◆Description of "Our Community"：

Houbi Township is commonly known as owl-bi-liaow. Situated in the northern end of Tainan County, the northern and western sides are bordered by Pachang Creek and Chiayi County. It is connected to Baihe Township in the east, Yenshui Township in the southwest, Dongshan Town in the southeas, and Hsinying City in the south. In terms of natural terrain form, it is elevated in the northeastern part and is tilted toward the west. However, the relative height is not significant, and the land form is rather flat. The territory is mostly Chianan Plain in attribute.
Geographically, Houbi Township is located at the border between Tainan and Chiayi Metropolitan. Houbi Township is bound to play the role of a rural village as a result of this location distribution. Therefore, the entire humanities and landscapes of Houbi Township are apparently plain agricultural town oriented. Fields are seen everywhere especially rice fields. In addition, commercial activities in major villages within the precinct are rather slow. It is especially so as compared to neighboring towns and townships.
　

◆Summary of Our Project：

Rice crops are the main industrial yields in Houbi Township with the highest rice production in Tainan County. It is the nation’s most important rice production site. Houbi Township is situated at about the same altitude as Taitung Chih Shang. The climate is ideal for rice cultivation and the soil found within the region is highly fertile. With irrigation from Chia-Nan Irrigation River, the rice quality produced is quite good within the region. However, over the past few decades, most Houbi Rice is sold to rice vendors which are in turn sold as famous rice brands such as Shi-Luo Juo-Sui Rice or Taitung Chih Shang Rice. It is for this reason; Houbi Rice is unknown to the public. In view of the importance of brand marketing and sales, the Farmers’ Associations and Rice Factories have created their own brands.
Lian-Fa Rice Milling Factory was established in 1956. Since 1977, it had been Grain Bureau appointed public grain warehouse and white rice export processing factory. It received CAS Premium Rice Milling Factory Certification. The founder, Chen Shui-Sheng is now over 70 years of age, but he continues to support innovation and change. In 2004, rice production and sales zone was setup in conjunction with the governmental policy of “A Healthy Taiwan.” Farmers created original brand “Shang Shui Rice” and occupied the small rice package market by resorting to high quality. The founder was not contented with his original brand creation; instead, he actively sought international Taiwan rice marketing and sales. In 2005, Witnessed by bureau head Huang Yu-Tsai of Agriculture and Food Agency, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan and Interchange Association, Japan (IAJ) director Tomobe Hakuryo, production and sales collaboration was signed with Nakashimamio Shoutenn.“Dream Beauty” Japanese rice was planted in Houbi Township, Taiwan. In 2006, it was sold in Japan in the name of “Taiwan Rice.” As compared to “Fu Li Rice” (Fu Li Town) sold in Japan, “Dream Beauty” was higher in price and the rice bag is labeled “Taiwan Rice” to make the name well known to the public.
Our topic is based on milled rice. First, the features of Houbi Township as a rice town are first introduced. Then, rice milling industry developments are then described from historical perspective so as to allow the public to understand the innovative business operation of this traditional line of work. Finally, “Dream Beauty” Rice is introduced including features, production and sales to make Dream Beauty well known to the public.

◆Our Computer/Internet Access：

Our school is equipped with 1 computer classroom. Almost every classroom has a computer. All the school computers are connected to one another though special line or internet. The online connections are quite smooth. The campus internet is a regional internet work where resources from each computer are shared.

◆Problems We Had to Overcome：

(1) Selection of topic content:
During topic content setup, there was concern over whether or not the rice production process was incorporated because rice type, cultivation, structure, product, and nutrient value etc. have been posted in websites of Ministry of Education, Agriculture and Food Agency, Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, and other topic websites. Whether there is a need to introduce it again is still open for discussion. We compared internet data with previous rural villagers’ daily routine conducted by former school mates. It has been discovered that the rice crop production modes in different areas are almost the same. Thus, no time needs to be spent on this area. As a result, in view of time and content overlapping, we have decided to focus on what we consider more significant i.e. rice milling so as to conduct more in-depth studies.

(2) Staff integration and scheduling:
Since the school curriculum timetable has allotments for school–based curriculums, there is no free time to use, group discussions on topic framework, interview questions, and interview were conducted during lunch breaks, Wednesday afternoons, and after school in afternoons.

(3) Transportation:
Lian-Fa Rice Milling Factory is not located inside our community. It is also far from our school; therefore, transportation remained a problem for us. Nevertheless, there are fewer people in our batch so our teacher assisted us and drove us to visitation sites.

◆Our Project Sound Bite ：

Having lived in Houbi, we have always believed rice to be an old industry. After joining the contest, we got to know each part of the rice milling industry, and have also come to realize that the traditional industry can strive for breakthrough and success. There is no need to feel “small” just because one lives in the country. After all, one should create his own opportunities.