In Fenglin, Taiwan, a town of about 10,000 that has embraced a snail’s pace of life, residents are betting that gastropod races can pull their economy out of a post-earthquake slump. For the third year in a row, the community staged snail races over the May Day holiday, turning the slow-moving creatures into a tourism draw and a symbol of the town’s deliberate, sustainable identity.
Fenglin joined the Cittaslow international network of small cities in 2014, the Associated Press reported, adopting the organization’s snail-carrying-a-village logo and its emphasis on quality of life, locally sourced foods and slower rhythms. The designation fit a town whose population has shrunk threefold over the past few decades and where more than one in five residents is now older than 65 — a “super-aged” community, under Taiwan’s demographic definitions.
The races took on new urgency after a magnitude 7.4 earthquake struck Hualien County in April 2024, killing 19 people and injuring more than 1,100. Hsu Lu, a 32-year-old Fenglin resident, told the AP that the quake “had a relatively big impact on tourism because people are worried an earthquake may happen again.” Many families have since moved away from the quake-prone county, she added.
Organizer Cheng Jen-shou said residents decided to host the first race in May 2024 as a small gesture of recovery. “We thought that our event could attract people, and that would be a small help,” he said.
This year, several dozen spectators gathered over two days to watch six heats. Snails — mostly picked from local vegetable gardens or scooped up along the roadside — were placed near the center of a round table covered with vinyl sheeting. The first to reach the table’s edge was declared the winner, and the finalists were paraded on a piece of plywood across a green carpet as fans cheered.
Li Cheng-wen, a 70-year-old retiree, brought several snails he had captured in his garden. Rather than dispose of them as pests, he said, he has turned them into pets, feeding them bananas, papaya and leafy greens and showering them daily. “As to the criteria for choosing snails for the race, I usually select those that are very active and pleasing to the eye,” Li said.
Some competitors traveled much farther. Kevin Hong and Tiara Lin drove five hours from the southern city of Kaohsiung with their 2-year-old daughter, Murphy, and their giant African snail, Aquaman. The couple had registered Aquaman for a previous year’s race, but Lin went into labor just as they were leaving. This year the whole family returned, though the larger snail proved slower than many of its homegrown rivals.
The reigning champion, a snail named Guage — “Brother Snail” — won the final in 3 minutes and 3 seconds, crossing a 33‑centimeter (13‑inch) tablecloth. Its owner, 39-year-old Tanya Lin of Hualien, had been raising the snail since 2024. Brother Snail’s reward: a tiny stadium podium and a prize of organic sweet potato leaves.
Beyond the races, local authorities have been promoting e‑bike tours that stop at historic tobacco barns, buildings from the Japanese colonial period and a museum of Hakka culture. University students Annette Lin and Tanya Liu, who made the 30‑minute train trip from Hualien, told the AP they found the snail race unique and enjoyed Fenglin’s leisurely pace — but only as a weekend escape. “I think for travel or a trip, it’s a great choice,” Liu said. “But maybe living here would not really be my dream choice.”