Zhongli Elementary Teachers Dorms (壢小故事森林)

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Having recently celebrated the 120th anniversary of its founding, Zhongli Elementary School finds itself on a very exclusive list of educational institutions in Taiwan with such a long and storied history. 

Plans for the construction of “Zhongli Public School” (中壢公學校) started in 1898 (明治31年), shortly after the Japanese took control of Taiwan. The school opened two years later in 1900 and became one of Taoyuan’s (and Northern Taiwan’s) first public educational institutions. 

To celebrate the 120 year anniversary of the school, festivities were held throughout the year and the school announced plans for some restoration projects that would modernize and beautify the campus. 

To coincide with the anniversary, the Taoyuan City Government started a restoration project on the historic teachers dormitories that were once used by the staff at the school during the Japanese Colonial era.

The plan was to have them ready to reopen to the public in conjunction with the celebrations for the school’s milestone anniversary. 

With such a long and storied history, you’d think that finding information about the school would be pretty easy, but that’s not actually the case.

From what little I’ve found from the school’s own literature is that “Zhongli Public School” opened in 1900 and as the number of students steadily increased over the years, several “branch” schools had to be constructed nearby communities - all of which still exist today.

In total, five branch schools were constructed around town, which have all since changed their names and are now known as Chung-Ping Elementary (中平國小), Hsin-Ming Elementary (新明國小), Hsin-Jie Elementary (新街國小), Longgang Elementary (龍岡國小) and Nan-Shih Elementary (南勢國小). 

If you’ve lived in the area as long as I have then you’re probably aware that these schools (in most cases) were the basis for the formation of a community that used the same name as the school.

Most notably “Hsin-Ming Elementary” is known for its popular neighbour, the Zhongli Night Market (新明夜市), which is actually named “Hsin-Ming Night Market” and the Hsin-Ming Traditional Market, which is home to two of the city’s most famous restaurants, Hsin-Ming Beef Noodles (新明牛肉麵) and Yong-Chuan Beef Noodles (永川牛肉麵). 

In the decades since the colonial era ended, the school has changed its name a few times, but no matter what it is called, it is still the first educational institution opened to the public and is an important part of the local history.  

Subtle name changes: 

  • 1947 (民國36年) - 中壢國民學校

  • 1968 (民國57年) - 中壢國民小學

  • 2014 (民國103年) - 桃園市中壢區中壢國民小學

The topic today however isn’t really about the school itself, but the Japanese-style teachers dormitories that were constructed nearby. 

As I’ve already mentioned, the growing number of students wanting to take part in the public education system, it became necessary to construct branch schools as well as homes for the staff working at the schools to live. 

Constructing “dormitories” (員工宿舍) for employees was a service that the Japanese Colonial Powers provided, especially for civil servants and those working within important industries.

There would have been dormitories that housed police, government officials, teachers, principals, railway workers and many of the engineers who came to Taiwan to help develop the island. 

Today, all over Taiwan many of these dorms are being restored and reopened to the public as tourist destinations in an attempt to help people learn more about an important part of Taiwan’s history.

So lets take a look at the newly reopened Zhongli Elementary School teachers dormitories, which have been (randomly) renamed the “Zhongli Forest Story House” (壢小故事森林). 

Zhongli Elementary Teachers Dorms (中壢國小日式宿) 

You might think that like most school dorms that the teachers dorms would have been constructed somewhere on campus, but in order to provide the teaching staff with a bit of privacy, they were constructed on a nice plot of tree-covered land nearby. 

Constructed in 1917 (大正6年), the three Japanese-style homes are on a plot of land that is about 871 square meters large and would have provided staff with easy access to the school as well as the nearby train station and whatever amenities would have been available in the downtown area at that time. 

Interestingly, from a design perspective, even though there are three buildings, each of them was constructed somewhat differently as they all served different functions. One of them was a typical Japanese style family home, while the other two were more dorm-like in their set-up.

The two single-floor buildings, which are referred to as “Building A” (A棟) and “Building B” (B棟) are typical Japanese-style homes that were constructed with Taiwanese Cypress (台灣檜木) and have beautiful black Kyoto-style roof tiles (黑瓦). 

“Building C” (C棟) on the other hand is a bit different from the other two and even though it maintains aspects of Japanese architectural design, it was constructed with brick, has two floors, a nice patio space on the second level and a roof that was constructed using the same type of red tiles (閩式紅瓦) that you’ll see on many older Taiwanese buildings. 

The buildings were used by the Japanese staff of the elementary school from 1917-1945 and then afterwards became dormitories for the teaching staff hired by the new regime for the next few decades before they were more or less abandoned.

