Wufeng Township's Qingquan Tribe is a beautiful place. There are two stories associated with it. One is the romance between Young Marshal Zhang Xue-liang and his second wife Zhao Yi-di. The other is about the rebirth of 18 prisoners who took part in the creation of the world famous artist Kang Mu-xiang's steel wire artwork. On November 19, the reconstruction of Qingquan No.1 Suspension Bridge was officially completed. Besides, Mr. Kang's latest artwork, Rebirth, and Qingquan No.1 Suspension Bridge Story House were unveiled on the same day. Hsinchu County Magistrate Chiu Ching-chun specially attended the opening ceremony and hoped both the love story and the inspiring story could live on for good.
Qingquan No.1 Suspension Bridge is located near Zhang Xueliang Cultural Park. It was the place where the Young Marshal and Ms. Zhao often hanged out during the years of his house arrest. Through many years, the suspension bridge, which was the first and the highest in the tribe, severely decayed. For the sake of safety, the county government and the township office decided to block the bridge off four years ago, and they removed the old steel wire and started the reconstruction this year.
The removed 1,410-meter-long steel wire was supposed to be discarded. One week before it was melted, the artist Kang Mu-xiang, who had turned the old elevator steel wire in Taipei 101 into an artwork, came to Magistrate Chiu's mind. After thorough discussion, they decided to give new life to the old steel wire. Mr. Kang then cooperated with 18 prisoners in Bade Minimum-Security Prison, who helped clean the dirty steel wire before it was turned into a public artwork.
Magistrate Chiu showed that the steel wire artwork would be placed beside Qingquan No.1 Suspension Bridge. The newly-constructed bridge is 157 meters in length and 1.5 meters in width. The designer not only integrates the typical elements of the local indigenous tribe—Atayal, but also takes ecology and landscape aesthetics into consideration. In addition, Qingquan No.1 Suspension Bridge connects several attractions in Qingquan Cultural District. It is the main path to and from Qingquan Catholic Church, the Forest of Arts, the hot spring resort, and San-mao Former Residence. Therefore, it is believed to bring prosperity to Wufeng Township.
Mr. Kang felt really touched when he saw Magistrate Chiu's great effort to make the art creation possible, and saw the 18 prisoners overcome difficulties to finish the task with joy. He hoped his creation could bring tourists around the world to Wufeng Township's Qingquan Tribe. On November 19, Fr. Barry Martinson attended the opening ceremony and sprinkled holy water to give blessings to the event. Chien Pei-ju, a world-famous Taiwanese dancer compared to Martha Graham, also danced from one end of the bridge to the other, which symbolized that the bridge was officially opened.