Author Chen Yuexia, born and raised in Alishan, sighs at the shifting fortunes of her native soil: "From lush primeval forests, to aggressively logged lands, to paradise decked in cherry blossoms, to an abandoned, decaying wasteland, and then to concrete tourist gaudiness: time has truly brought great changes."
阿里山土生土長的作家陳月霞，感嘆家鄉多舛的命運：「從茂盛的原始林，到機械蒸騰的伐木戰場，到櫻花淨美的人間情境，到人去樓空的蕭條沒落，再到鋼筋水泥的觀光俗豔，真可謂滄海桑田，瞬息萬變！」