Today the dorms have been completely restored and are part of a newly established culture park known as the Zhongli Forest Story House. 

Now that they’re no longer dormitories, the government had to find a use for the space, so each of the buildings now serves a specific purpose. 

  1. “Building A” - A棟 (沐樂居)

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“Building A” was originally constructed as a dorm that would house two families under the same roof (雙拼日式宿舍), so the interior has several rooms and two large open spaces. It would have been a space for more senior teachers who brought their family with them to Taiwan.

The building is currently used as a revolving exhibition space that is likely to focus on the history of the local area, its people, language, cultures and cuisine.

2. “Building B” - B棟 (儒林所)

“Building B” is a smaller single family dorm (單棟日式宿舍) that was likely used by the principal of the school and his or her family. The home is complete with a couple of bedrooms, an open living room, kitchen and bathroom.

The building is currently used as a fun exhibition space for children to come and learn about Taiwanese history in a fun and interesting way.

3. “Building C” - C棟 (睦森館)

“Building C” is the largest of the three buildings and was the space that was offered to teachers and staff with lower seniority. The building was constructed with bricks and as I mentioned above features a red tile roof, which is uncommon for Japanese-style buildings.  The living conditions would have been what you’d expect from a typical dorm but there would have been ample space for everyone living inside. 

The building is currently used as a multi-purpose space for exhibitions, meetings, public lectures, etc. It is also home to a small cafe where you can purchase some drinks and sit inside. The second floor patio is also open for guests to walk up to get a good look at the beautiful red tiles on the roof of the building as well as the exterior of the other two smaller buildings. 

During the week, the space can be a little quiet, but on the weekends there are always events taking place similar to weekend markets with hip vendors setting up mobile coffee shops with others offering a variety of foods. If you visit on the weekend, you should probably expect that there will be quite a few people and the opportunities for photos probably won’t be so good. 

Getting There

 

Address: #52 Bo-ai Road, Zhongli District, Taoyuan City (桃園市中壢區博愛路52號)

The Zhongli Forest Story House is located within the downtown core of the city and is easily walkable from the train station (中壢車站) or the inter-city bus terminal (中壢客運站).

If you’re in town, you can easily grab a Youbike and make your way to the dorms while also checking out many of the other historic destinations within the area.

Located directly across the street from Zhongli Elementary School (中壢國小) and a short walk from the Zhongli Police Dorms (壢景町), the Zhongping Story House (中平故事館) and several staple local restaurants, there is quite a bit to see and do in the space of a single city block, and a five minute walk from the train station. 

Hours: Tuesday - Sunday: 10:30-7:00 

Admission: Free of Charge

If you’re feeling hungry, take it from me, there are quite a few local restaurants nearby that should satisfy your tastebuds.

  • Tseng’s Steam-Fried Buns (曾記老牌水煎包) - A short walk away from the dorms, there is always a big line for these freshly cooked buns and for good reason - they’re amazing. 

Address: 桃園市中壢區康樂路61號

#61 Kangle Road.

  • Old Alley Hakka Noodles (老巷小館) - This Hakka noodle place serves up some cheap and amazing Hakka noodle dishes with the addition of succulent plates of duck. 

Address: 桃園市中壢區中正路243號 

#243 Zhongzheng Road.

  • Mama Liu’s Hakka Vegetable Buns (劉媽媽菜包店) - This take-away only store sells steaming hot sticky Hakka vegetable buns and are one of the things you absolutely have to eat if you’re in town. There are meat and vegetarian options, so make sure to let them know which type you want! 

Address: 桃園市中壢區中正路268號

#268 Zhongzheng Road.

  • Papa’s Secret Lover (阿爸的情人) - If you’re looking for some straight up amazing Hakka food, then look no further than this restaurant which has been open for half a century. 

Address: 桃園市中壢區中山路401號 

#401 Zhongshan Road.

  • Yong-Chuan Beef Noodles (永川牛肉麵) - If you’re a lover of beef noodles, then this restaurant should be high on your list. Its open 24 hours for your enjoyment and no matter what time of the day you visit, its always jam packed with people slurping up the spicy noodles. 

Address: 桃園市中壢區民權路61號

#61 Minquan Road.

  • The Peanut House (張豐盛商行) - While most locals visit this historic shop for their peanut fix, tourists have been coming from all over Taiwan for a taste of their peanut-flavoured ice cream which is surprisingly amazing. If you’re in town on a hot day, you’ll definitely want to visit. 

Address: 桃園市中壢區中正路349號

#349 Zhongzheng Road.

