Songyuan Villa Introduction
Songyuan Guesthouse was built around 1943 and originally served as the office of the "Military Affairs Department" of Hualien Port. It was connected by a grove of pine trees to nearby locations such as the "Broadcasting Station" (now the Hualien Branch of Taiwan Broadcasting System), the "Coast Radio Station" (now Chunghwa Telecom), and the waterworks (now the Meilun Water Purification Plant). Due to its vantage point overlooking the beautiful Meilun River estuary against the backdrop of the North Beach, it provides a natural high ground advantage for overseeing the estuary of the Meilun River, Hualien Port, and the Pacific Ocean view. It allowed easy monitoring of vessels entering and exiting the southern coastal waters and aircraft taking off and landing at the southern airport. Furthermore, the dense shade of pine needles acted as a giant umbrella, making it an important military command center for the Japanese in Hualien. After the end of the war, the area was taken over by the Nationalist government military and served as a leisure resort for U.S. military advisors. It has since been managed by the Veterans Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan. In 2000, the Hualien County Government designated Songyuan as a "Historical Appearance Special Zone." In 2001, it was selected as one of the trial sites for the "Re-utilization of Idle Space" by the Council for Cultural Affairs and was included in the "One Hundred Historical Sites of Taiwan."
