The starting point of the Alishan Forest Railway is at the North Gate Station of Chiayi, this is the reason that this city is called the doorway to Alishan. In the early days, the timber transported down Alishan by the Alishan Forest Railway was gathered here in Chiayi which promoted the rise of timber business and factories around North Gate Station. The subsequent prosperity of the area also brought about the commercial development of the surrounding regions. Back then, all the Japanese style architecture and buildings were built from cypress wood: it was a distinctive feature of Japanese architecture which also serves as a testament to the development history of the Alishan timber industry.
It took four years to build and it cost NT$ 400 million dollars: Hinoki Village is Taiwan's first forest cultural and creative park, which was in a trial run from January 1 to March 23, 2014. It includes a market of arts and crafts, 21 bookstores, a restaurant serving coffee, tea, and food, Tk Food Fifth Village, a tea house, later transformed into the Mori-Market.
The range of the trial run for Hinoki Village will be mainly based on the park area delimited on both sides by Linsen East Road. The entire park covers an area of 3.4 hectares. There are thematic bookstores, the Mori-market with agricultural products, another market with arts and crafts, wood-structure buildings, and prime quality fruit and famous products.
The Mori-Market was transformed from a previous tea house: it cooperates with more than 100 brands and farmer associations in Taiwan. It provides high-quality products, directly delivered from the production areas, and cooperates with the well-known magazine called Countryside teaching people how to live happily and healthily. From the amazing stories of farmers, one can find farm products that touch the consumers, and thanks to a curatorial approach the Countryroad magazine content can be used as an exhibit material. After entering teahouse, people will first see the contents of the exhibition, which three-dimensionalized the contents of the magazine. This display method allows consumers to further resonate with agricultural products and be moved by the earth in this whole new experience.