The restoration and reopening of the Zhongli Elementary School Teachers Dorms adds yet another location to the list of places for people to visit when they come to Taoyuan. These dorms, in conjunction with the nearby police dorms show off a bit of the city’s colonial history in an area that is rightfully very focused on and proud of its Hakka history and culture. 

A visit to the teachers dorms won’t take very long and it seems like there is always something interesting going on, so if you’re planning to visit the area, you should definitely add them to your list of places to visit. 

The Taoyuan Valley (桃源谷步道)

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In a recent case, the Shilin District Court in Taipei ordered the Yangmingshan National Park Administration to pay NT$3.96 million (US $134,000) in compensation to a family whose mother had died as a result of injuries caused by being pushed over by a wild water buffalo.

The family’s lawyer argued that the park administration hadn’t provided adequate safety measures for tourists and that the thirty-or-so water buffalo that graze in the area were a danger to society.  

The ironic thing is that the water buffalo have been grazing on the grassy pasture since the Japanese Colonial Era (1895-1945), and are one of the main reasons why Qingtiangang (擎天崗) has become such a popular tourist destination in the first place.

Link: Court awards compensation to family of woman killed by water buffalo (Focus Taiwan) 

While I do have sympathy for the family, it was only a matter of time until one of the thousands of people who invade the personal space of the buffalos on a weekly basis were seriously injured. The mostly docile buffalo have had to put up with people approaching them (and their young) for photos for quite some time now. 

This, in addition to a general lack of understanding about the behaviour of wild animals is something that makes for a dangerous situation.

So, in order to ensure the public’s safety, large fences were erected to separate the ferocious buffalo and the visitors which ultimately limits the freedom that the animals have enjoyed for the past century, but also their grazing space.

Likewise, the fences that have been erected are somewhat of an eyesore on the extremely picturesque mountainous plateau.

This reminds me of the infamous Liebeck v. McDonald’s court case in America, where the restaurant was more or less sued for selling hot coffee. 

While this water buffalo case might not have been as frivolous, as adults, we should probably all be mature enough to understand the danger involved in approaching a wild animal for a photo. Unfortunately people these days get caught doing some tremendously moronic and dangerous things for a little bit of attention on social media.  

What happened at Qingtiangang is similar to what has also happened at Linkou’s beautiful Water Buffalo Valley (水牛坑), which became one of the hottest Instagram photo spots in Northern Taiwan a few years back. 

The local media describes the area as Taiwan’s “Grand Canyon”, but similar to Qingtiangang, that wasn’t particularly the main attraction - The valley also happened to be the grazing space for a much larger group of water buffalo than you’ll find at Yangmingshan. 

Today though, thanks to the irresponsible masses of Instagram, the land owner has had to erect signs in the valley that read “Restricted Area - No Entry Unless Authorized” and has to have security hanging out to ensure that none of the people who visit are approaching the buffalo.

Likewise, the large group of buffalo that once grazed there can only do so under the watchful eye of their owners - who obviously don’t feel like paying out a massive settlement to some Insta-fool who invades the space of one of the buffalo.

Now that both Qingtiangang and Water Buffalo Valley have been somewhat damaged as tourist destinations, the collective attention of Taiwan’s Instagram community seems to have descended upon a new location to ruin, New Taipei’s Taoyuan Valley (桃源谷).

I’ve had the Taoyuan Valley hike on my list of places to write about for quite some time, but now that it has become an Instagram hotspot, I decided that it would have to jump to the top of my list. 

This isn’t because I wanted to follow the trendy masses, but simply because I didn’t want to miss out on an opportunity to hike the beautiful trail and enjoy the space before it suffers a similar fate and ultimately gets fenced up. 

If you ask me, the main attraction to the valley should be the awesome hike and the amazing views you get when you arrive at the top - But yes, the trail is home to another large group of free-roaming water buffalo who (currently) have a massive patch of land to graze on. 

The Taoyuan Valley Trail (桃源谷步道) 

The famed Taoyuan Valley grassland stretches for more three kilometres along a beautiful sloped ridge between Wankentou Mountain (灣坑頭山) and Neiliao Mountain (內寮山) on the northern edge of the Snow Mountain Range (雪山山脈). 

From the top of the ridged grassy slope, visitors are treated to beautiful 360 degree views of Taiwan’s North-East Coast, including a birds-eye-view of Turtle Island (龜山島), as well as the mountains of New Taipei’s Pingxi District (平溪區) to the rear. 

