Observation of Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village

On 29 March, we had a field trip to Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village in Yuchi, Nantou County, Taiwan. I had been looking forward to this field trip from the beginning of Spring semester when I decided to choose this course. And the experience that field trip gave me has exceeded my expectation. Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village was established in 1986 with 62 hectares area. The Culture Village includes five main parts: The European Gardens, the Aladdin Plaza, the Aboriginal Villages, Amusement Isle and Ti Ka Er Rainforest. With many efforts updating new technology and modern facilities as well as authentic aboriginal village experience, Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village has become a perfect recreational destination in Taiwan

We arrived at Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village around 10 AM. And before entering the theme park, we walked around the European Gardens. There is a big water fountain in the center of the Garden with a lot of flowers surrounding the place. The European Garden is the very first part of the theme park. It was created even before all the amusement facilities. It provides visitors with a very beautiful first impression about the place when they walk in the original version of theme park in the history. The gate of to Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village is specifically designed in Taiwan aboriginal style with two big man statues standing at both sides. The shape of the gate is similar to the roof of traditional houses of ethnic minorities with tall and big pillars carved with man images. I also spotted the logo on the gate which unites a cottonmouth snake and a human head in the center and nine diamonds forming a circle. Nine diamonds on the logo may represent Taiwan’s nine most populous and native tribes. By looking at gate only, guests can be sure that they are guaranteed an invaluable authentic experience about Taiwanese aboriginal culture and patterns.

However, when we went deeper to the theme park, the impression of aboriginal culture seemed confusing and not very vivid. After the entrance, there are models of rockets, planets, and spacecrafts which have no relation to the aboriginal theme of the park. For a brand new start, we tried UFO Gyro Drop. When the UFO slowly rose up, we had a spectacular view of the whole theme park with green dense woods and cloud-covered high mountain peaks. Then the UFO suddenly dropped, we experienced the thrilling free fall with loudest screams. I thought you must have a considerable courage to try it the second time. The Caribbean Adventure is also a must-try in this theme park. It is the most recent amusement facility at Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. It is a water roller coaster which will be taking off and tearing you apart. You will plummet forward and backward from the height of 35 meter. For this roller coaster, you will be too afraid and not able to scream because it is so scary during the journey.

Another part of Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village is the Aladin Plaza which is more sustainable and family-oriented. Obviously, the UFO is too frightening for a child and you must be taller than 130 centimeters for Caribbean Adventure. So the theme park has the same kind of amusement facilities in Aladin Plaza for kids to secure their safety. There are Space Mountain roller coaster, Pirate ship, Merry-go-around, and Jurassic cruise…for children to be busy trying them all day long. I suddenly noticed that Disneyization concept is applied for this part of the park. It was not difficult to see that Aladin Plaza is a commercialized with many vending machines, fast food restaurants, and coffee shops… Within the theme of Aladin, parents are spending money buying toys, foods, drinks and all the stuffs for their children and family members. As a result, the leisure time is secretly changed into consumption time.

At noon, we decided to take the Cable Car to visit the upper part the theme park instead of walking there. I think this Cable Car system is one clear example of McDonaldization in theme park. Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village has implemented the most innovative ropeway technology manufactured by Austria Dopplemayr Company. It was obvious that the whole system is created to provide service for a large number of passengers fast and efficiently. Although there was a quite long queue of people waiting for the journey and the number of staff was only limited in 2 employees, they still can arrange carriage for every visitor. One special characteristic that you can realize instantly is that there is one big Teddy Bear in each carriage. The Teddy Bears seemed interest girls and children passengers a lot. The journey by Cable Car gave us an astonishing view of the surrounding landscape. It was not a brief view like the UFO, but this time, we were really able to spend time to enjoy and appreciate the lovely and splendid beauty of the Theme Park.

