Artist Cleans Up Xiaoliuqiu with Beach Money

Raymond Ko • January 11, 2024

Xiaoliuqiu in the News. Xiaoliuqiu local artist, Chen Pei-Yu, paints "Beach Coins" from trash to help alleviate the island’s trash problem, exchanging it for her hand-painted coins at beach cleanup events.

A man standing on a beach with chinese writing on his back

The island has a resident population of about 13,000 people and on a busy weekend up to 14,000 tourist will visit, putting a lot of pressure on this small island. 


The beach coins can be used to support local businesses like getting a meal in exchange for the coin, a creative way to clean up her hometown (restaurant shown in the video is 杉吉商行 which we love for their healthy bentos). 


The Beach Money project has cleaned up over eight tons of trash on the island with the help of thousands of volunteers, highlighting the impact of community collaboration in environmental conservation.


Chen Pei-Yu was painting the “Beach Coins” at Tiao Cafe, which we and our friends frequent because they are friendly, with a great sunny indoor environment, yummy hand poured coffee and Western-styled brunch. 


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