The beauty of the valley lies in its combination of the sea, land and sky, giving hikers jaw-dropping views overlooking the Pacific Ocean while also enjoying the rare site of such a large patch of grassland, free roaming water buffalo and the mountainous terrain that makes Taiwan such a geographically diverse country. 

At an average elevation of around 500 meters (above sea level), the long stretch of grassland allows makes for an ideal location to sit along the ridge for a picnic or to just enjoy the view.

Originally named “Da’niu pu” (大牛埔) and “Kun’niuzai Mountain” (綑牛仔山), a nod to the historic usage of the grassland by farmers, hikers need to be careful where they’re walking while on the ridge as the water buffalo are prone to randomly unloading their droppings for hikers to step in.

Today the name “Taoyuan Valley” is a nod to “The Peach Blossom Spring” (桃花園記), a fable written by Tao Yuanming (陶淵明) in 421, which describes a chance discovery of a utopia where humans led an ideal existence in harmony with nature.  

Link: The Peach Blossom Spring (Wiki) 

What you should make sure to remember is that even though it is named “Taoyuan” in English, it’s not the “Taoyuan” (桃園) that you’re thinking of just south of Taipei.

Considering what I mentioned above, one would hope that the current name of the grasslands could inspire people to act a little more harmoniously with nature, and not harass its full-time residents. 

Hiking the Taoyuan Valley

Hiking Guide to the Taoyuan Valley www.goteamjosh.com/blog/taoyuangu

One of the saving graces for the Taoyuan Valley is that if you don’t have a car, you have to hike up the long trail to get to the valley. So, unlike the other destinations I mentioned above, (which are pretty easy to get to) this one actually requires a bit of effort. 

That being said, if you have a car, the ‘hike’ only takes about twenty minutes.

Fortunately, the road that takes you almost all the way to the top is quite narrow and offers very little in terms of parking spots. On weekends, it tends to be a dangerous route to take as (lazy) hikers end up stuck in their cars on a dead-end road that isn’t very easy to escape from.

When the only other alternative is to actually hike the trail, most of Taiwan’s Instagram celebrities don’t really even bother trying to make an attempt. So even though the trails can be busy at times, you should be able to take photos of the vast valley without large crowds of people.  

If you took a look at the map provided above, you may be thinking this hike seems like a long one, but it should relieve you to know that it is actually only a small portion of the much larger network of trails on the historic Caoling Trail (草嶺古道).

Links: Caoling Old Trail (草嶺古道) - Foreigners in Taiwan | Caoling Historic Trail - Taiwan Trails and Tales

Given that it is part of a network of trails, we’re blessed with a number of options when it comes to getting us to the valley:  

  • Taoyuan Valley Trail (Stone Guanyin) - 桃源谷步道(石觀音線)

  • Taoyuan Valley Trail (Neiliao) - 桃源谷步道(內寮線)

  • Wujuwushu Trail - 吾居吾墅步道

  • Wanshentou Trail - 灣坑頭山步道

  • Caoling Historic Trail - 草嶺古道

  • Tamlan Historic Trail (Ao-Di to Dali trail) - 淡蘭古道北路（澳底－大里段）

For this blog post however, I’ll only be focusing on the most commonly used trails:

  1. One that takes you up the mountain from one train station and ends at another.

  2. One that allows you to walk straight up the mountain to the ridge.

  3. One that allows you to cheat a bit and drive your car most of the way to the top.

The one I’ll focus on most though is the first one, which is generally speaking considered to be the “complete” Taoyuan Valley experience - giving hikers the best of what this hike has to offer.

The Taoyuan Valley Circuit Hike

Let me start by offering a few important details about the hike: 

  • Hiking Time: 5-7 hours

  • Total Distance: About 15-18 km

  • Elevation: 10m - 530m

  • Difficulty: Depends on the trail you take. It could be quite easy, or a rather difficult one.

  • Trails: Well-developed paths with periodic signs, rest stops and washrooms.

  • Best time to hike: Spring and Fall

This hike basically starts at one train station and ends at another, so if it wasn’t obvious enough already, what this means is that the best way to do this one is to simply leave your car or scooter at home and make use of Taiwan’s amazing public rail system!

From which station you start is more or less up to you, but I’d caution that the incline from the Daxi side going up is quite a bit more difficult.

Generally speaking, most hikers elect to start from Dali Train Station (大里火車站) and later finishing by hopping back on the train at Daxi Train Station (大溪火車站). 

  • Dali Train Station to Trailhead (大里火車站 - 登山口)

When you get off the train at Dali Station, the trailhead is a short walk north. 

