“The speed of taking photos will never catch up with the speed of development,” Po-lin Chi says in the documentary: Beyond Beauty - TAIWAN FROM ABOVE. Po-lin Chi is an aerial photographer in Taiwan, who aligns the lens on Taiwan’s environmental problem. When I was in fourth grade, our school played the film “Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above” which deeply moved our vision and touched our hearts. I used to think that only places like the Grand Canyon in the US or Yangtze River in China were enviable landscapes. In Taiwan, I mostly saw crowded people, traffic jams, and tall buildings everywhere. Through  Po-lin Chi’s lens, our vision is drawn from the ground to the sky. When we look down on the land like a bird, we realize that the Taiwan I live in is also so magnificent and beautiful for the mountains, canyons, and stunning coastlines that could rival any wonderful place in the world. However, we also witnessed the bare mountains caused by excessive mining, polluted rivers, and beaches filled with garbage. At that time, I was disappointed and felt heartbroken by the adults’ indifference and the government’s inaction. But through conversations with my parents, I gradually understood the different values between generations. Our grandparents’ generation had experienced a period when they couldn’t even have enough to eat, so environmental conservation wasn’t a priority back then. How could they consider environmental protection at that time? Then the economy began to boom, which created Taiwan’s economic miracle, and everyone was hustled to change their life which allowed our generation to grow up almost carefree. But the huge cost was the scarred land of Taiwan.

Influenced by director Chi Po-lin, I fell in love with photography and hiking to enjoy the beauty of Taiwan in the past years. I also participated in beach clean-up activities to contribute little to environmental protection. I noticed that more and more people have been paying attention to environmental conservation in recent years, and many young people are leading these initiatives voluntarily. While we still have a long way to go compared to the damage that has been done, Mr. Chi Po-lin planted the seeds of caring for the environment in many people’s hearts. With these seeds sprouting, I believe more people will be inspired. “Beyond Beauty: Taiwan from Above” makes more people cherish the land we live in. However, change must start with us. There’s no need to argue about whether the economy or the environment is more important. Instead of engaging in online quarrels, each of us can make a difference by changing ourselves. Just do something, curbing desires, reducing waste, cherishing and respecting nature. Only by changing ourselves can we improve the environment and secure a better future.