海岸線

The Coastal Railway Five Treasures (海線五寶)

I’ve spent a considerable amount of time as of late making my way up and down Taiwan’s Western Coast Railway visiting a handful of historic railway stations, taking photos, and then researching and writing about them. Many of you might wonder why I spend so much of my time visiting a bunch of old train stations, but if you’ve read any of my articles about them, you probably have your answer.

The reason I’ve written about a select group of them is because they’re going to be celebrating their centennial year of operation this year (2022), and with so little information about them available in English, I figured it was a good time to tell their story. Even though I realize that a bunch of one hundred year old train stations isn’t all that exciting for most people, it is a tremendously rare thing for buildings of this nature to have lasted so long in Taiwan, and even rarer to find them still in operation today. 

In many ways, Taiwan’s rapid modern development has been great for the people of this beautiful country, but for all of the pros, there are obviously going to be some cons; One of the unfortunate aspects of all of Taiwan’s growth over the last few decades is that much of the history of this beautiful island has been bulldozed in order to make way for modernity. If I were to focus only on the topic at hand, there were originally sixteen of these railway stations along the Coastal Railway Branch. Today, we celebrate the five that remain, but its important to keep in mind that seventy percent of them have already been lost to history.

Of course, in some cases the rapid population growth of communities around the country has necessitated such actions with these smaller stations unable to handle with the amount of passengers passing through on a daily basis, but its still a shame that so many of these important pieces of Taiwan’s history have disappeared over the years.

Fortunately, the five remaining stations that I’m going to briefly introduce below have been designated as protected heritage buildings, which should help to ensure that they will continue to exist for quite some time. 

Known locally among railway aficionados as the “Coastal Railway Five Treasures” (海鮮五寶), each of these wooden Japanese-era railway stations date back to 1922 and have been fortunate to last as long as they have mostly because they serve small communities where there was never really a huge growth in population.

That being said, even though they continue to remain in operation today, they are also considered by many as living museums given that they do an amazing job of putting local history on display. 

To tell their story, I will first have to introduce a bit about the history of the Coastal Railway where they’re located, and then I’ll follow by providing a brief introduction to each of the stations with links to their individual articles and a map where you’ll be able to find them. 

If you have any interest in Taiwan’s history, the Japanese-era, or the railway, it’s a pretty good year to take a bit of time to visit one, two or all of these beautiful train stations.

The Coastal Railway (海岸線 / かいがんせん)

The history of the railway in Taiwan dates back as far as 1891 (光緒17), when the last Qing governor, Liu Mingchuan (劉銘傳), attempted to have a route stretching from Keelung (基隆) to Hsinchu (新竹) constructed. The construction of the railway however came at too high of a cost, given that the Qing rulers cared very little about what was happening in Taiwan as well as the fact that they were contending with war (and revolution), so plans to have it extended any further were put on hold.

A few short years later in 1895 (明治28), the Japanese took control of Taiwan, and brought with them a team of skilled western-educated engineers tasked with developing proposals to have the already established railway repaired as well as to come up with suggestions for extending it all the way to the south and beyond.   

The Jūkan Tetsudō Project (縱貫鐵道 / ゅうかんてつどう), otherwise known as the ‘Taiwan Trunk Railway Project’ sought to have the railroad pass through each of Taiwan’s established settlements, including Kirin (基隆), Taihoku (臺北), Shinchiku (新竹), Taichu (臺中), Tainan (臺南) and Takao (高雄). 

Link: Taiwan Railway Museum (臺灣總督府鐵道部)

Amazingly, the more than four-hundred kilometer railway was completed in 1908 (明治41), and connected the north to the south with a transportation route for the first time ever. Taking just over a decade to complete, the railway would become instrumental in changing the landscape of Taiwan’s modern development, but was ultimately the key to the colonial regime’s master plan of ensuring that Taiwan’s precious natural resources would be able to be processed efficiently and sent back to Japan.

Once completed, the Railway Department of the Governor General of Taiwan (台灣總督府交通局鐵道部) set its sights on constructing public and private branch lines across the island, as well as expanding the railway network with a line that spanned the entire eastern coast. 

Note: Privatized Branch Lines refer to those used by companies engaged in the extraction or production of commodities such as timber, sugarcane, tobacco, coal, gold, etc.

However, after almost a decade of service, unforeseen circumstances in central Taiwan necessitated changes in the way that the western railway operated with issues arising due to typhoon and earthquake damage. More specifically, the Western Trunk railway in southern Miaoli had to pass through mountains and required climbing up a steep incline in sections before eventually crossing bridges across the Da’an (大安溪) and Da’jia Rivers (大甲溪). Due to these geographic limitations, and flaws in the original design, issues caused by natural disasters created a tremendous amount of traffic congestion, and periodic service outages when the railway and the bridges had to be repaired or rebuilt. 

Link: Long-Teng Bridge (龍騰斷橋)

To solve the problem of passenger and freight congestion, the team of railway engineers came up with a solution, known as the “Kaigan-sen” (かいがんせん / 海岸線), or the Coastal Railway Branch Line.

With construction of the branch line planned between Chikunangai (ちくなんがい / 竹南街) and Shoka (しょうかちょう / 彰化廳), or what we refer to today as Zhunan (竹南) and Changhua (彰化), the line would divert from the already existing railway and follow a route closer to the coast where the mountains could be avoided.

Link: Western Trunk Line | 縱貫線 (Wiki)

These plans however met with consternation from residents of Taichung who considered the Coastal Railway a dagger to the heart of the economic development and growth of the city. They figured that with the Taichung Port (located on the opposite side of the mountains) processing most of the freight coming from central Taiwan, the city would become a ghost town as the new line would shift development to the coastal side of the mountains

In spite of the protests taking place in Taichung, Governor General Akashi Motojirō (明石 元二郎/あかしもとじろう), who is remembered today as one of the most consequential governors of the Japanese era (thanks to his significant contributions to the economy and infrastructure development projects), held steadfast and made sure that construction on the Coastal Railway came to fruition.   

Note: Even though Governor General Akashi Motojiro held his post for just over a year before he fell ill and died, he is credited with the creation of the the Taiwan Power Company (臺灣電力株式會社), the massive Chianan Irrigation System (嘉南大圳), the Sun Moon Lake Hydroelectric Power Plant, and of course the Coastal Railway.

The Governor’s foresight and planning for the future helped to ensure that the island could continue its rapid development, and he used his political influence to ensure that funding was made available from the Japanese government back home. 

Link: Akashi Motojiro | 明石元二郎 (Wiki) 

Kiyomizu / Qingshui Station (清水車站)

Construction on the ninety kilometer Coastal Line started in 1919, and amazingly was completed just a few short years later in 1922 (大正11). Servicing sixteen stations, all of which (as I mentioned above) remain in service today.

What many people are unaware of though is that within a year of the project starting, the first section, known as the ‘Oda Branch Line’ (王田支線) between Oda Station (王田驛) and Kiyomizu Station (清水驛) in southern Taichung opened for service on December 25th, 1920 (大正10年). In today’s terms, the branch line essentially started at Chenggong Station (成功車站), and curved north with a final stop at Qingshui Station (清水車站), where freight could be more efficiently transported to Taichung Port.

To this day, the opening of the Oda Branch Line is interpreted by many as a method of appeasing the people of Taichung. who were weary of the Coastal Branch, but quickly took to the new line as it provided a means of visiting the nearby beach on the weekend. Similarly, it was also seen as a practical move to ensure that freight could be transported to the Taichung port on the western coast as soon as possible.

