Report - Various sites, Taiwan August 2023

[True_British_Metal]

Solo jaunts.

I've sat on this report for a while, but finally cleared the backlog yesterday and got the photos edited and uploaded. Below are a series of minor reports, nothing particularly huge. If anything this venture was a box-ticking exercise to just get some exploring and do some sites that I had listed but hadn't seen before. The first is a long, long derelict cinema that's in a very rural backwater town of Taiwan, far away from any city, the second a school that closed JUST after covid hit Taiwan and finally another one of Taiwan's sugar factories full of trains. So here follows a report of each site, one-by-one as they happened.

楠西區華洲戲院/Huazhou cinema, Nanxi district
I don't know how this exists to be honest, given its rural location 45 minutes away from Xinying, the closest city. It's situated in a small town called Nanxi, which is another one of those towns where nobody moves in, and the vast majority move out over time; population stats show 14,000 people on the household register, dropping to 8,000 in 2023. Going on Spectral Codex's history it was built in 1969 presumably to serve townspeople who worked on the construction of Cengwen dam 10 kilometres away along with a power station. Given its location, and presumably knowing that its operational life would never be for long, it was built with absolutely no care for ornate details like Xiluo and other theatres; bare concrete walls and basic seating, purely for a functional purpose.

When construction of the dam and power station were complete in 1973, the writing was presumably on the wall that closure was coming sooner or later. One source quotes 1976 as the closure date, but the two movie posters shown are from 1982 and 1983, so going on closure dates of other cinemas I've done it would probably have closed in 1984 or 1985.

The only posters from its operational years, a Taiwanese film called Lost Lady (失足夫人) from 1982 and a Hong Kong exploitation film Horror Holiday (為愛拼生命) from 1983.

In spite of its extremely rural location, the cinema has suffered some degree of vandalism, with the entire front area covered in poor graffiti. That said, given the length of abandonment it's survived remarkably well and the fundamental structure is reasonably stable.

Stage curtains with advertising for Sarsparilla, which is a Taiwanese soft drink similar to coke.

The projectors have long since been removed, but the stands and electrical equipment still remain, and the entire floor is covered in film reels.

The austere concrete exterior

The ticket booth, still with the old advertising board.

Part 2 to follow in the next post.

 

[True_British_Metal]

新營鳳和中學/Fenghe Senior High School, Xinying
I'd driven back from the cinema, but then I went to check out another site before this one. Nearby was a film village/film set, which was closed in about 2012 but is now being restored. Builders had started to go in to refurbish the site, and even the main gate was open but I wasn't entirely sure if there were workers on site or even anything to see on this Sunday. I looked for different ways into the site avoiding the main entrance, even if there was nobody there on a Sunday. Unfortunately this meant wasting valuable time looking if there was actually anything left on the site, or if there were workers on site working. Eventually I gave up and went back to Xinying to see this school.

This is another casualty of Taiwan's declining birth rate, probably one of the newest schools to close. It opened as a normal high school in 1962, closing 59 years later in September 2021, right after coronavirus reached Taiwan and all schools were closed and moved to online classes. That's all there is for history, given that it's just a normal school.

There was a tall building to the west of the site, which presumably held the library and other rooms which may have been of interest. There was a way in, but looking at it the power was still on, I thought it might be alarmed so left it.

To be honest at this point I was quite fatigued from driving, so stuck to the other two buildings. The first one above was mostly unlocked, but all felt the same to me; just regular classrooms with little to differentiate them.

The next building hosted the main hall. Whilst I should have actually checked whether the shutters were unlocked (as indeed some were for the main blocks), I got inside the main hall, only to find the doors upstairs securely locked.

By this time the building was open and had been taken over by birds for nests which were everywhere. The entire hall was filled with birdsong.

