How would it be if our city was painted with colourful murals and cartoons? It sounds a little weird but the people of a little village in Taiwan have made it possible. The walls of their houses and streets are filled with cartoons and murals.
The village Huija, in Shanhua, northern Taiwan was not a place that any tourist would eagerly visit. It was a normal village with a bunch of local people living their lives. According to the inhabitants, in April 2014, three little sisters of this village visited their grandmother’s house. The old woman was sick and she was bored. They tried to cheer her up by painting Daruma dolls (a type of Japanese lucky charm) on the walls of the house. They painted some pictures and wrote “this is where grandmother lives.” Then the inhabitants started to copy their style, and it became a trend there.
Now, the neighbourhood is home to a lot of cartoon characters like SpongeBob, Mermaid, Mickey Mouse and many more. On any random day, people might be found painting their walls in colourful murals. Sometimes they paint by themselves or hire artists.
The colourful village now has attracted the tourists from many countries, mostly from Hong Kong and China. Tourists who come to visit Taiwan don’t leave without visiting this place. The inhabitants welcome the tourists and request them to post the village’s photo on Facebook. So, a spontaneous act of love of two granddaughters turned into an art movement has also brought money in the area. The surprising news is, this painted village has created a trend in whole Taiwan and now, many towns and villages have started to paint their places with murals. If this trend continues, then it might happen that whole Taiwan transforms into a country of colourful murals. It would not be a bad thing actually!