Today’s sunset in beautiful Taipei from the top of Thumb Mountain (拇指山)
When Chiang Kai Shek (蔣介石) and his Chinese Nationalist Party retreated to Taiwan in the latter part of the 1940s, they brought with them over two million people including soldiers from the ROC armed forces and with them their families.
Due to the delusional nature of the political situation at the time, they came up with a plan to set up ‘temporary’ housing for members of the armed forces and their families until such time that the Nationalists could retake the mainland from the Communists.
To serve this purpose, “Military Dependents’ villages” (眷村) were set up around Taiwan offering shoddy quickly assembled housing to those families. Unfortunately, those 'temporary' homes became 'permanent' as Chiang Kai Shek’s dream of going home was never going to come to fruition.
This guy has a pretty cool imagination.
When the villages were built, they were they were very poorly constructed and extremely small. There was no possibility for the residents to hold ownership rights over their homes as they were property of the state, which eventually led to problems decades later.
Over the years many of these buildings have become abandoned, have fallen apart and have become somewhat of a slum for an aging population. These villages also occupy prime real-estate space within cities where development is often more important than the welfare of citizens.
The government began an aggressive program of demolishing the villages in the early 1990s and started to replace the decaying villages with new high rise apartment buildings which had space allocated for the displaced families who lost their homes.
If you pay attention to the news in Taiwan, you can often see stories of residents of some of the remaining villages protesting the destruction of their homes - especially in Taipei where very few remain. City and county governments all over the island are trying their best to have them demolished but obviously have to contend with civic groups and people who are unwilling to move creating an often tense atmosphere that plays out well in Taiwan's dramatic media environment.
A family taking some selfies at the Rainbow Village.
Taiwanese people are well versed in exercising their rights and taking to the streets to voice their displeasure with government action (or inaction) often leading to mass protests and government shut downs. One of the most interesting and creative forms of protest in recent history however came from an 87 year old man who was in a battle to resist having his home torn down.
The story of Taichung's “Rainbow Village” (彩虹眷村) and its famous creator Mr. Huang Yong-Fu (黃永阜) has become quite well known throughout the country and is a fitting example of how a protest done right can be really effective.
Mr. Huang is a military veteran who was born in Hong Kong and fought against the communists in the ROC army. After living in Taiwan for more than 60 years, the city government in Taichung decided it was time for the village he lived in to be torn down. Mr. Huang who people now refer to as the “Rainbow Grandfather” (彩虹爺爺) came up with a way to protest that was quite unique and also gave him something to do to pass his time.
Rather than fighting the government - he started to paint. As a self-taught artist, he painted colourful murals all over his home, as well as the gates around it and the walkways. He used very bright colours and painted very random and imaginative figures including plants, animals, monsters, celebrities and traditional cultural heroes.
The Next Generation of Photography
The village that Mr. Huang lives in is next to Ling-Tung University (嶺東科技大學) and when students from the university noticed what he was doing they took pictures of his progress and spread them around online which quickly went viral (back before 'viral' was actually a thing)
The “Rainbow Village” soon became a tourist destination as people from all over started to visit while he was still busy painting. The tourists offered donations and supported the by-then almost 90 year old artist. His peaceful protest fortunately gained enough sympathy from around the country that the email inbox of the mayor of Taichung quickly became so full of complaints that plans to demolish his village were quickly shelved.
Bottles of Coke that Mr. Huang sells to people who visit.
The Rainbow Village is still around today due to the effort and creativity of Mr. Huang. If you are in Taichung, the village is well worth a visit - If you do visit though, remember that the Rainbow Village is actually the home of a retired 90 year old man and his family. If you like what you see, don’t be shy to drop a small donation in his donation bucket or at least buy a soda or a hand-made souvenir.
The life of a retired soldier isn’t one of great wealth, so think of your visit like that of going to a museum. Mr. Huang invites everyone to enjoy his home and his art and doesn’t ask anything from you, but if you appreciate what he’s done - help a guy out and he'll be happy to take a picture with you!
Daxi Old Street (大溪老街) is probably one of the nicer and more well-maintained of all of Taiwan’s old-streets. The street, which is also known as “Peace Street” (和平路) is renowned in Taiwan for it's architectural style and it draws large crowds of people on weekends wanting to experience a bit of Taiwanese history.
The government has recently started to push for more foreign tourism in the area, opening Taiwan’s first “Traveler's Space” which will offer multi-lingual services, self-guided tour maps and samples of some of the specialties that Daxi has to offer.
I visit Daxi often as it is relatively close to where I live and when I go, it is always on the weekends when it is busiest – This time (much like my walk through Beipu Old Street) I wanted to walk around the relatively empty streets on a weekday and explore the back alleys behind the street for a glimpse into the lives of the residents of the village and not have a bunch of people filling my frames.
Even though I've visited several times, I've never really explored many of the streets and alleys around the main street. I was surprised this time to find several streets and alleys that were more or less the same as the Old Street in architectural-style (however showing a bit of their age due to a lack of maintenance.)
One of the few statues of CKS that still has its head attached.
The Daxi River Valley area is already quite popular with domestic tourists and those from China as well because Daxi is the resting place of former presidents Chiang Kai Shek (蔣介石) and Chiang Ching Kuo (蔣經國.) The Chiang family was quite fond of the village back in the day and had residences in the town and outside of the town in Cihu (慈湖) which is where the Chiang’s lie in state.
Tourists from China who visit Taiwan often visit these areas to show their respect to the Chiang’s, who were important figures in modern Chinese history despite the precarious nature of the political situation between the two countries and the Chiang family legacy in both China and Taiwan during the Chinese Civil War.
