Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Village 44 (Xingyi Assembly Hall)
VILLAGE
(Xìnyì Gōngmín Huìguǎn; cnr Zhuangjing & Songqin Sts; Taipei 101)
When the Nation-
alist army decamped to Taiwan in 1949, one million soldiers (and their eventual families)
had to be rehoused. Thus arose military dependants villages, which once were scattered
across Taiwan. Village 44, in the shadow of Taipei 101, was Taipei's first.
For decades these villages formed their own highly organised social systems, based on
a shared embrace of anti-communist beliefs, a desire to retake the mainland, and also fear
of the local Taiwanese. (One of Taiwan's biggest criminal gangs, in fact, was first
hatched by young men from these villages, who organised themselves for protection.) As
time went on, however, and as many of the soldiers retired and entered civilian life (and
also married Taiwanese women), relationships between the ethnic groups mellowed.
Rarely well built, the villages naturally succumbed to the wrecking ball as Taipei and
other cities developed. These days, however, there is a recognition that they form an im-
portant part of Taiwan's modern history and a few have been preserved as heritage sites.
Treasure Hill (
Click here
) is probably the most famous.
There isn't a lot to see at Village 44: a few old buildings and sometimes a photograph-
ic display in the main hall, but it is a pleasant park-like setting where you can sit and
contemplate the tides of history. Inside the village is an excellent cafe/art centre called
Good Cho's (
Click here
)
.
Songshan Culture & Creative Park
CULTURE PARK
(Sōngshān Wén Chuàng Yuánqū;
www.songshanculturalpark.org/en
;
Guangfu S Rd; 9am-6pm;
; Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall)
Set in a former tobacco factory (or more accur-
ately an industrial village) from the 1930s, the culture park opened to the public in 2011
with a well-attended design expo. That's not a coincidence as the government hopes to
turn this appealing warren of warehouses, courtyards, housing blocks and offices into a
center for creative design and arts education.
At the time of writing you could stroll through the grounds, explore the buildings,
