ZHAO'AN HAKKA ｜ OUR STORY
愛惜，正知甜
oi^ siaˊ, zhang^ diˇ teemˋ
“Cherish it, and only then will you taste the sweetness.”
A Zhao'an Hakka saying, and the whole of our brand in six words. Buyuseika started with the small field melons of Lunbei — the ones that gather the most flavour.
THE PLACE
Lunbei 崙背
The last Zhao'an Hakka settlement
Lunbei, in Yunlin County, is — together with Erlun and Xiluo — one of the few places in Taiwan where Zhao'an Hakka communities remain concentrated. People here still speak Zhao'an Hakka, a dialect now close to disappearing, and grow melons in alluvial soil laid down by the Zhuoshui River.
Under Qing rule, Lunbei was known as Buyu 布嶼. We took the old name for our brand, so the memory of this land travels with the product.
The melons here are unusually sweet: mineral-rich alluvial soil, long hours of sun, and a wide day-to-night temperature swing driven by sea wind. Every season the fields also yield melons that are small or picked early — perfectly good in flavour, simply the wrong shape for the fresh market. They had not yet found a stage of their own.
THE PERSON
頭家 Thâu-ke
From Keelung to Lunbei
Everyone here calls me Thâu-ke — “the boss”. I came from Keelung in the north and married into a Zhao'an Hakka family in Lunbei.
After moving here I kept seeing it in the fields around me: every season, melons that were small or picked early never made it to the fresh-fruit stalls, even though that is exactly when the flavour is at its most concentrated. Fruit this good deserved a stage of its own.
So I set out to do something with them. We slow-dry at low temperature for the better part of a day, concentrating a whole melon into a few slices. No added sugar, no additives — the fruit speaks for itself.
I also wanted more people to know this place. Zhao'an Hakka is fading, and Lunbei's culture and stories deserve to be remembered. That is how Buyuseika began: every product carries something of this land and of the Zhao'an Hakka language.
BRAND CHARACTER
阿瓜師 Master Gua
A martial artist in a melon hat
Lunbei sits within the range of the historic Seven Khams of Xiluo (西螺七崁). For two centuries, these Zhao'an Hakka villages studied, practised martial arts and passed down medicine.
Master Gua is Buyuseika's brand ambassador — a martial artist wearing a melon hat, our tribute to that local tradition. Zhao'an Hakka culture is more than the open-mouthed lion dance; it also carries generations of martial craft.
When you find him on a Buyu melon product, it means this one was seen through to the end — a whole melon, done properly.
THE PRODUCT
A second life
Every slice is a whole melon, concentrated
1.5 kg of fresh melon, slow-dried at low temperature, yields under 100 g of dried fruit. Every slice is the concentrated essence of a whole melon.
No added sugar, no colouring, no preservatives. The sweetness comes from time and temperature drawing it out of the fruit itself.
Preserving a season's flavour so it lasts is a century-old Hakka craft of preserved foods — and a way of carrying culture forward, bringing a disappearing language into everyday life.
What we believe
The craft of keeping
Like Hakka preserved foods before us, we use time and care to keep a season's flavour at its peak.
Carrying culture
Keeping Zhao'an Hakka language and village culture alive through the products themselves.
Local economy
Creating extra value for Lunbei's melon growers, and keeping that value in the region.
OUR PRODUCTS
Three product lines
Our range splits into 菓 goo^, 食 shiedˋ and 飲 rhim^. All three names come from Zhao'an Hakka — the village's own words, printed on the packaging.
菓 goo^
Dried fruit
“goo^” is Zhao'an Hakka for fruit. A season's flavour, slowly condensed into a single slice with low heat and time — where Buyuseika began, and the heart of everything we make.
食 shiedˋ
Everyday snacks
“shiedˋ” is Zhao'an Hakka for eating. The slow-dried sweetness, made into everyday treats that are easy to enjoy and easy to share — bringing the taste of Lunbei into daily life.
飲 rhim^
Fermented drinks
“rhim^” is Zhao'an Hakka for drinking. The season's sweetness, fermented into a clean, refreshing glass — another way to taste the land of Lunbei.
A slice of Buyu fruit holds nothing but melon, freshly picked in season in Lunbei — no added cane sugar, no preservatives, no artificial flavours or colours.
May this slowed-down sweetness remind you of someone worth treating well.
Working with us
We work with companies on gifting, employee purchases and event favours — and supply sourcing figures you can cite in a sustainability report.
Our online shop is in Chinese — browse the shop or write to us in English.
Advised by the Hakka Affairs Council 指導單位：客家委員會