When we reached the top part of the theme park, we got out of the Cable Car station and had a short walked. I noticed that there were a lot of cherry trees along the paths. I thought it would be very pleasant and enjoyable if we visited the Theme Park at the cherry blossom season. Then we took another Cable Car trip to Sun Moon Lake, a very famous tourism attraction in Taiwan which I had heard many times from my friends.  At first, we thought we had to pay extra for the next Cable Car station. Surprisingly, the price is all inclusive in the entrance fee. Before entering the carriage, we got an invisible stamp on our left hand so that by scanning the stamp over, the staff would know that we had paid the entrance fee already or not. It is also another example of applying technology in Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village. The view of Sun Moon Lake was fully captured in front of our eyes while we were sitting in the Cable Car. I think it is a good combination of the theme park and another famous attraction so that both two can cooperate and attract more visitors. In this case, Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village and Sun Moon Lake are just perfectly located side by side of each other. And consequently, Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village can become a Regional Theme Park in Taiwan.

In the afternoon, we went back to pay a visit to the Aboriginal Village. The Village is exactly what I expected when we made the decision to visit this theme park. This time I had the ideal opportunity to explore more about Taiwanese Aboriginal Tribes’ life, customs, cuisines and cultures. And I didn’t miss the boat. I gained a rather comprehensive understanding about all the 9 nine tribes here in Taiwan which are Amis, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Puyuma, Tsou, Rukai, Saisiyat, and Tao. The culture message of the village which is featured by traditional houses, sculptures, and games is unmistakable .Visitors can rent aboriginal clothes and try them to have a more distinctive taste of aboriginal costumes. Especially, visitors can attend the impressive performance of aboriginal people. They danced, sang, and played the traditional musical instruments so enthusiastically that all audiences can feel the positive life attitudes in their tribes.

I noticed that the Aboriginal Village also offers employment opportunities for aboriginal people. I actually saw a senior aborigine sitting in the village house and demonstrating her weaving skill to guests. By this way of recruitment, the theme park is helping to introduce and preserve all the aboriginal talents which are in danger of extinction. Unlike the amusement isle in the lower part, the Aboriginal Village attracts a lot of foreigner tourists who attentively watch and listen to all the authentic traditional performances.

Generally speaking from all I can see, the environment of Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village is very friendly and clean. Rubbish bins can be easily found in the theme park. But around the Aboriginal Village, the smell is not really fresh. We smelled something like fertilizers for plants. It would be much better if the atmosphere didn’t have that smell. I also would like to suggest the theme park to have a clearer signage system because we lost two times in the park trying to find the Caribbean Adventure and Mayan Adventure. Another point the theme park can improve is providing more hands-on activities. There will be far more interesting if we can try making a pottery cup, a traditional net, or preparing an aboriginal dish.

In conclusion, the field trip was a huge success and Formosa Aboriginal Culture Village is a great destination for leisure and recreation. Through the field trip, I have enhanced my knowledge about theme park industry and the way how a theme park operates. And I understand that it is not only profit that a theme park can bring back but also the preservation and protection of invaluable traditional values and custom. I will definitely recommend this theme park to my friends and family. For me, it is a must visit destination in Taiwan.

The European Gardens

The Entrance Gate

UFO Gyro Drop

Aladin Plaza - a commercialized place

Aladin Plaza - a commercialized place

Long cue of visitors waiting for the Cable Car

Theme Park Staff directing the Cable Car passengers

Beautiful view of Sun Moon Lake

Aboriginal Costumes

Impressive Aboriginal Performance

Oboriginal Game

Senior aborigine  demonstrating her weaving skill 

Rubbish bins can be found easily

Organization of my Theme Park

To organize my theme park, I will apply the model of McDonaldization. To be honest, this is not the first time I heard about the concept of McDonaldization. I had the first impression of it in Introduction to Tourism class last year. But back then, I didn't really understand what it was. I thought it was the domination of McDonald all over the world, and every single corner of the globe has been covered by the existence of fast food restaurants. Now, I think I have understood what is McDonaldization. It is not only about junk food which affects people's eating pattern. But McDonaldization can be anything, and it even can be applied for a culture or a society. There are four components of McDonaldization which are: efficiency, quantification, predictability, and control.With these four characteristics, McDonaldization is happening all around us as a global phenomenon.

