Field Trip in Zengfang Museum of Mullet Roe

In Chianjhen, Zengfang is one of the two main tourism factories. Besides, Zengfang’s museum which attracts many international tourists and backpackers to visit has been run for a long time. Wayne Lin, as the third generation of the owner, led the class to a trip about the industry of mullet roe. Zengfang starts from a store running in Yancheng. The second generation of the owner, Mr. Lin (林義添先生), did his great efforts on improving the manufacturing process and enlarged the business. With his great effort, Zengfang has become a symbolized brand in Taiwan nowadays.

Wayne firstly introduced how mullet roes were produced and showed the production line. Then, he introduced the history and unique culture in the mullet roe industry. As one of the traditional industries in Taiwan, many interesting customs or taboos were left until today. Some symbols were explained in Taiwanese, which let the international students have more cognition on the industry.

After understanding the manufacturing, history and value of mullet roe. Zhengfang arranged students to experience the DIY course of making Japanese rice balls to make students realize how mullet roe can be made in different kinds of products. After the interesting hand-made time, students raised some questions about the production, marketing or development of the mullet industry in Zengfang to acquire related information in advance. The two-hour trip in Zengfang passed fast, but students knew more about mullet roe.

GHRM MBA 1st-year student Reianthong Vongsangkam from Thailand shared that this kind of tourism factory was not seen in Thailand, and it was a special experience for him. However, he tried to think about the cost and revenue of running the museum.

Through today’s trip, students had more concerns on the tourism factory about how they run the business in different ways, and this is another kind of industry development in some tourism districts in Taiwan.