It would take another two years for the rest of the Coastal Line from Chikunan (竹南 / ちくなんぐん) to Shoka (彰化 / しょうかぐん) to be completed, with the official opening ceremonies taking place on October 11th, 1922 (大正12年) at Tsū-shou Station (通霄驛) in southern Miaoli.

Fortunately for the residents of Taichung, the economic disaster that was predicted never took place, and the city continued to grow thanks to the new line - Even better, the Coastal Railway connected communities in Miaoli and Taichung that had yet to have access to the railway, allowing them to grow as well as ensuring that their own agricultural products would be able to be shipped around the island, as well as being exported back to Japan, providing a tremendous economic opportunity for them.

This was especially true when it came to agricultural products such as watermelons from northern Miaoli, and the ‘Emperors Rice’ cultivated in southern Miaoli. That being said, there was also a considerable amount of coal, camphor, clay, bricks and other products originating from the sixteen stations along the railway. 

The sixteen stations along the Coastal Railway, including the two termini stations are as follows:

(Japanese-era romanization / kanji / hiragana / current name) 

  1. Chikunan Station (竹南驛/ちくなんえき) / Zhunan (竹南車站)

  2. Tanbunmizūmi Station (談文湖駅 / だんぶんみずうみえき) / Tanwen (談文車站)

  3. Oyamagashi Station (大山腳驛 / おうやま あしえき) / Dashan (大山車站)

  4. Kōryū Station (後龍驛/こうりゅうえき) / Houlong (後龍車站)

  5. Koshiryo Station (公司寮驛 /こうしりやう) / Longgang (龍港車站)

  6. Hakushaton Station (白沙屯驛/はくしゃとんえき) / Baishatun (白沙屯車站)

  7. Shin-ho Station (新埔驛 / しんほえき) / Xinpu (新埔車站)

  8. Tsū-shou Station (通霄驛 / つうしょうえき) / Tongxiao (通宵車站)

  9. Enri Station (苑裡驛 / えんりえき) / Yuanli (苑裡車站)

  10. Nichinan Station (日南驛 / にちなんえき) / Rinan (日南車站)

  11. Taikō Station (大甲驛/たいこうえき) / Dajia (大甲車站)

  12. Kōnan Station (甲南驛/こうなんえき) / Taichung Port (台中港車站)

  13. Kiyomizu Station (清水驛 / きよみずえき) / Qingshui (清水車站)

  14. Sharoku Station (沙鹿驛/しゃろくえき) / Shalu (沙鹿車站)

  15. Tatsui Station (龍井驛/たついえき) / Longjing (龍井車站)

  16. Daito Station (大肚驛 / だいとえき) / Dadu (大肚車站)

  17. Oiwake Station (追分驛 / おいわけえき) / Zhuifen (追分車站)

  18. Shōka Station (彰化驛/しょうかえき) / Changhua (彰化車站)

Interestingly, when the Japanese-era came to an end in 1945, and the Chinese Nationalists took control of Taiwan, the vast majority of the stations maintained the same names, save for a pronunciation change from Japanese to Mandarin. The only stations that went through a name change were the fifth station, Koshiryo Station (公司寮驛), which was changed to Longgang Station (龍港車站) and the twelfth station, Kōnan Station (甲南驛, which was changed to Taichung Port Station (台中港車站).

In the first case, the name change was a bit strange given that ‘Gongsiliao Fishing Harbor’ (後龍公司寮漁港), a short walk from the station uses the Mandarin pronunciation of the Japanese-era name.

The name “Longgang” is a abbreviation of ‘Houlong Fishery Harbor' (後龍漁港), which makes sense.

In the latter case, I don’t see much issue with the name change as the station is used primary for those wanting to reach the Port of Taichung, although the freight services that were once the bread and butter of the station have pretty much dried up as the Port of Taichung has grown and modernized.  

Over the past century, the Coastal Railway has remained an important route for passenger service and transporting freight, however when the Mountain Line (山線) was widened into a dual-track system, the amount of trains traveling along the line gradually reduced. These days, the Coastal Railway is most frequently serviced by Local Commuter Trains (區間車) that stop at each station along the route.

Like the Mountain Line however, the Coastal Railway has also gone through a similar period of modernization, including the widening of the tracks into a dual-track system, allowing more trains to travel back and forth as well as the electrification of the entire network.

Link: Qiding Railway Tunnels

Express trains are now able to their way through the Coastal Railway, but they only stop at larger stations such as Zhunan, Houlong, Tongxiao, Yuanli, Dajia, Qingshui, Shalu and Changhua.

Admittedly, when traveling or returning home, I’m always excited when I discover that my ticket displays that my train will travel along the coastal route, which is the more scenic of the two lines. I’m sure for many locals the feeling is mutual as you really get to enjoy Taiwan’s beauty along the route.  

Unfortunately as the railway has modernized over the past century, so have many of the stations along the line, which have been completely rebuilt, replacing the original stations constructed in the 1920s.

Today, only a handful of stations constructed during the Japanese-era remain in operation, known as the “Coastal Railway Five Treasures” (海線五寶), these historic stations (as well as the coastal railway itself) will celebrate their one-hundred year anniversary this year (2022).

Fortunately, as I mentioned earlier, now that they’ve all been designated as Protected Historic Properties by either the Taichung City Government or the Miaoli County Government, they will be preserved for future generations to enjoy - and will hopefully also remain in operation for quite some time.  

Below, I’ll briefly introduce each of those five stations and provide links to their individual articles for you to learn more about them.

Coastal Railway Five Treasures (海鮮五寶)

Known locally as the ‘Coastal Railway Five Treasures’ these five railway stations along the Coastal Railway between Zhunan and Changhua are historically significant for quite a few reasons, but most importantly are part of a select few stations around Taiwan that have remained in operation for the past one hundred years. 

Writing this article, I may be accused of political bias as there is a bit of contention with regard to the proper nickname used to describe the stations. 

When most people talk about them, its natural to refer to them as the “Coastal Railway Five Treasures”, but if you’re from the ‘sovereign nation’ of Miaoli-kuo (苗栗國), you’d probably prefer to refer to use the term “Miaoli Three Treasures” (苗栗三寶), completely disregarding the two stations located in Taichung. 

The notion that Miaoli is a country of its own is an interesting one, and I’m sure someone could (or probably already has) write an entire thesis on this running joke and how it originated. What I will say is that in the Chinese language, the term Three Treasures (三寶) is a much more auspicious and meaningful number than five, so linguistically it has more sway.

Note: “Three Treasures” (三寶) linguistically refers to “the Buddha”, “the Dharma”, and “the Sangha” (佛寶, 法寶, 僧寶) in Buddhism, also known as the “Three Jewels” or the “Three Roots” and is a term that has significant meaning throughout Asia. That being said, the term “三寶” (sān bǎo) has taken on a number of meanings ranging from Hong Kong style of bento box that features three kinds of meat (三寶飯), or an idiot driving on the road (馬路三寶), among others. 

But if you’re not from Miaoli, you should probably include the two stations in Taichung, because they deserve the same amount of respect!

All five of the so-called ‘treasures’ were (more or less) constructed with the exact same architectural design, although they may appear slightly different today, due to their age or modifications that may have taken place over the past century. One might argue that if you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, but that would be a bit misguided as there are some pretty important architectural differences found within the stations that you’ll be able to enjoy if you visit each of them. Similarly, the area that surrounds each of the stations has grown over the past century, so while exploring you’ll be able to get a feel of what the area was like a hundred years ago.

For railway enthusiasts, these stations are pretty important attractions, but for the rest of us, only a few of them might be attractive tourist destinations. Nevertheless, if you find yourself in the area, I highly recommend stopping by to check them out.