Applied Mcdonaldization, my theme park will be fully equiped with the most innovative technology to control every operation process. There will be cameras at any entrance of the theme park to supervise employees as well as visitors of the park. Managers can easily know how theme park is running through the CCTV system. The number of employees in the park is going to be reduced as many as possible due to the implementation of high technology. Almost every part of the theme park is controlled by machines and computer, so human are only needed for mainternance staff. The tasks  in the theme park are highly repetitive and predictable. Therefore, the amount of work is less than usual and employees are able to perform the tasks faster, so there will be a larger number of visitors who have the chance to try a ride in the theme park.

However, I have some thoughts about De-McDonaldization. There are some traditional values and special characteristics that we need to reserve, and if we apply McDonaldization for everything, the difference will be eleminated. We will only focus on quantity instead of quality, predictability instead of unpredictability, which is the nature of service industry. If so, somehow McDonaldization is contributing to Globalization and one day, every company, society or even political system will all be the same. Therefore, I think we should not only consider the positive sides of McDonaldization but also its negative effects.

The ownership of my Theme Park

Last week we had the discussion about large operators in Theme Park Industry, and I realised that there is no company actually started their business with theme park at the first place. For example, Disney World is owned by The Walt Disney Company which began as a Cartoon Studio. Or a more obvious instance, E-DA Theme Park, known as Taiwan's EPCOT, belongs to E United Group which started from the establishment of Yieh Hsing Enterprise with steel business in 1978. Some other companies just bought the concept from the successful Theme Park owners through some kinds of agreement and with government collaboration. I think this sort of business is very safe as well as efficient due to the fact that you have money and resources, but lack of concepts for new investment plan, franchising Disney World in your own country is a fine choice. 

Come back to my Theme Park project, I own a concept, but don't have the finacial ability to make it become a reality. But I still have several choices. My first plan would be presenting my project to banks' representatives to apeal for loans and potetial investors. If this ways didn't go well because of the big risk constructing a space Theme Park, I would change to plan B which is finding a job, collecting experience, saving money until I am able to set up my own business. Then I wait until I have enough money to establish the Theme Park that I planed before. This sounds very long-term and struggling to me. But the road to success is paved with failures, so I think I just have to move forward no matter how slow I am, just take it step by step.

Globalization of Theme Park
Why do you think Taiwan has not developed a globalized them park industry?

Taiwan has focused on Tourism industry in recent years because of its rapid economic prosperity and socio-cultural benefits. Besides five national parks, Taiwanese government has developed its medium and long term tourism programs to match with the needs of experiencing and discovering the rich culture and history of this beautiful and amazing island. However, somehow Theme parks in Taiwan are not yet joining with the globalization which is happening around the world. The question is why?

As far as I am aware, the possible answer for that question is the political status of Taiwan. For intance, if you go to Google, type in: "Is Taiwan is a country?", you can see a lot of totally different answers. Some people said: "Yes, Taiwan is a country, I am Taiwanese", but there are also people saying "No, It's part of China as a province." Someone also tried to defend Taiwan by listing facts such as: "Taiwan has it own flag, government, national anthem..." But Taiwan is still not able to represent itself in the Olymic. I think it is due to the complexity of Taiwanese political status that leads to a pretty slow speed taking part in globalization of Theme Park industry in particular, and Tourism in general.

What can your theme park offer to the Asia-Pacific region?

In my opinion, my space Theme Park can offer the whole Asian-Pacific region the unique experience that no other Theme Park can provide. As I mentioned in earlier blog, my outerspace Theme park will develop a wide range of activities from watching the Earth from an astronaut's view to walking on the Moon like Neil Amstrong! But I think there must be more researches to reduce the cost of visiting the space so that more and more people and afford it.

Theme Park in outerspace

Type: Destination Theme Park

Neil Armstrong , the first man to walk on the Moon, once said: "That's one small step for Man, one giant Leap for Mankind" when he had been giving his hope for all human beings in the adventure of conquering the space. And the presence now does not disappoint him at all. We are trying desperately to explore more the deepest corner of the Galaxy, the farthest star we can reach, and the most mysterious living organism outside the Earth. 

In the future, I strongly believe that it is not an impossible mision that we can establish a Theme Park in outerspace. Needless to say, the Theme Park is going to be in an enormous financial demand from every sources from government body to private enterprises. Every single unit of the Theme Park is in tremedous high level of investment in order to secure the safety of the equipment when they are in the space.

