Aboriginal peoples devoutly believe that drum music is a means of communicating with heavenly beings. As the drumbeat begins, accompanied by foot stamping and shouting, the effect is electrifying.

A host must welcome honored guests with cup after cup of wine. The headdress of Tu Pa-nan, a chief (right), is a proud boast of honors he has received--each lily indicates that he has personally hunted and killed five wild boars.

2. The Homeland of the Rukai: Wutai 

Every element of this "dream home"in Wutai, from its design and construction down to the superb collection of beautiful objects and decorative carvings inside, was produced by the family; nothing was "Outsourced."

From Santimen the road lined with variegated erythrina trees and maples winds upwards into the mountains. This district is called Taiwan's "Waterfall Region"and from time to time, between the lush and luxuriant lines of mountaintops, you can catch a glimpse of silvery white water splashing through the air. Over countless years the Ailiao North Creek has cut deep gorges through these high mountains, creating stunningly magnificent scenery. 

Wutai is a Rukai tribe stronghold. The name comes from the Rukai language and means small village. Very appropriately, the Chinese characters used to write "Wutai"mean Fog Terrace, as, being up at an altitude of 900 meters, every afternoon a fog settles in. The Rukai's flower is the lily, a symbol of purity. If a Rukai woman transgresses the tribe's moral code, she loses her right to wear lilies on her head. This is a matter of great humiliation and loss of face at Rukai community gatherings and dances. 

A Rukai totem is the hundred-pace snake, so-called because it's said that if you're bitten, you can only walk about a hundred paces before you fall dead. But the Rukai people don't worship this snake; rather, they consider it their protector. 

Aboriginal craftwork, such as rough and unsophisticated woodcarvings, is plain and unaffected. Carving is just considered a normal pastime.

Wutai Township is famous for its stone slab houses built entirely of locally available material. In the days before mechanization, the Aboriginal people cut slabs of slate using large knives, then worked together to carry the extremely heavy, sharp-edged slabs up the mountains. There everyone pitched in to erect the dwellings. It's said that when Typhoon Thelma struck Pingtung in 1977, not even one of Wutai's stone houses was blown over and not a single stone slab was sent flying through the air. They were the only kind of dwelling to be completely spared. Visitors can have stone tables, stone chairs, and other items made to order and there's an express delivery service to your door. 

The slate found everywhere in the Tawu mountain area is a heaven-sent material. As well as being used to make stone houses, stone tables and stone seats, it can be carved to amazing effect.

Wutai is famous for its art villages. Aboriginal people who have never had any formal art training have used their natural talents to transform their homes into veritable art palaces. They have a highly developed sense of aesthetics, which is very much the equal of that of Indonesia's Balinese people. Objects made through everyday pastimes such as wood carving, stone carving, ceramics, and beading glass beads are all integrated and cleverly fashioned into amazing decorative items. Boar tusks, deer antlers, animal bones and odd bits of driftwood which come to hand are incorporated as accessories. 

An evening meal personally prepared by Pao Kuang-hui, a Rukai chief, includes mountain boar, wild vegetables, roast sweet potatoes, millet dishes, jinabuwan (a dish wrapped in shell-ginger leaves) and very sweet millet wine.

Being made from natural materials, stone slab houses can "breathe"and are warm in winter and cool in summer. Visitors are welcome to stay in one overnight and experience for themselves this uniquely down-to-earth pleasure. You can also take part in a genuine Rukai feast, which includes roast boar, mountain sago and maize dishes, and a local specialty called jinabuwan, which consists of millet and pickled minced meat cooked wrapped in shell-ginger leaves. You can enjoy this light and appetizing food with some very sweet millet wine, for a wonderful meal that you'll remember for a long time.

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