Orchid Island, also known as Lanyu, is a 45 square km volcanic island
off the southeastern coast of Taiwan's main island. It's considered to
have one of the best preserved indigenous tribal communities in
Taiwan, despite its rapid modernization in recent years.
Because of COVID-19, Taiwanese people's inability to go
overseas, and Orchid Island's natural beauty, it has seen a
big increase in tourists since last year. According to the local
government, there were 313,166 arrivals in Orchid Island in 2020, up
from about 230,000 a year earlier. That's a 73% increase.
Another sign of change: the number of registered guesthouses
On the island climbed last year to 146, 20 of which were newly registered.
Another 44 applications are pending.
That has brought a lot of change to Orchid Island, where the
number of people in registered households totals only 5,207, and the
actual number of residents is 3,500. The influx of tourists has
caused headaches for some local people of the Tao or Yami indigenous
tribe.
The local government says it is working to minimize the impact on
the traditional culture of the Tao people and Orchid Island's ecology,
by means such as printing on free maps a list of dos and don'ts when visiting Orchid Island.
Si Ngalopkop (aka Liao Ming-de), an Orchid Island Tao tribeman, cultural preservation advocate, and small eatery manager, recently told CNA how tourism has impacted the island and its people.
