“Anyone who has lost something they thought was theirs forever finally comes to realize that nothing really belongs to them.”
― Paulo Coelho
― Paulo Coelho
The sudden decline of Taiwan's economy has left no shortage of forsaken buildings. Here's a few I've had a good time exploring.
House In Beitou
BEITOU DISTRICT — I often drove past this place without giving it a second though until one day I just stopped to check it out. This was probably a beautiful house and are to live in its heyday. The house is just a short walk from a clearing that overlooks the entire city. In the days of shorter trees and less traffic I'm sure this spot was the ideal hideaway home.
Now it sits rotting in the forest.
📍 Address: 214, Daoxiang Road, Beitou District, Taipei City, 112.
UFO Village
WANLI DISTRICT — Rich people's failures make great photography.
The bold architecture of these houses was meant to lure residents and tourists to Taiwan's north coast, an area that seemed perfect for resorts and family trips. But the big windows provided little cover for the sun in summer, and a lack of trees was no shield for the winds of winter.
With rumors that these buildings could be demolished at anytime, I was just grateful that I got to see them in person.
📍 Address: Tingtao Road, Wanli District, New Taipei City, 207.
Amusement Park
YUANSHAN — The barriers around the park were not very strong, which led me to believe nobody really cared that people came in here as long as they weren't causing trouble. However the park has since been demolished. Now only the Ferris Wheel remains. The pictures you see below are from 2017.
📍 Address: No. 33, Yumen Street, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, 10491.
House In Xindian
XINDIAN DISTRICT — Not exactly sure how I first ended up here, but I have since come back a couple of times to show people around. It's an extravagant house with a really cool staircase on the roof. There were workers there last time who seemed to be preparing renovations, but they were perfectly fine with me walking around here.
Land is valuable in Taipei and they just built a new MRT line close to here so this spot might not be abandoned for long.
📍 Address: No. 46號, Yongye Road, Xindian District, New Taipei City, 231 (The house is before the hotel at this address).
Honey Farm
SHILIN DISTRICT — This abandoned house was being used as a honey factory on the 1st floor. We followed another group of tourists inside and were greeted by a worker eager to give us a tour. The perimeter was surrounded bee boxes. Bees buzzed around our heads as our guide explained how everything worked. He took special care to make sure that I got photos I wanted, and at the end of the tour didn't try to sell us anything. He simply went back to work.
When the other guests left we were free to explore the rest of the abandoned house. It felt like the type of place Allie and Noah from the Notebook would go to take each other's virginity.
📍 Address: No. 45, Kaixuan Road, Shilin District, Taipei City, 111.
Shulin Warehouse
SHULIN DISTRICT — I was introduced to this place when I tagged along with my friend Billy to shoot a rap video. You'll see some of the guys from the video in the photos below. It's a really cool warehouse to shoot and explore. There's 2 floors and plenty of space, but watch out for air-soft gun players.
📍 Address: No. 188-6號, Zhongzheng Road, Shulin District, New Taipei City, 23867
Walk past the sports center and it's on the right.