When Han-chrysanthemums Ripen

Written by Peter Li-Chang Kuo

The 2025 Tongluo Chrysanthemum Festival will open on November 15. Autumn rain brings a chill to the air, the nights grow longer, and the days shorter. As chlorophyll fades, yellow-orange carotenoids and red anthocyanins weave together to form a dazzling autumn landscape.

Li Bai once wrote: “The river city lies as if in a painting, the mountains greet the clear dawn; amid cold villages grow oranges and pomelos, autumn colors age on the phoenix trees.” The poetic imagery beautifully echoes the essence of autumn.

Jiuhu in Tongluo, Miaoli, is ideal for cultivating “Chrysanthemum morifolium” (Florist's Daisy, Han-chrysanthemum) due to its acidic, iron-rich red soil, high humidity, and wide temperature variations between day and night. After the devastating Typhoon Ellen (1959, the “87 Flood”) altered the soil composition, many paddy fields were converted into dry farmland — ushering in the rise of Hangju as the region’s signature crop. Today, Tongluo produces over 70% of Taiwan’s Han-chrysanthemum, and the local festival has made it a cultural emblem of the region.

Fig 1: Tongluo Yellow Chrysanthemums in Full Bloom

November marks the height of the Han-chrysanthemum (Hangju) season — its blossoms pure white as snow, swirling like dancing fairies when steeped in tea. In Qu Yuan’s "Li Sao," he wrote, “In the evening I dine on fallen autumn chrysanthemums,” capturing the same ethereal beauty. Hangju comes in varieties such as white Hangju, yellow Hangju, and Tai-ju (baby buds). Known for its cooling and detoxifying properties, Hangju soothes the liver and brightens the eyes. It can be brewed into tea, used in medicine, or served in dishes.

This year’s "Tongluo Han-chrysanthemum Lifestyle Festival" will be held on November 15–16, 2025, in Zhangshu Village, Tongluo Township, Miaoli County. Visitors can stroll through flower fields, savor the aroma of chrysanthemum tea, and enjoy dishes infused with Han-chrysanthemum. The festival’s highlight, the “Local Table – Hakka Han-chrysanthemum Banquet,” presents delicacies infused with the stories of the land and the flavor of autumn — capturing the most beautiful memories of the golden season.

Han-chrysanthemum is rich in "β-carotene and vitamin A," helping protect eyesight and relieve eye fatigue. Its cooling nature clears heat and toxins, easing headaches, sore throats, and fevers. Its potassium content helps lower blood pressure and improve circulation, while flavonoids provide antioxidant benefits that enhance skin and immunity, and relieve upper respiratory discomfort. Commonly paired with goji berries, red dates, or cassia seeds, Han-chrysanthemum tea boosts liver and eye health — though those with cold constitutions should drink it moderately. When steeped in a clear glass, Tongluo Han-chrysanthemum unfurls like a radiant bloom, resembling tiny boats sailing upon the water — a graceful, auspicious sight.

A Poem for Han-chrysanthemum :
In fertile Jiuhu, Tongluo’s land,
Red soil rich, with autumn’s hand.
Morning mist chills tender bloom,
Night winds stir leaves to their tomb.
Hangju clears both eyes and mind,
Its cooling strength through bones confined.
Add goji, red dates in the brew,
Reflections sail through forest hue.

American friends, upon seeing the Tongluo Hangju (Han-chrysanthemum), are full of admiration — saying the white blossoms floating in clear tea look like fairies dancing or tiny ships setting sail. Frances Hesselbein (1915–2022), founder of the "Daisy Scouts" under the Girl Scouts of the USA, once chose the daisy as the troop’s emblem. When she saw Taiwan’s Hangju — spherical and three-dimensional, unlike America’s flat chrysanthemums — she exclaimed in awe:

“Wow, what a beautiful crystal ball!”

Indeed, Taiwan’s Hangju deserves to be called the finest of all gifts.

Fig 2: American Daisy Flower

But why do we even know about Tongluo Han-chrysanthemum? That leads to a long and tangled story of "cartel conspiracies" —

In 2004, the entities of corruption in Taiwan clique launched a full-scale assault, bringing down Linda Din (Ding, Ling-Hong), a social entrepreneur who devoted herself to “solving unemployment and enriching Taiwan” through the creation of the new tech-economic system (TES).

Despite the attacks, I brought the wounded one, and unyielding to lead my team through the chaos of 2005. Then, in 2006, I was invited by the Australian government to present the Best Practice "Global Channel-TES" at APEC CEO Summit in Vietnam.

Although those cartels once again tried to block me at every turn, I still managed to appear at the National Convention Center (NCC) in Hanoi, staying at the Sofitel Hotel, where APEC speakers lodged. There, I explained the significance of TES to global economic leaders — securing satellite support and the resolution to commercialize TES’s “cashless transaction system” starting in 2007.

At the time, Taiwanese media reported: “This year at APEC, Morris Chang served as special envoy, accompanied by Kuo Li-Chang.” Yet what were they actually telling the international community?

Soon after, Director Huang De-Rui of the Hsinchu Science Park Bureau visited to observe a live TES demonstration. When he saw how the "contactless TranSmart chip and TSCM software system" could enable a cashless economy projected at “USD 10 trillion" in annual transaction volume, his eyes lit up. In reality, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the cashless transaction volume reached "USD 36 trillion" and helping 1.5 billion people earn income from home.