So, without further adieu, let me briefly introduce each of the Five Treasure: 

Tanwen Railway Station (談文車站)

Original name: Tanbunmizūmi Station (談文湖駅 / だんぶんみずうみえき)

Current name: Tanwen Station (談文車站)

Opened: October 11th, 1922

Traveling south of Hsinchu, Tanwen Station is the first of the five treasures that you’ll come across. The station is located in a strange spot just off of the coastal highway in Miaoli’s Zaoqiao Township (造橋鄉). The station is considered to be in the worst shape of the five treasures, but it is arguably also one of the most beautiful as it maintains its century-old appearance, and is most often a pretty quiet place to visit with only tourists visiting at various points throughout the week. 

Address: #29 Ren-ai Road, Zaoqiao Township (苗栗縣造橋鄉談文村仁愛路29號) 

GPS: 24.656440 120.858330

Dashan Railway Station (大山車站)

Original name: Oyamagashi Station (大山腳驛 / おうやま あしえき)

Current name: Dashan Station (大山車站)

Opened: October 11th, 1922

Traveling south past Tanwen Station, the next stop along the Coastal Railway is Dashan Station, one of the best preserved of the five treasures. Dashan is located within a small coastal community in Miaoli’s Houlong township (後龍鎮) with views of the coast within sight of the platform.

The community near the station is pretty quiet, like the station itself, but don’t let that fool you, Dashan Station was once an extremely important stop along the railway as it was where they’d load copious amounts of delicious watermelons onto the trains bound for port in Taichung. 

Address: #180 Mingshan Road. Houlong Township (苗栗縣後龍鎮大山里明山路180號)

GPS: 24.645670, 120.803770

Xinpu Railway Station (新埔車站)

Original name: Shin-ho Station (新埔驛 / しんほえき)

Current name: Xinpu Station (新埔車站)

Opened: October 11th, 1922

The sixth station along the coastal railway, Xinpu Station is probably the least busiest of the bunch as it serves a very small community. It’s also geographically the closest station to the coast on the western railway. The station remains in pretty good shape, but the space around it is quite cramped due to a lack of space and the widening of the railway into a dual-track system.

The area near the station these days is home to a pretty popular bicycling route that follows the coast of Miaoli and Hsinchu. Most of the tourism these days involves people getting off the train with their bicycles and heading back up north on a bike ride. 

Address: #57, Hsinpu Village. Tongxiao Township (苗栗縣通霄鎮新埔里新埔57號)

GPS: 24.539850, 120.700350

Rinan Railway Station (日南車站)

Original name: Nichinan Station (日南驛 / にちなんえき)

Current name: Rinan Station (日南車站)

Opened: October 30th, 1922

Rinan Station is the ninth station along the line, and the first of the five treasures in Taichung. Located in the city’s Dajia District (大甲區), famed for its giant Mazu Temple, the station and the area around it has received a bit of attention over the years, allowing it to remain in pretty good shape.

The community that surrounds the station has similarly grown into a relatively busy place over the years, and having access to the railway helps to connect its residents to the rest of Taichung, making this the station one of the busiest of the five. 

Address: #8, Alley 140, Sec 2 Zhongshan Road. Dajia District, Taichung. (臺中市大甲區中山路二段140巷8號)

GPS: 24.378320, 120.653780

Zhuifen Railway Station (追分車站)

Original name: Oiwake Station (追分驛 / おいわけえき)

Current name: Zhuifen Station (追分車站)

Opened: October 11th, 1922

The sixteenth station on the Coastal Line, Zhuifen Station in southern Taichung City, located near the Dadu River where the railway crosses into Changhua is probably the most well-known of the five treasures.

The station is a popular attraction for tourists, students and young couples. Thanks to a play on words within the Chinese language, a ticket from Zhuifen Station (追分車站), and its next door neighbor Chenggong Station (成功車站) has become a local good luck charm with the “追分” and “成功” translating as ‘Making your dreams come true!’ (追分成功) or ‘successfully finding a partner for marriage’ (追婚成功).

The iconic trip has become just as well known in Taiwan as any Matchmaking God or God of Literature temple, and it is even mentioned in students history books. Zhuifen Station is located in an industrial area of Dadu District and there’s always some sort of construction going on nearby.

If you visit there will be volunteers there who are very happy to help introduce every special aspect of the station - certainly an experience that you won’t get at any of the other stations along the Coastal Railway.  

Address: #13 Zhuifen Street, Dadu District, Taichung City (臺中市大肚區追分街13號)

GPS: 24.120540, 120.570160

Getting There

On the map above, I’ve marked the locations of each of the five treasures in addition to the other stations along the Coastal Railway as well as some other railway-related locations in the area.

As with any of my articles about Taiwan’s historic train stations, if you ask me how to get there, it should be pretty obvious that I’m going to recommend that you take the train. The railway in Taiwan is one of the most convenient ways to travel, and if you’ve set out to visit a train station, why would you take another method of transportation?

I’ve listed the address and the GPS coordinates for each of the five treasures above, but if you’d prefer greater detail on how to get to each of the stations, I recommend clicking on the individual links where you’ll find a more detailed description.

Finally, if you’re asking for recommendations for the best method to visit the stations, I have a few opinions on the subject: I’d argue that traveling to all five of them in a single day is a bit excessive, especially since there is so much to see and do in the areas around the stations. Instead, I recommend splitting the trip in two and checking out the three in Miaoli on one excursion, and the two in Taichung on another day.

The great thing about both Miaoli and Taichung is that there is quite a bit to see and do, so if you’re in either area, you probably don’t want to spend the entire day chasing trains. 

If you don’t really care and insist on visiting all five in a single day, I recommend you take the High Speed Rail from wherever you are to Taichung (高鐵台中站) where you’ll transfer to Taiwan Railway’s Xinwuri Station (新烏日車站), which is coincidentally in the same building.

From there, Zhuifen Station is only two stops away and then you can make your way back up north along the Coastal Line stopping at Rinan, Xinpu, Dashan and Tanwen before heading back to Hsinchu.

If on the other hand you’re traveling from the south instead of the north, I recommend taking the train to Zhunan Station (竹南車站) and from there transferring to a southbound train on the Coastal Line.

Either way you’ll get to visit each of the stations while making your way back to where you’ve started. 


Rinan Train Station (日南車站)

Over the past few months I’ve spent quite a bit of time writing about the so-called “Miaoli Three Treasures” (苗栗三寶), a collection of one hundred year old Japanese-era train stations located along the western coast of Taiwan. The three stations are incredibly important for a few reasons - obviously as I just mentioned, they’re all a century old (as of 2022), they’re all located along a special branch of the Western Railway, they were all constructed at the same time, and finally because they were all constructed in the same architectural style, and appear almost exactly the same - save for a few modifications over the years.

The odd thing about these ‘three’ treasures, namely Dashan (大山車站), Tanwen (談文車站) and Xinpu (新埔車站), is that there are actually a couple more of them which are somewhat ironically excluded.

Purely for hilarious political reasons, I assure you.

You see, as I mentioned in one of my earlier articles about the stations, Miaoli is a special place, one that many jokingly refer to a ‘sovereign nation’ of its own. Miaoli-kuo (苗栗國), as it is commonly referred to has a certain a swagger about it, and even though it may only be a long-running social media joke, the county in central Taiwan does set itself apart from the rest of Taiwan in a number of ways.

So yeah, even though some railway aficionados refer to those stations as the “Miaoli Three Treasures”, if you’re from out of town and add the other two you get the “Coastal Railway Five Treasures” (海線五寶).

As far as most westerners are concerned, ‘five treasures’ likely sounds a lot better than ‘three’, but in Chinese cultures the term “Three Treasures” (三寶) is an especially auspicious and meaningful number than five, so linguistically it has more sway.

