![[Video] Change and Continuity at Chaojing — A Fishing Village in Transformation: First Prize Documentary, 2019 Chaojing Bay Festival](/_images/b32ec18dcbac-960w.webp)
2019 Chaojing Bay Festival — First Prize Documentary Video Link
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For divers, this small bay is a secret garden — a place to unwind and escape on weekends.
But for the locals, it is the bay they grew up in, the one they depend on for their livelihood. The film's protagonist — Datou — is someone who has been jumping into these waters since childhood, fishing rod in hand, roaming every reef shelf in the bay with his best mates. To them, this is home. The home they grew up in.
In 2016, the Keelung City Government, undeterred by pressure and opposition from all sides, resolutely designated what is Taiwan's smallest marine protected area. In the three short years since, the annual MPA review meetings have continued to echo with the same familiar objections from local residents. Yet no matter what the topic of discussion, whenever someone pulls out the line — "You're not a local, so your opinion doesn't count" — the conversation hits the same dead end, like a never-ending Rashomon, seemingly unable to bridge the gap between different groups.
And yet, there are still fools willing to do foolish things. In 2018, through the dedicated efforts of Coach 林祐平 from @揪潛水, four young people from the local fishing village were successfully "recruited" to help lead snorkeling sessions at the dive shop on weekends — lured in by the prospect of earning extra cash on their days off. It turned out that these kids, whom most people had written off as troublemakers, had been spending their holidays glued to computer screens, chasing glory in virtual worlds. They had no concrete thoughts about their future — or about Chaojing Bay.
Where there are crowds, there is money. And where there is money, local industries can take root. The grilled sausage stalls appeared. The auntie selling shih-hua-tsai (sea moss jelly) appeared. The peanut roll ice cream cart — belonging to Chaojing's beloved dog Dudu — appeared. But the much-talked-about transformation of the fishing village was proving to be anything but simple.
Training someone to become a snorkeling instructor or Divemaster who truly knows the local currents and terrain — let alone a fully independent dive instructor — is an enormous undertaking. Fortunately, among those original four young recruits, one young man gritted his teeth and, with the experience of 200 scuba tanks (cylinders) logged in a single year, earned his dive instructor certification in 2019.
That person is Datou — 簡晨宇. In Datou's eyes, the growing number of divers visiting Chaojing is a good thing — but it also brings real inconveniences for local residents. The weekend parking situation is a perennial target at the community chief's annual review meetings. Then there are scuba divers who aren't careful enough about neutral buoyancy, and the more recent issue of freediving weights left on the seabed. These tensions and contradictions have always been waging a quiet battle in Datou's heart.
But he is a seed. With more local people getting involved, perhaps at the next annual MPA review meeting, there will be a little more understanding and a little less hostility. If we can learn to see things from the perspective of different groups, every knot can be untied.
We hope more young people will join us in the future — especially those from the local community. Because you are the key to actually driving this fishing village transformation forward. The ocean changes because I dive.
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