Lush green rice fields with rice plants dancing in the winds; the mouse bride and the mouse groom looking so alive and fun… The colorful painting in Yuanli’s main rice field goes on until June. Now is the best time to appreciate the artwork. All visitors are cordially invited to enjoy a summer vacation here!
It is said that on the evening of January 3 in the lunar calendar, mice would hold weddings. To leave the mice to their important occasion, people would go to bed early and sprinkle rice, salt and bits of pastries for the little animals before nightfall, celebrating the joy of a new marriage and sharing a year’s harvests together. The food sprinkled is called “rice dowry” or “money for mice.” Traditionally, people always hope that the ritual can help to keep the mice from being “naughty.”
A classical small town, Yuanli boasts beautiful coasts, rush-grass crafts, and delicious local food. Its rice fields even covers the largest area of land in the county, and is thus known as Miaoli’s rice barn. What’s more, Yuanli’s farmers association has devoted to “rice-field painting” for 16 years. As rice is harvested two times a year in Yuanli, when each harvesting period is over, thematic paintings are made. This year, after the first harvesting period, “Wedding of the Mice” is created. The painting has drawn many visitors so far.
- Garden of Love, Yaunli Farmers’ Association
- No.98, Wanli Rd., Yuanli Township, Miaoli County
- +886-37-747607
- Closed every Monday