Note: “Three Treasures” (三寶) linguistically refers to “the Buddha”, “the Dharma”, and “the Sangha” (佛寶, 法寶, 僧寶) in Buddhism, also known as the “Three Jewels” or the “Three Roots” and is a term that has significant meaning throughout Asia. That being said, the term “三寶” (sān bǎo) has taken on a number of meanings ranging from a Hong Kong style of bento box featuring three kinds of meat (三寶飯) to an idiot driving on the road (馬路三寶), among others.

If you’re like myself and you don’t actually hail from Miaoli, you’ll probably just want to include the other two stations, located in Taichung, because they deserve the same amount of respect - and to tell the truth they’re in a lot better shape than the other three!

Given that this article is number four out of five with regard to these stations, I’m moving on to the two remaining ‘treasure’ stations along the coastal railway.

Today, I’ll be introducing Rinan Station (日南車站), the station that is closest geographically to the three in Miaoli, and one of the most well-loved and historically significant of the so-called five treasures.

Suffice to say, the neighborhood surrounding the station has developed and transformed considerably over the past century, but the amazing thing is that this historic station hall remains pretty much exactly the same as it did when it was first constructed, and it remarkably remains in great shape given its age.

Located only a station away from the much larger and more popular Daijia Station (大甲車站), home to the renowned Dajia Jenn Lann Temple (大甲鎮瀾宮), and the annual Dajia Mazu Pilgrimage (大甲媽祖遶境進香), Rinan Station is easily accessible and is an absolute pleasure to visit!

But, before I start to introduce the station, I think it’s important to take a few minutes to introduce the Coastal Railway, and why it was so significant.

Coastal Railway (海岸線 / かいがんせん)

The history of the railway in Taiwan dates back as far as 1891 (光緒17), when the Qing governor, attempted to construct a route stretching from Keelung (基隆) all the way to Hsinchu (新竹). Ultimately though, the construction of the railway came at too high of a cost, especially with war raging back home in China, so any plans to expand it further were put on hold.

A few short years later in 1895 (明治28), the Japanese took control of Taiwan, and brought with them a team of skilled engineers who were tasked with coming up with plans to have that already established railway evaluated and then to come up with suggestions to extend it all the way to the south of Taiwan and beyond.   

The Jūkan Tetsudō Project (ゅうかんてつどう / 縱貫鐵道), otherwise known as the ‘Taiwan Trunk Railway Project’ sought to have the railroad pass through all of Taiwan’s already established settlements, including Kirin (基隆), Taihoku (臺北), Shinchiku (新竹), Taichu (臺中), Tainan (臺南) and Takao (高雄). 

Completed in 1908 (明治41), the more than four-hundred kilometer railway connected the north to the south for the first time ever, and was all part of the Japanese Colonial Government’s master plan to ensure that Taiwan’s precious natural resources would be able to flow smoothy out of the ports in Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan. 

Once completed, the Railway Department of the Governor General of Taiwan (台灣總督府交通局鐵道部) set its sights on constructing branch lines across the country as well as expanding the railway network with a line on the eastern coast as well. 

Link: Taiwan Railway Museum (臺灣總督府鐵道部)

However, after almost a decade of service, unforeseen circumstances in central Taiwan necessitated changes in the way that the western railway was operated, with issues arising due to typhoon and earthquake damage. More specifically, the western trunk railway in Southern Miaoli passed through the mountains and required somewhat of a steep incline in sections before eventually crossing bridges across the Da’an (大安溪) and Da’jia Rivers (大甲溪), which started to create a lot of congestion, and periodic service outages when the railway and the bridges had to be repaired. 

Link: Long-Teng Bridge (龍騰斷橋)

To solve this problem, the team of railway engineers suggested the construction of the Kaigan-sen (かいがんせん / 海岸線), or the Coastal Railway Branch line between Chikunangai (ちくなんがい / 竹南街) and Shoka (しょうかちょう / 彰化廳), or what we refer to today as Chunan and Changhua. 

Link: Western Trunk Line | 縱貫線 (Wiki)  

Construction on the ninety kilometer Coastal Line started in 1919, and amazingly was completed just a few short years later in 1922 (大正11), servicing eighteen stations, some of which (as I mentioned above) continue to remain in service today. 

Those stations were: Zhunan (竹南), Tanwen (談文湖), Dashan (大山), Houlong (後龍), Longgang (公司寮), Baishatun (白沙墩), Xinpu (新埔), Tongxiao (吞霄), Yuanli (苑裡), Rinan (日南), Dajia (大甲), Taichung Port (甲南), Qingshui (清水), Shalu (沙轆), Longjing (龍井), Dadu (大肚), Zhuifen (追分) and Changhua (彰化). 

(Note: English is current name / Chinese is the original Japanese-era station name)

Nichinan Station (日南驛 / にちなんえき)

When the Coastal Railway officially opened for service on October 11th, 1922, construction on Rinan Station as we know it today had yet to be completed.

Trains would have stopped in the area along the way,  but it wasn’t actually until about half a month later that the station officially opened to the public. 

After some delays, the station we know today as Rinan Station (日南車站) officially opened to the public on October 30th, 1922 (大正12年) as Nichinan Station (日南驛 / にちなんえき). However, unlike some of the other stations along the coastal line, which were used primarily for loading freight, Nichinan held a dual role in that it was constructed in a strategic location between Enri Station (苑裡驛 / えんりえき) and Taiko Station (大甲驛 / たいこうえき), located across the ‘Daian River’ (だいあんけい), what we refer to today as the Da’an River.

Essentially, it was an important way-point along the Coastal Railway that allowed for trains to standby, prior to crossing the single-rail Da’an River Bridge (大安溪橋 / だいあんけいはし), in addition to allowing local residents to easily cross the river into the much larger Taiko Village. 

Nichinan” (or Rinan), has historically been a bit of a confusing area in terms of its geographic administration. During the Qing Dynasty, it was known as Rinan Village (日南庄), one of the districts of Biâu-li̍k-sa-pó (苗栗三堡), with the name being derived by Han settlers as a Chinese transliteration of the name used by the local Taokas tribe (道卡斯族), one of Taiwan’s plains indigenous people.

Then, when the Japanese took control of Taiwan in 1895, it was initially absorbed into Byoritsucho (苗栗廳 / びょうりつちょう), which then became a district of Shinchiku Prefecture (新竹州). Finally in 1920 (大正10年) it became part of Taichū Prefecture’s (臺中廳 / たいちゅうちょう) Taiko District (大甲郡 / たいこうぐん). 

In today’s terms what that means is that it was originally part of Miaoli, then absorbed into Greater Hsinchu, and finally it became a part of Taichung.

When the Japanese era came to an end and the Chinese Nationalists took control of Taiwan, the Taichung area was redistricted several times, but since the 1920s, Rinan has remained a part of Dajia (大甲), whether it was part of the ‘village’, ‘township’ or the current ‘district’. That being said, Rinan is geographically closer to Miaoli’s southern Yuanli Township (苑裡鎮), as it is located on the same side of the Da’an River, separated from the rest of Dajia.   

Keeping Nichinan’s geography in mind, it’s important to note that the Yuanli area in south-western Miaoli is nicknamed “Miaoli’s Barn” (苗栗穀倉) or “Miaoli’s Granary” (苗栗米倉), referring to the nearly 3000 hectares of land used for the production of agricultural products. The flat plains in the area, and access to the river meet the conditions necessary for the production of rice.

Today when you visit, you may notice some Chinese characters engraved on the ground in the public square in front of the station which read “米倉驛站” (mǐ cāng yì zhàn) or “Rice Granary Train Station,” an obvious nod to the station’s history, and that of the local community.  