From the entrance of the station you’ll find signs pointing you in the direction of the Dali Visitors Centre (大里遊客中心), the Dali Tiangong Temple (大里天公廟) and the Caoling Historic Trail (草嶺古道), which you’ll follow until you reach the temple. 

Getting to the temple should only take a few minutes from the train station and once you’ve arrived, you’ll simply walk up to the front and then follow the signs to the trailhead, which is near the rear of the building. 

Don’t be surprised that the trailhead says “Caoling Historic Trail” and not “Taoyuan Valley Trail” as the Taoyuan Valley is just a part of the overall network of trails. 

GPS: N24 58.220 E121 55.540

The incline of this hike is one that starts out relatively easy with a tree-covered trail, but eventually opens up once you’ve reached the entrance to the Taoyuan Valley trail requiring you to walk along an open ridge with lots of stairs that bring you the long way around.

Once you’ve completed the hike and you’re back down on ground level on the Daxi side, you’ll find signs pointing you in the direction of Daxi Train Station, which is about a kilometer south of the trailhead. 

  • Daxi Train Station to Trailhead (大溪火車站 - 登山口)

If you choose to start your hike from Daxi Train Station, the trailhead is about a fifteen minute walk north of the station taking you through the historic fishing village. 

From the train station, you’ll walk out of the entrance, turn left and start walking along the coastal highway until you reach Guishan Road (龜山路), where you’ll turn left and walk up a narrow road to the trailhead. 

GPS: N24 56.530 E121 53.770

If you’re worried that you won’t be able to find the trailhead, never fear, there are signs along the road that point you in the direction of the trail and once you get to the narrow road where you start walking up the hill, there are signs on both sides of the road pointing you in that direction. You can’t really miss it. 

One thing that you’ll want to keep in mind about the Daxi Trail is that it can be quite slippery. If it is raining, the five kilometer hike could be somewhat of a treacherous one. You’ll find signs reminding you about this, which you should take seriously as the stone steps can be quite dangerous.

Stone Guanyin Trail (石觀音線)

The “Stone Guanyin Trail” is another one of the trailheads that you can reach from Daxi Train Station.

The key feature of this trail is that it is a hike that allows you to go straight up the mountain and back down again (on the same trail) while saving a considerable amount of time and traveling a much shorter distance.

You’ll also be treated to a beautiful Buddhist Temple and an open-faced cave that has a shrine inside.

That being said, it shouldn’t surprise you that that the longer trail mentioned above has a much more gradual incline, while this one is a relentless set of stairs that you’ll hike straight up the mountain until you reach your destination.

To reach this trailhead, you’ll exit the Dali Train Station, turn right and walk about two kilometres until you reach the trailhead. Once you’ve reached the trailhead area, you’ll have to cross under a railroad bridge and then follow the road to the trailhead.

The signage here isn’t as prevalent as the main trail, so you’ll want to be careful not to get lost along the highway.

To help, there’s a bus stop next to the the road where you’ll cross under the train bridge named Fanshuliao Bridge. The bus that services this station, “Toucheng Ocean Line” doesn’t come all that often, so you’d have to be pretty good with your timing to actually make use of the bus. Still, it’s an option.

Neiliao Trail (內寮線)

The Neiliao Trail for the Taoyuan Valley is more or less the cheaters method of getting to the valley as it is merely a twenty minute walk from your car on a tree-covered path to the main attraction.

If you’re not really into hiking, have access to a car and want to get your Instagram photos, this trail is probably the one that you’ll want to use as it requires extremely little effort.

It also has a fully equipped restroom at the base of the trail and once you’ve reached the valley.

This is probably important for all those instagram celebs who don’t like to break a sweat and a need a safe place to change their clothes for their photoshoots!

Like I mentioned above though, if you’re visiting on the weekend, you’ll have to deal with quite a bit of traffic on the narrow mountain road where there is very little in terms of parking, so you might actually spend several hours in the car waiting for a parking spot.

I’ve marked (on the map above) the mountain road in Gongliao that you’ll have to turn on to get to the trailhead, but there’s also adequate signage in the area that should help you out if you’re driving and don’t have a GPS.

What to Expect

Now that you know how to get to and from the train stations to the trailheads, it’s probably a good time to prepare you for what to expect when you hike the Taoyuan Valley Trail.

So what should you expect?

To put it simply, stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. 

If you’ve hiked Taipei’s Elephant Mountain or any of the Four Beasts, you should more or less know what to expect. The Taoyuan Valley trail is a hike through the woods on a well-developed (mostly) cement path.  

Even though the trail is very well-developed and includes periodic rest stops (and even restrooms), the hike tends to be a long one. Still, despite the length of the hike, it is considered to be an easy one and none of this should prevent you from trying to hike it. 

