* 2022 TLA New Bud Award

This book narrates the adventures of a nature lover as he follows a group of indigenous Bunun elders deep into Taiwan’s mountain forests in 2008. The protagonist, an enthusiastic member of his university’s hiking club, had become a research conservationist and nature interpreter after graduation. His mission on this particular trip was to translate the natural historical wisdom in Bunun hunting taboos, mythology, and place names into knowledge relatable to modern society. The narrative leads us to an understanding of the forest in its entirety and to see how, in the 21st century, one can achieve self-construction by becoming truly ‘present’ within the forest.