It’s important to note that the rice cultivated in the area wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill type eaten by regulars like you and me, it was the “tribute” (貢米) variety that would have been sent directly to Japan for the direct consumption of the royal family and the aristocracy. Similar to the famed rice grown in Taitung’s Chishang Village (池上), “Emperors Rice” (天皇御用稻米), as it has become known, has since been democratized, and remains one of Taiwan’s most prized exports in the Japanese market. 

When you take into consideration that the Kōnan Station (甲南驛/こうなんえき), known today as Taichung Port Station (台中港車站) was only two stops away from Nichinan, it would have been extremely efficient having the rice loaded and sent directly to port where it could be put on a boat, sent back to the Japanese mainland and in the emperors rice bowl in no time!

In conjunction with the Coastal Railway’s other agricultural fruit exports (pineapples, watermelons, etc.) the construction of the railway pretty much paid for itself within a few years as it contributed greatly to the colony’s annual exports. So, from 1922-1945, Nichinan Station remained a strategically important one for the export of rice, as well as a standby station for trains crossing the bridge.

When the Second World War came to an end and the Chinese Nationalists took control of Taiwan, things pretty much remained the same at the station (save for a name change) until the late 1970s and 1980s when the railway was widened into a dual-rail network. When that happened, the platform area of the station was expanded, and an underground walkway was added to ensure the safety of passengers boarding trains at the station.

In 2002, Rinan Station was recognized by the Taichung Cultural Affairs Bureau (台中文化部) as a Protected Historic Property (台中市市定古蹟) and efforts were made to clean the area up.

With the number of passengers at the station gradually decreasing over the years, the daily administration of the station has been relegated to Dajia Station (大甲車站), and the majority of passengers make use of the convenient card swiping system to board the train rather than purchasing tickets.

Currently the station is home to only a few employees who oversee daily administrative duties. 

As the station nears its centennial, the annual average number of passengers has steadily decreased from a high of 240,000 in 2013 to 175,000 in 2020. These numbers account for a daily average of about 250 passengers per day putting it at 160/240 with regard to Taiwan’s busiest stations.

So even though it isn’t the busiest of the nations railway stations, it isn’t the quietest either. 

Before I get into the architectural design of the station, I’ll provide a brief timeline of events over the station’s one hundred year history:  

Timeline

  • 10/11/1922 (大正12年) - The Coastal Railway officially opens for service.

  • 10/30/1922 (大正12年) - Nichinan Station (日南驛) officially opens for service after a delay in construction.

  • 1945 (民國34年) - The Japanese-era comes to an end and the station is renamed “Jihnan Station” (日南車站), the Mandarin pronunciation of the original name.

  • 1974 (民國63年) - The railway is widened into a dual-track line between Yuanli and Rinan Station.

  • 1989 (民國78年) - Coinciding with the construction of the new Da’an River Bridge (大安溪橋), the station undergoes some changes including a reorganization of the station yard, and the addition of an underpass from the station to the platforms.

  • 3/15/1994 (民國83年) - The station is downgraded into a ‘Type A Simple Station’ (甲種簡易站) and daily operation is coordinated out of nearby Dajia Station (大甲車站).

  • 11/26/2002 (民國91年) - The station is officially recognized as a Taichung Protected Historic Property (台中市市定古蹟).

  • 06/30/2015 (民國104年) - The station switches from primarily issuing tickets to card swiping.

  • 09/16/2017 (民國106年) - The station is again reclassified as a “Simple Station” (簡易站).

  • 10/30/2022 (民國11年) - The station will officially celebrate its centennial.

Architectural Design

When we talk about the stations that make up the “Coastal Railway’s Five Treasures” (海線五寶), the architectural design of each of the five stations differ only slightly - and most of those differences are the result of the past few decades of operation. This shouldn’t be too much of a surprise given that they were all small stations, each of which opened in the same year which means that some funds were saved when it came to architectural design. The design of these buildings is about as formulaic as you’ll get with Japanese architectural design, but don’t let that fool you, the simplicity of these stations still allows for some special design elements. 

The station was constructed in a fusion of Japanese and Western architectural design, and one of the reasons why it stands out today (apart from its age) is that it was built entirely of wood (木造結構), more specifically locally sourced Taiwanese cedar (杉木).

The architectural design fusion in many of the buildings in Taiwan that were constructed during the Taisho era (大正) borrowed elements of Western Baroque (巴洛克建築) with that of traditional Japanese design. In this case of these stations, the western aspects of its design are subdued (likely for cost saving measures), allowing the traditional Japanese design elements stand out more. 

To start, the station was constructed using the Irimoya-zukuri (入母屋造 / いりもやづくり) style of design, most often referred to in English as the “East Asian hip-and-gable.” The building was constructed with a network of beams and trusses within the interior as well as the exterior of the building that allow the roof to (in this case slightly) eclipse the base (母屋) in size and ensured that its weight is evenly distributed.

The roof itself was designed using the kirizuma-zukuri (妻造的樣式) style, which is one of the oldest and most commonly used designs in Japan. Translated simply as a “cut-out gable” roof, the kirizuma-style is one of the most basic of Japan’s ‘hip-and-gable’ roofs and basically refers to a section of the roof (above the rear entrance) that ‘cuts’ out from the rest and faces outward like an open book (入) while the longer part of the roof is curved facing in the opposite direction.

If you’re standing in front of the building, the roof will appear rather simple, but if you’re looking at the building from the rear you’ll see an almost 3D like shape where one section of the roof cuts into the other and forms a single roof. In conjunction with a lower covered portico that surrounds the building on three sides, you’ll discover more geometrically advanced shapes that make the design of the building stand out.

You’ll notice that the space between the highest part of the roof and the lower portico features several glass windows meant to allow natural light to enter the building. Unfortunately, at some point someone had the idea to place square lighted signs with the name of the station, somewhat blocking the windows. Fortunately the windows are located on three sides of the station hall, so during the day you’ll find that there is an ample amount of natural light coming into the building. 

The interior of the station hall is split in two sections, much like the example we saw the former Qidu Railway Station, with the largest section acting as the station hall while the other was where the station staff and ticket windows were located. Given that this station remains in operation, only one side is currently open to the public. Unfortunately, within the side that is open there isn’t a whole lot to see as they have covered up the walls with a bunch of notices.

While inside however, you’ll want to take note of the old cement floor and the large sliding glass windows to the left of the ticket window and to the right of the entrance. Likewise, I recommend looking up at the wall opposite the ticket booth where you’ll see the ox-tail window, and the usage of wooden beams used to ensure stability.

If you look closely at the photo below, while I was taking photos of the ox-tail window from the inside, I noticed that there was a family of geckos hanging out around the window catching any insect that flew by. Obviously this isn’t something that you’ll see happening at many train stations in Taiwan today, so I think it added to the charms of this small country-side station.

One of the most notable aspects of the interior is the wooden gate located near the ticket booth. Gate’s like this were once very common in train stations during the Japanese-era but few of them remain in the country these days. Constructed to look like the Japanese word for ‘money’ (円), the gate is set into the concrete near the ticket booth as a means to help filter people in an out while waiting in line.

Likewise, once you’ve passed through the building to the other side you’ll find a beautiful wooden fence that is also quite rare in Taiwan these days.

From the rear (and on the eastern side of the building), one of the most notable Baroque inspired elements is the round ox-eye window (牛眼窗) located above the cut section of the roof near the arch. These windows help to provide natural light into the office section of the building and is one of those western architectural elements that Japanese architects of the period absolutely loved to include in their buildings.  

