvel" in the year he returned to his hometown. He recruited all kinds of specialty corps from smallholders and directly sold them through physical shops and online channels to serve the local smallholders; On the other hand, he wants to give 15% of the revenue back to the community through by R&D creative products.
However, the Association faced a deficit in the beginning years since lacking of professional management and promotion. It's until 2022, Mr. Guo has invited Mr. Qiu Wei-cheng, who has full experience in catering and tourism as project manager, and the Association has shortened the exploration period. Upon taking the position, Mr. Qiu immediately focused on developing exclusive products, the most representative of which are the Banana Blossom Series. "Mr. Qiu wanted us to start with the concept of 'fully utilizing bananas,' so I contacted food manufacturers and biomedical companies I knew, and spent six months discussing with the team to develop banana blossom lemon frozen drinks, banana blossom lemon coffee drip bags, and banana blossom handmade soaps. Among those products, the banana blossom lemon coffee drip bag is the most popular, selling nearly a thousand bags every month."
He added the newest products proudly: the Banana Blossoms Osmanthus Oolong Tea Bag, which is made with banana blossoms from Qishan, osmanthus blossoms from Changhua, and oolong tea leaves from Nantou, creating a unique flavor. The tea bags have only been on the market for two months, yet their monthly sales have already surpassed those of coffee drip bags. "Furthermore, in the middle of 2025, I met a Vietnamese trader in a trade show who hoped we could extend the tea bag production and let him purchase large amounts and sell to Vietnam! "
Mr. Guo Jun-hong confirmed the assistance of the "Empowering Employment Program (EEP)". "It's like an accelerator, including the establishment of business models and human resources cultivation. It can not only quickly lead local transformation and strengthen local organizations, but also catalyze growth around the community."
The hard work of the EEP team is evident. In the "3rd Golden Village Competition" in 2024, they defeated over 970 rural communities across Taiwan to win the Silver Medal. The Official Website of Qishan Tangchang Community Development Association Mr. Qiu Wei-cheng: Creating a Multiple and Happy Working Environment to Build a Self-Compliment and Active Team
The Qishan Tangchang Community Development Association has executed the "Empowering Employment Program (EEP)" for less than three years, but has achieved great success. The project manager, Mr. Qiu Wei-cheng, observed that the workplace is friendly, the team members are self-disciplined, and respect each other. They are not only highly cohesive but also courageous in expressing their opinions and contributing ideas, together creating more than 30 diverse travel itineraries.
Furthermore, he attributes the success to the Ministry of Labor's encouragement of the team members to participate in training courses that accumulate their professional skills based on their expertise and interests, whether it's improving oral communication skills, enhancing foreign language abilities, or developing handicraft skills. "Once you actively engage and refine your skills, you'll gradually improve through learning by doing."
Mr. Qiu emphasized, "Guiding tours is our main business, so when looking for partners, we try our best to assign them suitable and appropriate positions based on their characteristics and expertise." As an administrative manager, he is committed to making his partners happy at work and has successfully brought about significant changes in terms of talent, industry, systems, and community atmosphere.
▲The Association uses "Full utilizations of Bananas" as the main marketing line, the products are mostly designed by the "Banana," the priority agricultural crop equal to Qishan.
▲The guiding tour is the Association's main business. With the assistance of the EEP team, the Association not only alleviated the manpower shortage, but richness of the tour itineraries.
▲The "Qishan Marvel" sold the local agricultural products. Initially, they suffered losses year after year until they leveraged their network to find talent and focused on developing exclusive products, achieving great success. Their latest tea bags have even attracted the attention of Vietnamese traders.
▲Mr. Guo Jun-hong, the Deputy Executive Director of Qishan Tangchang Community Development Association in Kaohsiung, said the 'Empowering Employment Program (EEP)' isn't only to do a project, but it also improves the society's harmony, and even activates the cohesion of the whole community.
Case story: Empowering Employment Program
Interviewee: Qishan Tangchang Community Development Association
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Please attribute this article to“Workforce Development Agency, Ministry of Labor.”
