Wang Hai-Chin

Elite Class of Wun Chang Elementary School (Ko Ya-Chen )

In February and March, cherry blossoms flower around Wun Chang Elementary School. They make our school a beautiful place and attract many visitors. Our school is located in Taichung city in central part of Taiwan. In central Taiwan, people enjoy beautiful cherry blossom scenes after winter especially in the mountains. We cherish lovely cherry blossoms and would like to share a story about a great hero who planted thousands of cherry blossom trees all by himself in the mountainous area in central Taiwan.

Wang, Hai-Chin (http://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/2014012500042 (Liao, Chao-Shian))

Wang Hai-Chin is 93 years old. He still lives in Wu-Hser, Nanto in central Taiwan. Wang was born in Nanto, He lost his mother when he was very young and lived with his family very poorly. He helped his family on the farms and didn't receive education until 11 years old. Luckily, his diligent attitude impressed his teachers. After graduation from primary school, he was recommended to become a pupil of Japanese foresters and learned how to weed, measure, and to seed, etc. After he got married, he and his wife moved to an aboriginal tribe in the mountainous Wu-Hser and ran a hardware store there. It was until their life became stable that he restarted his favorite planting work. (Reference: http://www.goodtv.org/uploads/2014/06/ea668c5b8ea19f3b.pdf)

Cherry blossoms planted by Wang Hai-Chin ( http://yo.xuite.net/info/element.php?id=la0otLCm2yMybBZSRRtb00)

Wang spent all the money he had made from his business on afforestation. He planted thousands of China fir in the mountains. After 1988, he started planting cherry blossom trees along and the Pu-Wu road in order to recover the Pu-Wu Cherry Blossom Road in Japanese ruling era. He did all the seeding, planting, and watering all by himself. If the plants got damaged or died, he tried to save them or replace them. That's his great and full devotion to the afforestation. (Reference: http://www.goodtv.org/uploads/2014/06/ea668c5b8ea19f3b.pdf)

Cherry blossoms planted by Wang Hai-Chin (http://yo.xuite.net/info/element.php?id=la0otLCm2y (Taiwan Anna))

People praise that Wang had recovered the cherry blossom road and achieved more than that. His great story is wide spread even to oversea countries. Every year there are some Japanese writers and cherry blossom fans come to visit Wang. But Wang doesn't feel proud at all. On the contrary, he is very humble and says that he just did something he really enjoys. We think Wang has given us and the the world a precious gift as well as been a life model. He is our super hero forever!!!

Cherry blossoms planted by Wang Hai-Chin (http://yo.xuite.net/info/element.php?id=la0otLCm2y (Taiwan Anna))