The Huashan Cultural Park Taipei

Below some pictures of the newly developed, and developing, Huashan Cultural Park in Taipei. These sorts of mixed developments – a bit of art, a few bars and restaurants, independent shops and cafes – work differently in different cities. Peking’s 798 art area was a success I think while Shanghai doesn’t do these things quite so well – 1933 in Hongkou and others didn’t pan out too well while Taikang Road has almost sunk under a welter of copy cat shops and cafes. Perhaps Taipei’s Huashan development can do better. I must admit that when I’ve visited it’s been a bit empty but it isn’t fully developed yet and it was invariably pouring with rain when I’ve visited.

Anyway, here’s the architectural intel – Huashan covers the areas of a former winery and the old Huashan railway station. During Qing Dynasty the area was called Sanbanchiao and then, under Japanese colonial rule, it was renamed in 1922 to “Kabayama Town” after Kabayama Sukenori, the first Japanese Governor General of Taiwan. When the main Taipei Railway Station was renovated in 1940, the Kabayama Freight Depot set up a new station in Kabayama Town, and later it became known as the Huashan Freight Depot (you can still see some of the old tracks that were Taipei Winery’s railway spur line connecting the Huashan Station and Winery areas). In 1987 the Winery closed. It later became a property under the Cultural Affairs Department. Details of how to get to the Hushan Culture Park here.

Herewith a series of photos of the development – apologies for the quality of my pictures; regular readers will know I am a crap photographer and the day these were taking it was pouring with rain.

The main winery building – now shops, offices, cafes etc

the main drag through the centre of the development

side alleys have been turned into nice alcoves by bars, restaurants and galleries

and another nice green space within the development

some parts still to be developed but with early 20th century architecture and early 21st century graffiti

the former freight depot – now a great space for events, exhibitions, installations etc

large inside spaces within the old freight depot

the main entrance to Huashan from the street

Taipei’s Grass Mountain Waterworks – Boring but Important

OK – Taipei’s Grass Mountain Waterworks are not perhaps the most engrossing of old buildings to be found in Taiwan but they’re quite important. The waterworks are well up the side of Yangmingshan and if you take the stepped route up from Tianmu the waterworks are a pretty sweaty climb. As Taipei grew and expanded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries so the occupying Japanese had to ramp up the water supply and sanitation facilities. ration could not meet the population’s needs. Therefore, in 1928, the Grass Mountain Waterworks were opened in 1928  delivering 28,800 cubic meters of water from Yangmingshan to 150,000 people in Taipei per day.

So not perhaps the most fascinating structure ever to grace this blog but cities don’t expand and grow without waterworks and other public utilities.

the thrilling waterworks – but still, an original building

And here’s the pipe taking the water down the mountain to Taipei

Taipei Post Office…Still Standing and Still Quite Impressive

Talking of Taipei’s North Gate (as I was yesterday) – a trip down to the North Gate does not take you into the most salubrious part of Taipei but is worth it for Futai Street, the gate and the excellent Taipei Post Office, an 1930 four-story building composed of two huge wings and one front lobbying opening. It’s a Japanese colonial era construction and abuts the European style Futai Street. The building was the  the old Chunghwa Post. It remains a post office in part (now Taiwan Post) but other parts of the building are occupied by National Chiao Tung University and Chunghwa Telecom. The structure is essentially a big V with a sizable courtyard space behind the street facades. In this sense the building is actually reminiscent of the old Municipal Council Offices in Shanghai on the corner of Hankow and Kiangse Roads (now Hankou and Jiangxi Roads) which follows a similar layout.

Talking of Gates in Taiwan – Taipei’s North Gate

Thinking of gates yesterday in Kaohsiung and then happening to be down near the old North Gate in Taipei I thought I’d snap it – it’s a strange place to go – the end of a road running out from the railway station, backed by several flyover elevated motorways and one piece of flyover that leads nowhere. The North Gate is hardly ever visited these days by tourists, or anyone unless they’re lost though close by is Futai Street, with some interesting buildings and the rather nice Post Office (more to come on that).More technical and historic details on the wall here.

First off – here’s the gate in 1895 with the ceremonial archway,now long gone

And here’s the gate around 1920-1930 during the Japanese colonial era:

And here’s some shots of the gate today – rather isolated by traffic and an elevated motorway:

Lane 60, Guling Street, Taipei

I am often coming across small lanes of old housing that dates back to the Japanese occupation era in Taipei. Sometimes they are preserved but often they just appear to be in a state of disrepair and you can’t be sure if they are about to come down or be saved. Indeed it’s hard to tell if they are lived in sometimes. Lane 60, Guling Street in Taipei, not far from Taipei Normal University and a lane of preserved Forestry Commission housing I’ve posted about before, is typical of such a street. You can’t tell much as there are locked gates and high walls along the lane and when I strolled along it nobody emerged from their houses for me to ask. Some houses appeared lived in and in a good state of repair, others appeared empty and neglected. So here’s some photos of basically roofs and not much else! If anyone lives in one of these houses please do invite me round for tea – I’ll bring cakes!!

Lin Yutang’s House – Taipei

Lin Yutang is one of my favourite Chinese writers and inventors. Largely this is because he has been overlooked in recent years both in the PRC, for political reasons, and overseas for all sorts of reasons. However, he was extremely influential in many ways from his writing style to his work on an English-Chinese dictionary as well as inventing a Chinese typewriter and translating many classical Chinese texts into English. A native of Fujian and a graduate of St. John’s University in Shanghai, he later studied at Harvard and then visited France and Germany (where he also studied at the University of Leipzig. Later he taught English Lit at Peking University. His 1939 novel Moment in Peking is his best, I think, and still regularly filmed for TV.

Lin ended up living in a nice house near Yangmingshan in Taipei, which is now a museum which includes his old rooms kept pretty much as they were along with calligraphy done by Chiang Kai-shek and pictures drawn by Madame Chiang too. Also there are examples of his Chinese typewriter, his handwriting in both English and Chinese and many other momentoes of his life including much of his personal library in multiple languages. Finally he was buried there overlooking Yangmingshan. Below are some photographs of the outside of the property, the view and Lin’s grave.

Japanese Army Commander’s Residence – Taipei

This building in Taipei was constructed around 1910 as a residence for the commander of Japanese forces in Taiwan. Later, after 1949, it became a club for ROC Army officers. Today it is still owned by the army I think but is a restaurant.

Taiwan Monopoly Bureau Building – Taipei

Continuing a week of various historic buildings in Taipei – the Taiwan Monopoly Bureau Building.

The Japanese established the Monopoly Bureau (booze and fags basically now) in Taipei back in 1901 and built this building to house the bureaucracy in 1913. The central tower you can see in the second photo was added in 1922 making it one of the tallest buildings in Taipei at the time. Though now the liquor and tobacco people the Monopoly originally covered opium, salt, weights and measures and matches.