You can also take solace in the fact that once you reach the valley, you’ll have a long walk along a beautiful (and most importantly) flat mountain peak that you’ll follow until you start your descent back to ground level. 

You’ll need to make sure to bring some snacks and more than enough water.

I brought a 2000cc bottle, but that ended up not being enough on a 35 degree day.

You should also have a good pair of hiking shoes and a raincoat in case the weather takes a turn for the worse. 

Apart from that, you won’t need much else for this one except for some money for your train tickets and maybe a little more for a feast of fresh seafood when you finish. 

At this point, I should mention that if the weather forecast isn’t looking good on the day that you’re planning on doing this hike, you’ll probably want to save it for another day. 

You’ll see why if you read this post about the hike from the always amazing, Tom Rook. 

Link: Taoyuan Valley Hiking (Over The City) 

How long this hike takes to complete is completely up to you. 

It obviously depends on your hiking pace, how much time you stop to rest and how much time you use to take photos of the beautiful landscape. 

I arrived at the Daxi Train Station at 10am and finished around 5pm.

I did take use up quite a bit of time taking photos as well as chatting with other hikers at the various rest stops.

It goes without saying that unless you plan on only hiking the Neiliao Trail, you shouldn’t be starting this one in the afternoon. You’ll need an early start, but the actual hiking portion of this trip goes by surprisingly quickly, despite the length of the trail. 

The Taoyuan Valley has always been a popular destination for Taiwan’s avid hikers, but in recent months it has also become popular with the Instagram crowd. This means that the crowd you’ll find at the valley on the weekend are a mixed bunch of senior citizens in rubber boots and wannabe models.

Thankfully most of the models don’t really stick around very long and for the most part don’t crowd up the trails as they prefer to endure the traffic jam on the road to the top. 

Still, as I mentioned above, the Taoyuan Valley is currently one of the few remaining places where Taiwan’s Water Buffalo are continued to graze freely amongst the crowds of tourists. 

All it takes though is one accident and that could all change.

Let’s hope that that doesn’t happen anytime soon.

If you visit, enjoy the buffalo, but please don’t invade their personal space.

Xiangshan Train Station (香山車站)

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I’ve probably said this a million times over the years, but if you weren’t already aware, Taiwan is probably one of the most convenient countries in the world to live in. Almost everywhere you want to go and everything you want to do is done quickly, efficiently and with little fuss.

This is something that constantly amazes the foreigners who come here as most of us aren’t used to anything that even remotely resembles Taiwanese efficiency in our home countries. 

When I tell my Taiwanese friends how awesome this is, they just shrug their shoulders. People here just expect things to be done quickly and efficiently. 

I could cite numerous examples, but I think one of the easiest ways to explain this is through the example of public transportation.

Getting around the country is easy and there are a bunch of options that allow you to safely and quickly get to wherever you want to go. 

Today, you can go from Taipei to Kaohsiung on the High Speed Rail in less than ninety minutes. This isn’t because Taiwan is a small country, it isn’t. A decade ago, the same trip might have taken four or five hours. 

Before that, I’m sure it would have taken even longer. 

The same goes for the highways - Initially the National Highway was a two lane road that connected the north to the south. Today there is a vast network of highways, expressways and elevated freeways that allow people to get where they’re going much faster. 

Less than five years ago, the highways had toll stations that slowed people down and caused traffic congestion. So what was done? An electronic sensor system was created to replace the toll booths, which were completely removed. 

A little over a century ago however, none of this was even imaginable. 

The Chinese considered Taiwan ‘an unimportant mound of dirt’ and had little interest in developing much of anything in their short time controlling portions of the island.

In 1893, a rudimentary rail track was laid between Keelung and Hsinchu for ox-pulled carts. At that time though, a trip around the country wasn’t really even something that people thought about. 

Then, in 1895 the Japanese took control of Taiwan and quickly put into motion a set of plans that laid the foundations for much of the convenience and efficiency that we enjoy today. 

Shortly after taking control of Taiwan, the Japanese started a massive project to connect the entire country with a modern railway. 

It goes without saying that there were many nefarious incidents that took place during the contraction of the railroad. And yeah, as a colonial government, the Japanese weren’t just developing a railroad out of the goodness of their hearts.

The railway became instrumental in boosting Taiwan’s economy and ensuring that the colonial government was able to get important commodities such as coal, sugar, timber and gravel to port where it could all be shipped back to Japan. 