Sidewalks on Daxi Old Street
Long before Chiang and his Nationalists retreated to Taiwan from China, Daxi was a commercially successful village that found its riches exporting tea and camphor. The Old Street was originally constructed as a shortcut to transport goods to the river and as the economy grew in the village, businesses soon starting popping up along the street.
The wealthy merchants in the village wanted a way to show off a bit of their prosperity so they hired artisans to come and help design and carve beautiful stone designs on their homes and businesses along the main street and the streets around it. What you see today is a neighbourhood designed in the "baroque" style of architecture (which was popular in Europe at the time) fused with both Chinese and Japanese influences.
Alley's behind Daxi Old Street
The village thrived for decades due to trade between the Dahan River (大漢溪) and the Danshui River (淡水河) but improved modes of transportation took over as the preferred method of moving goods back and forth which dealt somewhat of an economic blow to the village.
Even though the economy started to decline, people in the village continued to do well for themselves through the end of the Japanese occupation and the Nationalist takeover. The village was eventually adopted by the Chiang family as a retreat of sorts and within the last few decades it has became a tourist “old street” for people who want to experience the feeling of walking through a historical street that seems more like a Hollywood set than a real-life town.
A young boy at the gate of the Shou-De Zen Buddhist Temple
History alone however wouldn't bring the masses to the village on the weekends. Taiwan is a food-crazed country and people are willing to travel all over just to try specific dishes. Luckily, Daxi has quite a few of its own delicacies to add to the historical attraction. If you visit Daxi and are completely unaware of what the popular dishes are, one indication would be the store fronts that have long lines of people waiting to sample some of the foods.
There is a variety of food that you can eat while on the Old Street and there are a lot of vendors who set up each and every day along the road making it seem a little like a night market. You should be sure to try some of the most popular dishes though, namely the Dried Tofu (豆乾), some Tofu Pudding (豆花) and freshly made Peanut Candy (花生糖.)
The Main Street is also filled with small shops selling traditional toys for children as well as souvenirs and other Taiwan-related things - and even some kimonos if you so desire!
Making Peanut Candy! (花生糖)
As mentioned before, on this visit I spent the most of my time on the streets adjacent to the Main Street as it is the area where the actual residents do their every day shopping and where you can see the locals in their natural environment. In these areas you can find small restaurants filled with local people as well as traditional grocery stores and farmers selling local produce. To me, these areas are a lot more interesting than touristy areas and I recommend that if you visit Daxi, you spend a bit of your day wandering around the adjacent streets and don't spend all your time on the old street.
A local farmer selling produce on a street near Daxi Old Street
Walking along the other old roads like this will also take you past old Japanese-era buildings, the former summer residence of Chiang Kai-Shek, some well-maintained Fujian-style mansions and a mountainside park that has an excellent view of the popular Daxi bridge (大溪橋.) and the fading Da-Han river. Most Taiwanese people visit Daxi make the bridge an important part of their itinerary as it is quite beautiful walking across it at night. Taiwanese people have an affection for bridges that foreigners have a hard time understanding. The Daxi Bridge is a historical one though and I guess I can see some of the appeal.
A Fujian-Style Mansion at the end of the Old Street
The old street also has three important places of worship, the biggest being Fu-Ren temple (福仁宮) a multi-faith temple, Shou-De Zen Buddhist Temple (修德禪寺) and Po-Chai Taoist Temple (普濟堂.) The temples hold several major events religious events each year (one of which I hope to shoot this year) and are quite important to the village both historically and culturally.
An old Japanese-era building near the Old Street (武德殿)
Daxi Old Street can be a pretty busy place, yet for all the years I've been going, I haven't really seen many foreigners. Some might not know about the village, and others may feel it is an inconvenient day trip. I hope the new initiative by the government will bring in more foreign tourists to enjoy the sights and learn about the history of the village. If you are relying on public transportation to get to the village, then you will be a bit limited in what you can do, but if you have your own method of transportation, you can easily fill an entire day in the area and I highly recommend some of the other attractions.
Coincidentally as I'm standing on the sidewalk with my iPad in hand in Taipei waiting for a bus and writing this blog, a bus drove by on the other side of the road with a full-side English advertisement for the village in an attempt to bring foreigners.
It is quite evident there is a push to promote Daxi, so I hope the next time I go I can see some more foreign faces!
No. 1 National Highway(國道一號) -> Taoyuan Interchange (桃園交流道) -> No. 4 Provincial Highway(台4線) -> Daxi (桃園大溪) -> Heping Road, Zhongshan Road & Zhongyang Road (和平路及中山路、中央路)
No. 1 National Highway(國道一號) -> Pingzhen Interchange (平鎮交流道) -> No. 61 Provincial Highway (台61線) -> Daxi (桃園大溪) -> Heping Road, Zhongshan Road & Zhongyang Road (和平路及中山路、中央路)
No. 3 National Highway (國道一號) -> Daxi Interchange (大溪交流道) -> Chiding (崎頂) -> Daxi (大溪)-> Heping Road, Zhongshan Road & Zhongyang Road (和平路及中山路、中央路)
By Bus:
Take Taoyuan Bus 桃園客運#5096 (Taoyuan-Daxi route) from the back of Taoyuan Train Station (桃園後火車站) to Daxi (大溪) or take Taoyuan Bus 桃園客運#5096 (Zhongli-Daxi route) from the rear exit of the Zhongli Train Station (中壢車站)