Safety issue is one of the premier concern when people construct the Theme Park. We will have scientists and engineers, teachers and students to do the experiments, collect datas and study questions about the platforms for the spacecarft, material for the space station and the microgravity environments. From all that knowledge, we can be one hundred percent sure about the safety of the space Theme Park for both employees and guests. But not everyone can work and visit the space Theme Park. There will be a heath examination to indicate whether or not you can travel into space. Only people who meet all the health requirements are able to pay a visit to the space Theme Park.

The Theme Park will contain a wide range of activities which are unique from very Theme Park on Earth. How about a trip to visit the Moon like Amstrong? You can walk freely on the surface of the Moon for 15 minutes to experience how different when there is not that much gravity to hold you back. Before coming back, guest can browse one piece of Moon rock to bring home for a boast with your family and friends.

In the presence, we have plenty of fiction movies and novels, like Starstrek and Brave New World, colouring our imagination about the world out there. In the future, I think that it will not be imaginary anymore to have a place for our kids to play in the space!

Theme Parks In The Future
If you ask me how Theme Parks in the future will look like, my answer is: "They will be in outerspace."
For may decades, people have been dreaming about travelling to space to experience weightlessness, set foot on a star, or look at the Earth from a completely different perspective. Thanks to the advanced and innovative technology, space travel is not unreachable anymore. And I think a Theme Park in space is not an idea but a project in the future for real.
Dennis Tito, an American engineer and multimillionaire, is widely known as the first tourist to travel into space. He had to pay nearly 20 million USD for his trip in 2001, when he was 61. After that, space travel industry has sprung up with the participation of many companies since the handsome profit it promises.
Have you ever looked up into the sky and wished that you could be weitghtless up there? If you travel to the Theme Park outer space, your dream will come true. There is no gravity force to hold you stand traight anymore. It's not like the very brief weightlessness you get when you crested the top of the hill in the fastest roller coaster on Earth. But you experience the zero-gravity condition for much longer period. You are actually floating in the air like a hellium balloon without a direction. There is no right or left, up or down. If you are a careless person on Earth, and everything in your hand will be broken the moment you touch them, don't worry, you can drop anything at this Theme Park and it will not be damaged. It sounds really cool, isn't it?
How about viewing at the Earth from the space Theme Park? We walking on this beautiful and giant planet everyday but we may not realize how small we are. From space, we can look at the Earth, a blue marble with swirls, and admire how gorgeous it is. And there are thousands of stars surrounds the Earth wrapping the orange dawn horizon showing that we are not alone in this universe.
We had Disney Land as our first Theme Park in the history. But how Theme Parks will end up like? We are not really sure about it. There are endless posibilities! But I hope that Theme Parks are always ideal reacreational, leisure and resting places for people.

Theme Park Management Blog

Although I am a Hospitality Management student, I am interested in the way how Theme Parks operate, create experience and make profit. When choosing this course during the winter vacation, I expected that I would be able to master the fundamental knowledge and practical experience about Theme Park field in particular and Amusement Park in general. I hope that after finishing this course, I will acquire the ability to contemplate one Theme Park's operation and management  not only through one guest's eyes but also a Tourism profesional's.

Before taking this course, I did a small research online about how foreigners feel about Vietnamese Theme Park. But when I got the results, I was pretty upset because of one of the NewViews on CNN (you can read it on the link bellow). The tittle of the article is "Vietnam, land of ridiculous theme parks". To be honest, Theme Park is rather a new concept for Vietnamese recreation activities and the Management of those Theme Park which were newly established are ineffecient due to the lack of profesional and experienced workforce . But we are not trying to buid a Disney Land in Vietnam!

I fervently hope that with all the education I have gained here, especially through this course I will be capable of bettering my country Theme Park Operation. And maybe, I can create a Theme Park of my own with an effective and efficient Mangement to set a qualified standard for all over the country recreational destinations.

http://travel.cnn.com/explorations/life/vietnam-land-ridiculous-theme-parks-125866