Fig 3: Director Huang of the Science Park Observing TES Demo

Director Huang said, “There’s a science park in Tongluo that’s been empty for years. I invite you to move in.” The woman — just resurrected from death — believed his words and began taking action.

At that moment, a couple from Tongluo, self-proclaimed missionaries, came to visit. They claimed that at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, they had heard the divine voice crying, “TES! TES!” The woman took their words as signs of divine confirmation — both dry and wet fleeces fulfilled — and threw herself into the mission with even greater zeal, forgetting that survival from great peril demands caution, not into temptation.

When the Chrysanthemums Bloom Again

Through the connections forged at the APEC Summit, everything fell into place naturally. I reactivated our U.S. office — stretching from Silicon Valley to New York, our team for the public listing worked with fiery determination. Yet, at this crucial moment, the woman suddenly declared, “I’m not going to America!” Instead, she frequently traveled to Tongluo, seeking one billion NT dollars in public infrastructure funding, inspecting construction progress almost every week.

On November 16, 2007, after lunch, I visited the Tongluo Science Park. Some groundwork was underway. A year earlier, on October 20, 2006, we had gone to the Tongluo Township Office to present our investment plan for the “Global Channel – TES ICT Control Center.” We even prayed for the township’s prosperity; afterward, the villagers canceled their planned protest at the Executive Yuan that November and received funding support. Though only partial construction had begun that day, it was still a satisfying result.

After glancing at the science park, we took a small country road and circled around. Dark clouds hung over the land, yet it seemed illuminated by a mysterious light — the chrysanthemum fields were in bloom! White blossoms danced in the wind, while golden ones gleamed toward the sun. The fields of flowers swayed upon green stems like waves of living gold. The earth seemed to awaken; the air itself breathed with life, and my eyes felt filled with radiance.

Fig 4: The Han-chrysanthemum Fields in Bloom

Last November, a preacher gave us a packet of dried Han-chrysanthemums. I asked, “What is this for?” She told me they could be brewed in hot water. I took a thick 500cc glass, filled it halfway with hot water, and dropped in a handful of Tongluo chrysanthemums. One by one, the blossoms unfurled, floating gracefully in the steaming cup.

“Ah! So this is chrysanthemum tea?”

All my life, I had only seen tiny petals floating in the cup — sip by sip, you’d even have to spit out the bits. But now, entire blossoms floated intact, pure and radiant. I hesitated, unwilling to drink, for the white and golden chrysanthemums smiled up from the cup — too beautiful to disturb.

Whenever traveling abroad before, I’d buy chrysanthemums as gifts or for my own tea — good for quenching thirst and cooling the body. Yet they were always just fragments of petals, never whole flowers. Once, I even opened a box to find insects wriggling inside.

The Tongluo white and yellow chrysanthemums, however, bloom splendidly even in boiling water — revealing the essence of life itself. Even at the end of one’s journey, one should still shine as brightly! And yet, ever since my first visit here (Tongluo), I have always felt a strange shadowy gloom hanging over the place, though I couldn’t explain why.

Later, I took the Tongluo Han-chrysanthemums to California Street in San Francisco to share with my old friends from Merrill Lynch. They brought hot water from the kitchen, poured it into clear glasses, and dropped the Hangju blossoms in. As the petals spread open, they shone brilliantly — each bloom a tiny sun. Everyone was amazed.

After sipping, their eyes brightened in delight. Even after several refills, the blossoms remained luminous. But then, my old friend from Merrill suddenly said solemnly:

“...If your business doesn’t succeed, this may be our last goodbye.”

His words lingered in my ears. In the 2008 global financial crisis, Merrill Lynch — once managing $1.9 trillion USD in assets—vanished completely from the world. The fall of such a century-old institution was heartbreaking.

After Taiwan’s political transition, the cartels escalated their tactics, and we suffered an even harsher fate than Merrill did. On Monday, an angel came to me in a dream, reminding that we had narrowly escaped death in Nan’ao on the 5th day of September in 2012. That event moved me to quickly write “The Development of Taiwan’s Third Sector and the Information Society” and upload it to the graduate research archives — to preserve our contributions for posterity.

Now the chrysanthemums have bloomed again — thirteen years have passed. Retracing the Nan’ao incident, I realized the turning point came when, upon reaching Jiaoxi, Yilan, I first stopped by Yuantong Temple to visit my aunt, Venerable Xin-zhao. After instructing her disciple to prepare a meal, she led me upstairs to the main hall, bowed to the Bodhisattva, and said, “Bless Li-Chang and his family with peace.”

No wonder — at that life-or-death moment, a great unseen hand shielded us to deliver us from the death. Now, life once again fills the earth. Nature moves according to Heaven’s order — unshaken by human turmoil. And so, if time allows, come join a Tongluo Han- chrysanthemum Banquet:

The Tongluo Chrysanthemum Feast:
Autumn wind clears the lingering heat,
Leaves turn gold and bridge the light.
Clear sky dawns on chrysanthemum bloom,
In flower fields we roam in delight.
Petals fall, their fragrance drifts,
Cups reflect fair sails in flight.
Tongluo’s feast recalls the past,
Land and table share autumn’s rite.

Peter Li-Chang Kuo, the author created Taiwan's Precision Industry in his early years. Peter was a representative of the APEC CEO Summit and an expert in the third sector. He advocated "anti-corruption (AC)/cashless/e-commerce (E-Com)/ICT/IPR/IIA-TES / Micro-Business (MB)…and etc." to win the international bills and regulations.