Jiaoban Mountain Villa Introduction
The Jiao Ban Mountain Villa Park is located along the Northern Cross-Island Highway, integrating history, culture, and natural ecology. The park includes unique spots such as the military tunnel, Jiao Ban Mountain Villa, plum garden, and camphor storage office. By the end of 2024, after architectural restoration, landscape optimization, and improvement of leisure facilities, modern technology and art displays will be introduced. The first exhibition after the renovation will be titled "Traveling Through Jiao Ban Mountain," aiming to reinterpret the history and natural beauty of Jiao Ban Mountain from the perspectives of travelers or artists who have visited. The military tunnel, built in 1963, was originally used for command and refuge during wartime. The tunnel is 20 meters deep and 100 meters long, with interactive 3D murals on the walls that recreate military scenarios and historical slogans, making it a popular educational and entertaining attraction. Following the evacuation trail leads to the Jiao Ban Mountain Villa, which exhibits a main theme of "Chiang Kai-shek's Travels," emphasizing stories of Chiang Kai-shek and his wife visiting Jiao Ban Mountain for tourism, as well as Song Meiling's process of learning to paint. Historical photographs, such as images of Chiang and his wife in the bamboo pavilion at Jiao Ban Mountain and their outings on the Jiao Ban Mountain suspension bridge, are displayed to connect travel and aesthetics, allowing the public to understand them from different perspectives, enhanced with new media interactive art creations. Stepping out of the villa, visitors can reach the Siqin Pavilion to overlook the expansive scenery of the Dahan River and Nanjie Mountain, a place where Chiang Kai-shek reminisced about his hometown, Xikou, Zhejiang. The sculpture park integrates installation art with the natural environment, planting species like pine, cypress, plum, and bamboo. During the plum blossom season, it attracts visitors to enjoy plum blossoms, tea tasting, and outdoor activities, experiencing the vibrant atmosphere of the flower season. The camphor storage office is the only remaining Japanese camphor hall in Taiwan, previously serving as a hub for camphor concentration and transportation, featuring displays of the camphor industry history and extraction processes. The northern entrance plaza retains traces of the original buildings, combining landscape paving, tea house facilities, and rest platforms to deepen cultural experiences. The nearby ecological pond is built around wooden walkways, planted with various aquatic plants such as irises and water lilies, along with diverse plants like golden retrievers and shrubs, creating an environment favored by tree frogs and fireflies. To promote nighttime tourism, outdoor art sculptures in the park will be illuminated, creating a tranquil atmosphere intertwining nature and light. The park will now be open until 8 PM, making it a new destination for people to stroll under the night sky and appreciate art sculptures.
