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Chiayi County’s traditional industries have always been rooted in agriculture, so scattered across the region one can still find the classic Minnan-style “three-section compound” houses; the most distinctive of these is the checkerboard cluster in Dexing Village, Puzi City.

Dexing Village, also called Xinji Village, is a settlement whose compounds all face south. Built of red brick and tile, these traditional homes were long overlooked as time sped by, and as the years passed they became hemmed in by rising high-rises, creating a striking clash. In a flash of inspiration, the older residents of Dexing Community decided to spruce up the lanes: planting flowers, adding greenery, and beautifying every doorstep. In this way Dexing became Chiayi County’s first community to integrate lane-way renewal into its planning; young and old worked side by side, preserving and enhancing three east-west and four north-south lanes and 112 classic “five-bay” three-section compounds. Today the preserved checkerboard settlement has become the village’s crown jewel, rich in humanistic atmosphere. Each year it draws countless tourists, architecture students and teachers, civic groups, and local historians. In 2004 it was honored by the Ministry of the Interior as an “Outstanding Community” in its community-development assessment, a source of immense pride for every resident of Dexing.