Hakka museum boasts unique walkway made of military waste

Hakka museum boasts unique walkway made of military waste

2025-02-19

The Hakka museum in the village of Baoli in Pingtung has a very unusual sight to welcome visitors. Residents of this coastal community used to collect used ammunition cases from the nearby military base. Thousands of such cases have been made into a unique walkway inside the museum. It’s a testament to the military history of Checheng Township and the resilience of the local community, who found lots of uses for the military waste that accumulated in their town.

Walking into the Hakka museum in Baoli, you’re greeted by this unusual walkway on the floor.

Look closer, and you see it’s made of ammunition cases from .50 caliber machine guns. Lying four abreast, the lines stretch more than 100 meters. There are 1000 cases here, at least.

Tseng Li-ching
Baoli Community Development Association
Years ago, the village inhabitants would go out and pick up empty ammunition cases from .50 caliber machine guns. People were enthusiastic about collecting them. When the museum was first founded, our secretary-general encouraged everyone to place them into a walkway. It may be the only one of its kind in the world.

The village of Baoli, in Checheng Township, Pingtung, is the Southernmost Hakka village in Taiwan. Its claim to fame is a military Joint Operations Training Base which opened here in 1967. Troops have come here to conduct drills with live ammunition every year since, leaving behind empty cases from artillery shells and machine guns. Collecting and selling cases became a side income for village residents. The .50 caliber machine gun cases have also been remodeled into useful items by locals.

Chen Mei-hui
Baoli Community Development Association
They would put betel nuts inside, and grind like this until they were broken up. Then bring it up close to the mouth. Grandma didn’t have any teeth to chew with, so it was a way to enjoy betel nut.

Chen Cheng-hsiung
Checheng Township mayor
People in Checheng and Hengchun love betel nut, so the more intact cases could serve as betel nut mortars. Others were kept as samples, to look nice.

Life in this rural area in the mid-20th-century was tough, and many people in Baoli collected ammunition cases for extra money, although tragic deaths occasionally occurred when unexploded bombs were uncovered. In recent years, the practice has declined as safety is given more priority.

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戰火下的保力村擁有全球唯一彈殼健康步道

2025-02-19

你看過用彈殼做的健康步道嗎？這可能是全球唯一的一條彈殼步道，地點就在屏東車城鄉的保力客家文物館內，因為當地是三軍聯訓基地實彈射擊的地方，射擊後就會遺留大量的砲彈彈殼以及機槍子彈殼，居民就會去撿拾來賣，甚至還融入生活之中，形成一種獨特的戰地文化。

走進保力客家文物館，映入眼簾的是地上這一長條的步道。

仔細看，這條健康步道居然是用一顆顆的五零機槍子彈彈殼串成的，一排有四顆，長約百公尺，至少得用掉上千顆才能完成。

[[保力社區發展協會總幹事曾麗卿]]
“早期村民撿了一些50機槍的空彈殼，大家很熱心。在文物館剛成立的時候，我們理事長就發動村民，把撿的這些空彈殼就串成一個步道，可能也是全球唯一”

位在屏東車城的保力村，是台灣最南端的客家庄，村內最大的特色就是有一個三軍聯訓基地，自1967年基地成立後，每年都會有部隊移防進駐操演，進行實彈射擊，射擊過後遺留有大量的砲彈彈殼和機槍子彈殼，成為村民撿拾變賣的外快收入，而五零機槍子彈殼經過加工改造後，也成為當地居民的日常生活用品。

[[保力社區發展協會理事長陳美惠]]
“把檳榔放進裏面，就這樣一直搗搗搗，搗到散了之後，再拿近到嘴巴，阿嬤都沒牙齒，沒辦法嚼，就這樣含著”

[[車城鄉長陳政雄]]
“車城恆春地區愛吃檳榔當做檳榔臼，若比較完整的彈殼就做檳榔臼，有的是用來做標本，好看”

早年因為偏鄉地區生活不易，撿彈殼的人多，甚至還發生過被未爆彈炸死炸傷的意外，隨著安全意識抬頭，現在撿拾的人愈來愈少。

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