One thing you’ll notice about station in relation to the others is that at some point it was painted, so the exterior appears a bit darker than the others. Coincidentally the other Taichung-area station, Zhuifen Station (追分車站) was painted the same color, making both of the ‘treasures’ in Taichung look as if they’re in better shape than the three in Miaoli. I’m guessing this is probably because Taichung is a considerably better off area than its northern neighbor, so some funds were appropriated to allow for some repair work on the buildings.

That being said, to the right of the station you’ll find a couple of (yet-to-be-restored) dormitories that used to house the staff working at the station. Both of the dorms are in pretty rough shape, but it looks like the Taichung City Government has slated them for restoration, which is pretty cool. In the future its possible that they’ll open up to the public as railway-related cultural buildings.

Getting There

 

Address: #8, Alley 140, Sec 2 Zhongshan Road. Dajia District, Taichung. (臺中市大甲區中山路二段140巷8號)

GPS: 24.378320, 120.653780

As is the case with any of my articles about Taiwan’s historic railway stations, I’m going to say something that shouldn’t really surprise you - When you ask what is the best way to get to the train station, the answer should be pretty obvious: Take the train!

Given that Rinan Station the first station you’ll reach as you pass from Miaoli into Taichung, you might be thinking that the best way to get to the station is to first travel to Taichung and then transferring from there.

Unfortunately, when you arrive in Taichung, you’ll discover that you’ll have to take one of the local commuter trains (區間車) south through the loop that connects to the Coastal Railway and the back up north to the station. The entire ride takes a little over an hour, which is pretty much the same amount of time it takes to arrive at the station directly from Hsinchu Station. If you’re traveling from the north and want to check out the station, I highly recommend you take the coastal route all the way from Hsinchu into Taichung and from there looping back along the mountain line.

If you’re already in Taichung, you’ll simply have to hop on a local commuter train bound for Miaoli along the coastal line. 

If you’re in the area and you have access to your own means of transportation, getting to the station is simple, but the neighborhood where it is located doesn’t offer many parking spots for cars along the narrow roads, so you may find yourself searching for a spot for a while.

To get there simply input the address or the GPS coordinates provided above and you shouldn’t have any problem.

When you arrive, you should be free to walk around and check it out, but if the volunteer who works there is in a bad mood (not likely) you may have to purchase a ‘platform ticket’ (月票 or 月台票), which will allow you to enter the station and walk through the turnstile without getting on the train. It’s the kind of thing people used to purchase when they were seeing off their friends or family, and should only cost about 10NT. You could also just swipe your EasyCard to go in and out, but that’ll cost more (the base price for swiping the card is higher) if you aren’t traveling on the train.  

With five of these Japanese-era stations still in working order along the Western Coastal Railway, it’s possible that a much more ambitious person than myself could attempt to day-trip a visit to all of them. Unfortunately given how much time I spent at each of these stations taking photos, that would have been impossible, and I would have missed out on some of their hidden charms. 

In retrospect, if I were to do it all again, I’d first visit the ‘Miaoli Three Treasures’ (苗栗三寶) on one excursion and then take another day to visit Rinan Station, Taichung Station (臺中車站) and Zhuifen Station (追分車站) in addition to the former Tai’an Station (泰安車站) on my way back.

That being said, there is a ton of stuff to see and do while in Taichung, so why not just stick around for a day or two and enjoy the city?

Given that I’m publishing this article in 2022, Rinan Station and the other so-called ‘treasures’ along the coastal line will be celebrating their centennial, so if you’re in the area why not stop by and appreciate these historic buildings? You won’t regret it! 

References

  1. Rinan Station | 日南車站 | 日南駅 (Wiki)

  2. 日南車站 (臺灣驛站之遊)

  3. 海線五寶 (Wiki)

  4. 日南車站‧找尋遺留在季風中的回憶 (旅遊圖中)

  5. 縱貫鐵路海線.日南車站 (臺中市文化資產處)

  6. 縱貫鐵路(海線)─日南車站 (國家市文化資產處)

  7. 日南駅 (れとろ駅舎)

  8. 日南車站︳台中大甲百年車站兼古蹟,值得鐵道迷專程搭區間車來訪 (金大佛)

  9. 鐵道迷最愛美拍!台灣「海線5寶」你去過幾個? (食尚玩家)

  10. 細說苗栗「海線三寶」車站物語 (臺灣故事)

  11. 木造車站-海線五寶 (張誌恩 / 許正諱)

  12. 海線僅存五座木造車站:談文、大山、新埔、日南、追分全收錄!(David Win)

  13. 臺中市文化資產 (Wiki)


Xinpu Train Station (新埔車站)

One of my local photographer friends is someone who most people in Taiwan would refer to as an “auntie,” one of those strong-willed, no-nonsense types who says what she thinks and never holds back. As the boss of a noodle restaurant that people around here swear by, she’s used to shouting orders and controlling a well-oiled kitchen. So whenever we meet up, my Mandarin skills are put to the test because she speaks at about a mile a minute. 

We’ve been meeting up for a few years at a local craft beer bar where we chat about photography, cooking and lots of other subjects. She’s always interested in the places I’m visiting and the photos I’m taking, because for her (and I guess a lot of other local photographers), I have a different perspective on things here in Taiwan. 

Coincidentally, one of her absolute favorite things to shoot is trains, and she travels all over the country to these amazing locations to take beautiful photos of trains crossing bridges, coming out of caves, etc. She’s also taken this hobby on the road and traveled to Japan countless times over the years that I’ve known her to do exactly the same thing.

Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of trains - Back home in Canada it’s uncommon for us to take a train, and before leaving the country, I probably only took a train once in twenty years.

That being said, as my interest in searching out and researching remnants of the Japanese Colonial Era in Taiwan has grown, I’ve also started to look for anything rail-related from that era. 

This is something that my friend is having a good time with, because I’ve often teased, “Why don’t you find something else to shoot other than trains?” to which she now says: “Why don’t you find something else to shoot other than train stations?” 

Fortunately for her, the railway is something that will be a part of Taiwan for a long time to come.

I’ll probably run out of train stations to take photos of within the next year or two (depending on how quickly I visit them all). So, I’ll eventually be the person looking for other things to take photos of.

Today, I’m going to be introducing the third (and final) of Miaoli’s Japanese-era railway stations. As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, Miaoli County (苗栗縣) in Central Taiwan is home to three century-old stations along the Coastal Railway that amazingly continue to remain in operation today. 

Known as “Miaoli’s Three Treasures” (苗栗三寶), these three historic stations have defied all the odds in a quickly modernizing Taiwan, and have stayed open forfar longer than anyone has ever expected. 

Given that I’ve already introduced Dashan Station and Tanwen Station, this will be the last piece with regard to the Three Treasures. In the future however, I’ll be expanding from the “Miaoli Three Treasures” to the “Coastal Railway Five Treasures” (海線五寶), because there are actually two more of these historic stations just across the river in Taichung - and likewise there are a couple of other stations along the Mountain Line as well.

Before I start introducing Xinpu Railway Station, I should probably first briefly mention a bit about the history of the Coastal Railway. If you’ve already read about it in my previous posts, feel free to skip it.  

Coastal Railway (海岸線 / かいがんせん)

 The history of the railway in Taiwan dates back as far as 1891 (光緒17), when the Qing governor, attempted to construct a route stretching from Keelung (基隆) all the way to Hsinchu (新竹). Ultimately though, the construction of the railway came at too high of a cost, especially with war raging back home in China, so any plans to expand it further were put on hold.

A few short years later in 1895 (明治28), the Japanese took control of Taiwan, and brought with them a team of skilled engineers who were tasked with coming up with plans to have that already established railway evaluated, and then to come up with suggestions to extend it all the way to the south of Taiwan and beyond.   