The best part of the school was its main block, for which everything, and I do mean absolutely everything, was left behind and in immaculate condition. To be honest you may be asking why wasn't I so enthused by this, and why didn't it spark me to do more, but I was too tired to see much. I took pictures wherever possible, but again at this point it honestly felt like I was walking across the same ground as other schools and that I hadn't discovered anything new.

The sick bay

Teachers office

Toy guns for military training, something I've never ever seen in a school before.

Finally I came across the front building, which had the therapy and counselling room. This was one of the few rooms that actually was still powered up; all the rest had their power cut off.

English classrooms. Unfortunately this part was securely locked and very few classrooms were accessible on this floor.

A classroom which was used for anti-drugs lessons and other social issues. Interestingly there was a sign on the door which said kids under the age of 16 were not allowed to enter!

Thus concludes this day's exploring. I might go back and do this again, but the only way I'd do that is if I tie it in with another set of sites which are in Tainan just 20 minutes south of here. If I do I'll be sure to post it here.

 

[True_British_Metal]

溪湖糖廠/Xihu sugar factory
This technically isn't exploring, just like the other two sugar factories I did earlier this year, but since derelict locos are everywhere it's worth posting as part of a report with other sites. Because these are all long-disused locos that are now plinthed and placed on static display, presumably used as spares donors, I suppose they'd be appreciated here. All have been derelict since as early as 1999, but it's not entirely clear. All I know is that they presumably won't go for scrap, and will just be left to rot with a lick of paint applied to them every now and then to keep them presentable.

There is actually a (possibly) derelict sugar factory next door, for which I did find a very tight way inside. However the problem is that it may actually be open to the public in general (as is the case with several others) in its derelict state but temporarily closed hence not fully abandoned. Fearing that I would get in but find workers or site staff inside, I chose not to enter. I stuck with the trains instead.

Walking round to a lesser-visited part of the site, where there were absolutely no other people walking around, I found the site shed. Inside were some old passenger trains which shared the railways with sugar-crop trains, which had been restored cosmetically, but whether they were operational or not I don't know. In the corner of the shed however were some more sugar locos, which I assumed were all used as a source of spares and kept out of sight of the public.

The entire place was covered in thick, thick dust and was absolutely filthy. Made me wonder if anybody actually ever went in here to look at the locos.

Heading out of the shed to the west were two more locos, which again were presumably on static display. However, wherever I looked there was absolutely nobody here, anywhere. All the buildings around the area were completely derelict too.

All of the derelict buildings were just empty shells, so no incentive to take any photos. I therefore headed to the main part of the park, where there were more derelict things left on display for people to see.

Unfortunately unlike other sites, there were no German or American-built locos which are still common at other sugar factories. All the locos on site were either Belgian-built steam locos (not pictured, but available on Flickr) or Japanese built diesels as you can see.

Thus concludes this exploring roundup from August. At the time of writing I have another HUGE report to write for the entire island of Jinmen, which is just off the coast of Xiamen in China. That again will take time to write, so I'll do that later today if I have time.

Thanks for looking,

TBM

 

[Bikin Glynn]

They are pretty excellent, you really should make em separate reports with some more history etc.
the guns in the school

 

[True_British_Metal]

They are pretty excellent, you really should make em separate reports with some more history etc.
the guns in the school

Thanks. I can give some history for each site, but for the cinema and school there is very little to share to be honest. Likewise I didn't cover the sugar factory, and obviously the trains don't really have their own individual history so I keep it concise.

 

[Bugsuperstar]

Loving this. The school looks fantastic.

 

[HughieD]

Always look forward to your Taiwan reports and this latest one didn't disappoint.

 

[Mikeymutt🐶]

Fantastic report. I love the mixture of stuff in a report. Can’t believe how many derelict cinemas you have covered over there. And them toy guns are crazy.

 

[host]

Full of epic win mate as always.

 

[True_British_Metal]

Just for reference, the toy guns are there because military service is still mandatory for young men so shooting training begins in senior high school. They eventually begin their service at age 20.