In general, Taiwan wood is better than the imported stuff. Permits are required to harvest Taiwan's trees, and rare woods are not easy to obtain. Chinese yew, for instance, grows only 10 centimeters per year, creating a very dense grain that carvers love to work with. Due to its very slow growth, the Taiwan Forestry Bureau allows carvers to take only a few trees each year. Even tree roots are used by carvers to make twisting, surreal statues.
Boxwood is fairly common, and of course the local camphor groves are an important resource.
This abundance of camphor wood is a blessing not wasted on Sanyi's master wood carvers. A woodcarver for over 30 years, Tseng Chin-tsai now works to memorialize Taiwan's agricultural past. Below the hillside village, showrooms line the street. This is the area most frequented by tourists and buyers of woodcarvings. Restaurants serving Hakka specialties offer a chance to try different varieties of Taiwan's cuisine.