The Jūkan Tetsudo Project (ゅうかんてつどう / 縱貫鐵道), otherwise known as the ‘Taiwan Trunk Railway Project’ sought to have the railroad pass through all of Taiwan’s already established settlements, including Kirin (基隆), Taihoku (臺北), Shinchiku (新竹), Taichu (臺中), Tainan (臺南) and Takao (高雄). 

Completed in 1908 (明治41), the more than four-hundred kilometer railway connected the north to the south for the first time ever, and was all part of the Japanese Colonial Government’s master plan to ensure that Taiwan’s precious natural resources would be able to flow smoothy out of the ports in Northern, Central, and Southern Taiwan. 

Once completed, the Railway Department of the Governor General of Taiwan (台灣總督府交通局鐵道部) set its sights on constructing branch lines across the country as well as expanding the railway network with a line on the eastern coast as well. 

Link: Taiwan Railway Museum (臺灣總督府鐵道部)

However, after almost a decade of service, unforeseen circumstances in central Taiwan necessitated changes in the way that the western railway was operated, with issues arising due to typhoon and earthquake damage. More specifically, the western trunk railway in southern Miaoli passed through the mountains and required somewhat of a steep incline in several sections before eventually crossing bridges across the Da’an (大安溪) and Da’jia Rivers (大甲溪).

Issues with the railway in the aftermath of a couple of devastating earthquakes created a lot of congestion, and periodic service outages in passenger and freight service when the railway and the bridges had to be repaired. 

Link: Long-Teng Bridge (龍騰斷橋)

To solve this problem, the team of railway engineers put forward a plan to construct the Kaigan-sen (かいがんせん / 海岸線), or the Coastal Railway Branch line between Chikunangai (ちくなんがい / 竹南街) and Shoka (しょうかちょう / 彰化廳), or the cities we refer to today as Chunan (竹南) and Changhua (彰化). 

Link: Western Trunk Line | 縱貫線 (Wiki)  

Construction on the ninety kilometer Coastal Line started in 1919, and amazingly was completed just a few short years later in 1922 (大正11), servicing eighteen stations, some of which (as I mentioned above) continue to remain in service today. 

Those stations were: Zhunan (竹南), Tanwen (談文湖), Dashan (大山), Houlong (後龍), Longgang (公司寮), Baishatun (白沙墩), Xinpu (新埔), Tongxiao (吞霄), Yuanli (苑裡), Rinan (日南), Dajia (大甲), Taichung Port (甲南), Qingshui (清水), Shalu (沙轆), Longjing (龍井), Dadu (大肚), Zhuifen (追分) and Changhua (彰化).

(Note: English is current name / Chinese is the original Japanese-era station name)

The completion of the Coastal Railway was incredibly signficant for a number reasons - most importantly, it assisted with moving freight between the ports in Keelung and Taichung much more efficiently, especially when it came to moving things out central Taiwan given that one of the stations was located at the port in Taichung. Although the railway was primarily used for moving freight back and forth, another important aspect was that the railway allowed for the smaller communities along the coast to grow and become more economically viable.

On that last point, the construction of the railway along the coast not only provided passenger service to the communities that grew along the coast, but it also allowed for entrepreneurs in those areas access to a modern method of exporting their own products for the first time. If you know anything about the relationship between Japan and Taiwan, one of the things that the Japanese absolutely love about this beautiful country is the wide variety of fruit that is grown here.

The coastal railway helped to ignite that passion with the coastal area in Miaoli exporting massive amounts of watermelons and other produce.

Shin-ho Station (新埔驛 / しんほえき)

Coinciding with the official opening of service along the Western Coastal Railway, a number of railway stations simultaneously opened their doors for passenger and freight service, one of them was Miaoli’s Xinpu Station (新埔車站 / しんほえき).

Officially opened on October 11th, 1922 (大正11年), the station was originally named ‘Shin-ho Station’ (新埔驛 / しんほえき), and is geographically located closest to the coast of any of the stations along Taiwan’s Western Coast Trunk Line.

When you arrive at the station and look out the front door, the ocean is literally a short walk away. 

In fact, as you look out the door there is a sign pointing you to the beach.

These days, when you mention “Xinpu Station,” most people around Taiwan are likely to think of the MRT station with the same name located in Banqiao (板橋), just across the river from Taipei. So lets get that out of the way first - this certainly isn’t an MRT station - it’s a century-old railway station in southern Miaoli, and as mentioned earlier is one of the nation’s oldest (still-in-operation) stations. 

The interesting thing about Xinpu Station is that it was constructed in an area that only would have ever served a very small fishing community nestled along the coast while most of the other stations along the coastal line served practical purposes with regard to the export of fruit, produce and other goods.

I haven’t found any evidence that points to Xinpu Station serving any other purpose than acting as a mid-way point between ‘Hakushaton Station’ (白沙屯驛/はくしゃとんえき) and ‘Tsusho Station’ (通霄駅 / つうしょうえき), known these days as Baishatun Station (白沙屯車站) and Tongxiao Station (通宵車站).

One of the reasons why I think it’s so safe to assume that the station was never used for loading freight is because the road in front of the station is too narrow and the rear area of the station is home to a hill that would have prevented anything from happening there. If we look at both Dashan and Tanwen Stations further north, we can still see the areas where the freight would have been loaded on trains.

Anyway, despite being a century old, not much has really happened at Xinpu Station over the years - The Japanese era ended in 1945 and when the Chinese Nationalists took control, things pretty much stayed the same at this quiet little piece of Miaoli’s southern coast.

Compared to the first two of Miaoli’s “Three Treasures” that I’ve posted about, the timeline I’m providing below is evidence of how little has happened there over the years.  

Timeline:

  • 10/11/1922 (大正11年) - Shin-ho Station (新埔驛) opens for service.

  • 06/01/1986 (民國75年) - The station is reclassified as a Simple Platform Station (簡易站) under the operational control of nearby Baishatun Station (白沙屯車站).

  • 06/07/2005 (民國94年) - The station is recognized as a protected historic building (歷史建築).

  • 06/30/2015 (民國104年) - The station switches to the usage of card swiping services rather than issuing tickets.

  • 09/16/2017 (民國106年) - The station is reclassified as a Type B Simple Platform Station (乙種簡易站) and operational control is shifted from Baishatun Station to Tongxiao Station (通宵車站)

  • 10/11/2022 (民國111年) - The station will celebrate its 100th year of service.

The Interior of the Station Hall

Over the past few decades, ridership at the station has gone up and down, but as it goes now the number of people getting on or off the train at Xinpu Station is on the decline. In 2021, for example only 41,527 people passed through the gates, making the daily average just a little over a hundred people per day. 

While the daily ridership at Xinpu Station seems low, it is actually comparable with many of the other smaller stations along the Coastal Line, so it’s not like the station is close to death. Fortunately, even if ridership does continue to fall, the station will likely remain in service thanks to the fact that it is located directly next to the coast where you’ll find the popular Miaoli Bike Way (綠光海風自行車道) tourist bike path. 

Before I get into the architectural design of the station, I should probably mention that the the area is home to a bit of a strange neighbor in the form of the Qiumao Garden (秋茂園). The semi-abandoned amusement park is full of all sorts of creepy sculptures and in the past was an attraction for a lot of tourists who were passing by with their children. These days the park has been gated off, but it remains popular with urban explorers, who hop the fence to take photos. 

Click the link below to check out some photos from the park from almost a decade ago. 