Nevertheless, the end result was something that completely changed the landscape of the island. Once the the rail network was completed and the economy was stabilized, urbanization and development soon followed. Many of Taiwan’s cities started to take form with the local train station more often than acting as the heartbeat of the modern Taiwanese city.

The importance of the railway in Taiwan’s modern history cannot be understated - Many factors contributed to what would become Taiwan’s economic miracle, but the existence of a fully functional railway system was instrumental in Taiwan’s path to becoming the highly-developed country that it is today.

Unfortunately one of the issues with the push for development and modernization here is that older buildings often fall victim to those efforts. In the past few years alone, historic stations in Kaohsiung, Taichung and Keelung Stations have been replaced with much larger modern stations and this is something that has happened all over the country with smaller stations.

It’s a rare treat these days that you’re actually able to find a century-old train station still in use in Taiwan as there are only a handful of them still in operation.

Fortunately one of them is close to home and is an absolute pleasure to visit! 

Xiangshan Train Station (香山車站) 

In 1899 (明治三十二年), The Governor’s Office established the Railway Bureau (臺灣總督府交通局鐵道部) and started construction on the network of railroads that would eventually encircle the entire island.  

By 1902 (明治三十五年), the Shinchiku (新竹) to Nakaminato (中港) line was completed, providing the people of “Shinchuku” (Hsinchu), one of Taiwan’s most populous areas at the time with public transport and a stop at “Kozan Village“ (香山庄) was included.

The line, which in today’s terms stretched from Hsinchu (新竹) - Zhunan (竹南) was a strategically important one, because “Nakaminato” (Zhunan), which translates as “Central Harbour”, served as an important port for the export of goods at that time. 

The original “Kozan Train Station” (香山驛), was a small one and as traffic on the railway increased was replaced in 1928 (昭和三年) with the building that we currently see today.

At that time, additional warehouses and railway dormitories were included as there were plans to further expand the railway to a dual-track system within the next few years. 

Quite a bit changed in Taiwan over the next few decades, but from 1928 until 1989, things pretty much stayed the same at the station.

In 1990, freight and express trains service was put to an end at the station and it was converted into a ‘Simple Platform Station’ (簡易站) under the management of Hsinchu Train Station.

What this meant was that the station would only be serviced by Local Commuter Trains (區間車) and that it would no longer be necessary to have a Station Manager (站長) on site at all times. 

Then in 2013, the station underwent a year-long renovation project to restore the station to its original condition and ensure that it was structurally sound.

One of the reasons why a restoration project became necessary was because at some point, some weirdo had the idea to paint over the natural color of the beautiful Taiwanese cypress used to construct the station into a gross shade of beige - A sorry attempt to hide the fact that the station was constructed using Japanese architectural design. 

The reason for this shouldn’t really be a big surprise as the colonial regime that took control of Taiwan after the Second World War wasn’t a big fan of anything to do with Japan.

The end result of the painting of the station and the attempt to cover up the original design made the station quite a sad sight. Fortunately it has been restored back to its original design and the paint has been removed.  

Today the station is a local historic protected property and it‘s not likely that we’ll see much in terms of ‘modernization’ taking place, which thankfully means that this beautiful train station should be around for quite a while longer as a living testament to Taiwan’s railway history.

Even though Xiangshan Station is considered a smaller station, the number of passengers passing through the gates at the station has been steadily increasing over the past two decades. In 2001, only 82,000 passed through the station, exponentially increasing to 393,000 in 2018. 

This is likely due to a growing number of people moving out of the expensive Hsinchu city centre to the ever-growing Xiangshan District in addition to all the weekend tourist traffic coming to visit the nearby Xiangshan Wetlands. 

Design

As mentioned above, the current Xiangshan Station dates back to 1928 (昭和3年), and even though it was restored only a few years ago, it has generally remained in pretty good shape over the past ninety years. 

In the official literature you will see that the building covers an area of about “44 square meters”, which might make you think it’s pretty small. The reason for this is that the measurement of buildings in Taiwan is done using an old system leftover from the Japanese Colonial Era that uses “ping” (坪) instead of metric square meters. 

Basically a “ping” is the traditional size of a tatami mat (畳), which is about 3.306 m2. 

So in metric, the building is actually around 145 square meters. 

One of the things that makes Xiangshan Station unique is that it is the only active station remaining in Taiwan that was constructed using Taiwanese Cypress (台灣檜木), also known as “Hinoki” in Japan. 

If you weren’t already aware, Taiwanese cypress is highly prized and extremely expensive. It is highly-regarded for its resistance to decay and its amazing fragrance. The trees are so highly respected here that the oldest are protected national treasures, often referred to as “God Trees” (神木). 

