Zhutan Station Park Introduction
Bamboo Station, built in 1940, is the last surviving wooden train station on the Fangliao Line of the South Link Railway. It features an architectural style reminiscent of Western design. Although the Taiwan Railway Administration initially decided to demolish it due to declining passenger numbers, local residents and cultural figures actively campaigned for its preservation. It was eventually saved and transformed, now included in a cultural preservation area along with nearby historical buildings, and named "Bamboo Station Park." The facilities retained in Bamboo Station Park include the wooden train station, wooden oil storage, station building, waiting room, granary, rice milling facility, bathhouse, and ancient well. Additionally, it features the Li Hsiu-Yun Photography Memorial Hall, the Dr. Ichi Sakata Library, the Bamboo Cultural Center, the Dexing Rice Mill, the Spring Ecology Pool, and the Train-Themed Café, all contributing to the park's rustic charm. The Li Hsiu-Yun Photography Memorial Hall was originally an abandoned railway warehouse, which was renovated into a photography theme hall. It hosts long-term exhibitions of various themed old photographs and artifacts from photographer Li Hsiu-Yun, preserving historical records. Dr. Ichi Sakata was a military doctor in Japan who treated impoverished villagers for free. Grateful for his benevolence, locals established the Dr. Ichi Sakata Library in his name, which houses over 5,000 volumes in ten categories, all in Japanese. The Bamboo Cultural Center also used to be a railway warehouse. After renovation, it hosts art classrooms and serves as a display venue for traditional farming tools and periodic art exhibitions, helping visitors and locals gain a deeper understanding of Bamboo’s history. The Dexing Rice Mill, built in 1942, features wooden pipelines for milling, highlighting the agricultural prosperity of early Bamboo, which was a rice distribution center. The Spring Ecology Pool is planted with beautiful lotus flowers and is home to various aquatic animals such as frogs, turtles, small fish, and tadpoles, making it a suitable spot for children and adults to relax or observe wildlife. The Train-Themed Café is converted from staff quarters and offers a variety of simple meals, coffee, and tea. Surrounding the café are a traditional Japanese bathhouse, an ancient well, the station building, warehouses, and water tower, complemented by trains that occasionally pass by, making it the main recreational area of Bamboo Station Park. (It is advised that visitors do not walk or linger on the railway tracks.)
