East Asia PhoNographic Mornings #07/25
Each Morning of the World #08
Cuifeng Lake ~ Taipingshan Forest Recreation Area ~ Taiwan
« The Silent Trail »
Laila Fan
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The soundtrack is recorded in Taiwan’s first "Silent Trail". Located in a far distance from the hubbub of city life, 1800 meters above sea level along the shore of Cuifeng Lake in the Taipingshan Forest Recreation Area, this trail is the most tranquil place in Taiwan. This Silence Trail is formed in the hazy mist. I love these songs of flitting birds and frogs harmonizing with the landscape. Most of the singers are the endemic species including White-browed Shortwing, Horornis fortipes robustipes ,Moltrecht's tree frog etc . This area used to be one of the three largest forestry center in Taiwan. The cypress forest was home to the Atayal tribe. During the Japanese occupation of Taiwan in 1906, the Japanese conducted a large-scale survey here. Subsequently in 1912, the history of logging began and continued until 1982. The 70 years of logging have resulted in ecological catastrophe. It was not until 1989 that Taipingshan began to transform into a forest recreation area. However, many tourists used to the hustle and bustle of city life fail to appreciate this silence. They play their radios during their hikes, and some tours even use loudspeakers to guide their groups. After 6 years of hard work, I finally convinced the Luodong Forestry Bureau Management Office to establish the world's first national class Silent Trail. The trail officially ushered Taiwan’s conservation thinking from landscape conservation into the era of soundscape conservation. These inspiring melodies from the wild are the most beautiful symphonies from nature, but to truly hear, the heart must be opened for the ears to open. In this loud world of clamor, we need the music of the earth to touch our inner soul. I believe that this Silent Trail from the distant forest will come into crowded cities in the future to lead us to ourselves and connection with the land.
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Laila Fan
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Chin-Hui Fan has been recording natural soundscapes since the age of 7, and has dedicated her practice to developing more sensitive and representative methods of listening to the land. In 2013, she launched the Silent Trail Project which promotes the safeguarding of natural soundscapes, and in 2015, the artist founded the Soundscape Association of Taiwan which invites national sound recordists to contribute to this effort.
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soundcloud.com/lailafan
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