The roof is typical of Japanese architectural design and is covered with beautiful black tiles (黑瓦) and was constructed using the ‘Irimoya-zukuri’ (入母屋造) style. These terms may not make much sense to most people, so what it means is that it was constructed using the Japanese version of a ‘hip-and-gable’ roof. 

With this specific style of roof, there is a main section known as the “moya” (母屋) covering the central core of the building, while the ‘hipped’ portion known as “hisashi” (廂) extends to the outside veranda, giving it a 3D effect. 

The genius in this style of design is that the roof is often much larger than the base and is too heavy to be supported by the main structure of the building. The weight of the roof is evenly distributed using a network of beams to ensure its stability.

Likewise the front ‘hisashi’ section is supported by four beams with brackets on each that help distribute the weight.

To the right of the main entrance, the lower part of the roof extends a bit further to allow for some roof-covered space for people who are waiting at the station. The extension is likewise supported by an intricate network of cypress beams.

If you visit the station, or any other historic Japanese building in Taiwan for that matter, I can’t stress enough the importance of taking a few minutes to check out the genius of the roof design, which in most cases is done without the use of a single nail.

As I mentioned above, prior to the restoration project, someone had the brilliant idea to paint the beautiful cypress an ugly shade of beige and cover the ‘hisashi’ portion of the roof with an an even uglier sign that read: “Xiangshan Station.” 

Now that the station has been restored to its original condition, you can enjoy the beautiful colour of the cypress and the design of the roof, which was covered to childishly obscure the fact that the building was of Japanese design.

The interior of the building is simple and relies mostly on natural sunlight coming through the beautiful windows from the entrance, exit and on the side.

There isn’t actually a whole lot to see inside as the interior consists of a single room that allowing people to pass through the gate to the train platform or to exit the station.

There is a single ticket window where you can buy tickets from the station employees, but most people instead to just use their EasyCard to pass through. 

While inside the building you can sit on the cypress bench and enjoy the simplicity of the building as the mid-section of the wall is covered in cypress tiles while the top is painted in a typical Japanese colour of off-white. 

Once you pass through the gates, you’ll have to walk up the newly constructed skywalk, to the platform that will take you north or south.

The great thing about the skywalk is that it allows you to check out the beautiful roof of the building from above.

Getting There

 

Address: #2, Alley 347, Lane 2, Section 5, Zhonghua Road, Xiangshan District. Hsinchu City. (新竹市香山區中華路五段347巷2弄2號)

How is one to get to Xiangshan Train Station?

You take the train, of course.

The fact that you can still take a train to one of the nations oldest train stations is something quite special, so you should definitely take the train. 

You do however have other options for getting there. 

The station is located only two stops south of Hsinchu Train Station and takes only eight minutes to get there, so if you’re already in the area you shouldn’t have much of a problem hopping on a train.  

As a smaller station however, Xiangshan isn’t serviced by every train headed south, so if you want to visit, you’ll need to make sure that you get on one of the silver Local Trains (區間車). 

Even though Xiangshan is a small coastal district just outside of Hsinchu City, it is also home to the popular Xiangshan Wetlands (香山濕地) and the historic Xiangshan Mazu Temple (香山天后宮), both of which are a short bike ride or walk from the station.

Generally, the majority of the tourists who visit the historic station are usually only doing so to make their way toward the wetlands, so if you’re planning a trip to the area, you should definitely take some time to appreciate both. 

If you’ve got your own means of transportation, but you still want to check out the historic station, simply copy the address provided above into your GPS or Google Maps. 

The station is located in an alleyway and there isn’t much room for cars, so if you’re driving, it’s a good idea to avoid driving into the alley because you might get stuck and cause a scooter traffic jam.  

Likewise, if you’re only in the area to check out the wetlands and opted to take the bus, I still recommend stopping by the station.

The buses all stop a short distance away, so you can easily walk in and grab a YouBike while appreciating the beauty of the station. 

Just across the street from Hsinchu Station you’ll find a large bus stop where you can take any of the following buses: #5801, #5802, #5803, #5804, #5807 or #5823 to the Xiangshan Station bus stop.  

There are only a handful of train stations constructed during Taiwan’s Japanese Colonial Era that are still in service today - and this is the only one built of cypress. 

So, if you’re a history nerd like I am, this vibrant little station is well worth a visit. 

The fact that it is still in such good shape after almost a century of use goes to show that the Japanese don’t really mess around when they construct something.

Sure, there have been some modern additions to the station and it has recently been restored, but the station has successfully stood the test of time and continues to serve the people of Xiangshan today.