Link: 通霄秋茂園 ‧ 墓園變樂園也太妙了吧 (烏秋的天空

Architectural Design

Interestingly, when we talk about the stations that make up Miaoli’s Japanese-era “Three Treasures”, the architectural design of each of the stations differ only slightly. I suppose this shouldn’t be too much of a surprise given that they were all smaller stations, each of which opened in the same year, meaning that they obviously saved some money when it came to architectural design and construction costs. These buildings are about as formulaic as you’ll get with Japanese architectural design, but don’t let that fool you - the simplicity of these stations still allows for some special design elements. 

Compared with the other two stations, Xinpu remains in relatively good shape, but it certainly does show signs of age in a few areas. Tanwen is obviously in the worst shape of the bunch while Dashan probably would have been the best of the bunch, if it weren’t for a drunk driver driving his truck through the front doors. 

The station was constructed in a fusion of Japanese and Western architectural design, and one of the reasons it stands out today (apart from its age) is that it was built almost entirely of wood (木造結構), more specifically locally sourced Taiwanese cedar (杉木), making use of a network of beams within the building to ensure structural stability. The base of the building, and portions of the wall however make use of concrete to help reinforce the building. 

The architectural design fusion in many of the buildings that were constructed during the Taishō era (大正) borrowed elements of Western Baroque (巴洛克建築), with those of traditional Japanese design. In this case however, the architectural design is somewhat subdued, which makes the traditional Japanese design elements stand out more. This was likely in part due to cost-saving measures as well as ensuring that the construction period of all the stations along the Coastal line would be completed between 1919 (大正8) and 1922 (大正11年).  

The station was constructed using the traditional Irimoya-zukuri (入母屋造 / いりもやづくり) style of design, most often referred to in English as the “East Asian hip-and-gable roof,” one of Japan’s most common architectural styles, and is one that you’d commonly find used for Shinto Shrines, Buddhist temples, Martial Arts Halls, etc. However, even though the design of the station makes use of irimoya, it isn’t comparable with those other more official buildings, which would have been more grand in their architectural design (and the amount of money spent on their construction). 

Nevertheless, keeping with the irimoya architectural style, the building was constructed with genius a network of beams and trusses located within the interior and exterior of the building that work in conjunction with the concrete base to allow the roof to (in this case slightly) eclipse the base (母屋) in size, and ensure that its weight was evenly distributed.

The genius in design, if not already obvious enough has allowed the base of the building to support the weight of the roof for a century. 

The roof was designed using the kirizuma-zukuri (妻造的樣式) style, which is one of the oldest and most commonly used designs in Japan. Translated simply as a “cut-out gable” roof, the kirizuma-style is one of the simplest of Japan’s ‘hip-and-gable’ roofs. What this basically means is that you have a section of the roof (above the rear entrance) that ‘cuts’ out from the rest of the roof and faces outward like an open book (入), while the longer part of the roof is curved facing in the opposite direction.

The roof was originally covered in Japanese-style black tiles (日式黑瓦), but similar to both Dashan and Tanwen Stations, the tiles were replaced at some point (I haven’t found a specific date) with imitation cement tiles that appear similar to the original sodegawara (袖瓦/そでがわら), munagawara (棟瓦 /むながわらあ), nokigawara (軒瓦/のきがわら), and onigawara (鬼瓦/おにがわら) elements of traditional Japanese roof design.

Closed up ox-eye window

One of the most notable ‘baroque-inspired’ elements of the building’s architectural design is the addition of the round ox-eye window (牛眼窗), located above the ‘cut’ section of the roof near the arch. The window helps to provide natural light into the station hall, and is one of those architectural elements that Japanese architects of the period absolutely loved. 

The interior of the building is split in two sections, much like what we saw the former Qidu Railway Station, with the largest section acting as the station hall while the other was where the station staff and ticket windows were located. Given that the station remains in operation today, only the station hall area is open to the public.

That being said, the daily operation of the station is (currently) coordinated out of nearby Tongxiao Station (通宵車站), so as I mentioned earlier, the only employee you’ll find working there is likely to be a volunteer hanging out. The station office is completely closed as is the ticket booth (the station shifted to card swiping for ticket purchasing) so you can’t even take a look at what the office looks like. 

Given that the ticket booth and the office are closed, the station hall has been more or less stripped down and is pretty much empty, except for a few notices on the walls. The relative emptiness of the interior however allows you to appreciate the design of the building a bit more as you are free to walk around and look at everything very closely. 

Interior of the station

Personally, while I did appreciate that the station hall was empty, I thought its size, the open windows and the natural afternoon light made it a really comfortable experience - especially in comparison to the modern stations you’ll find throughout the country today. That in addition to the beautiful planted flowers in the station front, and the sound of the nearby ocean waves, make this a pretty cool place to visit. 

Getting There

 

Address: #57, Hsinpu Village. Tongxiao Township (苗栗縣通霄鎮新埔里新埔57號)

GPS: 24.539850, 120.700350

As is the case with all of my articles about Taiwan’s historic railway stations, I’m going to say something that shouldn’t really surprise you - When you ask what is the best way to get to this train station, the answer should be pretty obvious: Take the train! 

Xinpu Railway Station is the southernmost of Miaoli’s ‘Three treasures’, so getting there from the north takes a bit more time than the other two stations. There are two important things to remember about taking the train: The first is that the station is located south of Hsinchu Station on the Coastal Line (海線), and the second is that the station is only serviced by local commuter trains (區間車). What this means is that if you take an express train from Taipei, or anywhere north of Hsinchu, you’ll have to switch to a commuter train once you’re there.

Be very careful about this, because the majority of trains leaving Hsinchu will take the mountain line, and that’s definitely not where you want to be (on this excursion anyway). That being said, if you planned on visiting this station and then making your way back up north, you could take a faster express train (on the coastal line) to Tongxiao Station and from there transferring to one of the local commuter trains mentioned above to backtrack northbound from there. 

Front portico of the station.

If on the other hand you’re in the area and you’re driving a car or scooter, but still want to stop by and check out the station, that’s okay as well. You should be able to easily find the station if you input the address provided above into your GPS or Google Maps. That being said, my English translation of the address above isn’t likely to show up on your preferred GPS - This is because there isn’t actually a ‘street address’ for the station, so I strongly recommend you copy and paste the Chinese-language address so that you won’t end up getting lost.

The funny thing is that this address problem is something that happens quite often in Japan, but is a little less common here in Taiwan. The Hsinpu Station however is quite a small neighborhood, and the area where the station is located can be considered more or less the middle of nowhere. 

The station is located along the side of a very narrow road near the beach in Miaoli’s southernmost Tongxiao Township (通霄鎮). If you’re driving a car, you’ll have to cross the train tracks on a very small country road, so its important to remember to drive very slowly in case you come across some oncoming traffic. 

When you arrive at the station, you’re free to walk around and check it out, it’s likely that you’ll only come across a volunteer keeping watch. Even if you’re not getting on the train, you can walk through to the back of the platform area without purchasing a platform ticket. So, you’ll be able to freely take photos of the front and back. That being said, the rear of the station is quite cramped as the original designers probably never figured that there would eventually be a sky walk platform constructed next to the station.

This makes taking photos there isn’t a little more difficult than Dashan and Tanwen Stations. 

Of the so-called Three Treasures, Xinpu Station is probably one of the easiest to visit and is where you’re likely to find the most tourists. This is probably due to the fact that it is so close to the famed Baishatun Mazu Temple (白沙屯拱天宮), and the popular Cape of Good Hope (好望角). It is however probably safe to say that it is the less photogenic of the three century-old stations even though it does have its own unique charm.

If you’re going on a tour of these old Japanese stations, then it’s one that you have to visit. Otherwise, unless you’re in the area, its probably not one of those places that many would go out of their way to visit.