Chiatow Sugar Factory (Taiwan Sugar Museum) Introduction
Experience the tranquility and peace of Kaohsiung with the selected package, allowing you to enjoy the serene atmosphere of Ciaotou. Step into the unique aesthetic thinking of Japan and explore the historic Ciaotou Sugar Factory Manager's Dormitory. Experience the beauty of Japanese wabi-sabi through seasonal wagashi, Japanese tea, tea ceremonies, and floral arts. Ciaotou Sugar Factory, formerly known as "Ciaotou Sugar Factory," is Taiwan's first modern mechanical sugar factory, inaugurated during the Japanese colonial period in 1901 (Meiji 34). It led Taiwan into a golden age of sugar production and set many records in the sugar industry over the years. As a pioneer in employing steel construction techniques during early Japanese rule, it has been designated as a historic site by the municipality. The preserved remnants of the sugar factory, Japanese wooden houses, air raid shelters, and red brick water towers in the park offer a glimpse into the past. In 2006, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation established the Taiwan Sugar Museum on-site, preserving portions of the wall of the first sugar factory built a century ago. Visitors can experience the entire sugar-making process from transporting, crushing, purifying, evaporating, crystallizing, separating honey to packaging. The park features architecture in both Japanese and tropical Baroque colonial styles, including 19 historic sites such as red brick water towers, an ammunition depot, and a life-sized statue of Guanyin, showcasing the struggles of Taiwan's economic development. The rich public art creations and cultural exhibit spaces add a trendy cultural vitality to the nostalgic environment. The vast park also boasts abundant natural ecological resources, with birds, dragonflies, butterflies, and squirrels as common visitors. A stroll through the area on a summer afternoon lets you feel the refreshing breeze, after which you can enjoy traditional Taiwan Sugar ice products or a ride in a small cart, making it a perfect choice for family and friends. The Manager's Dormitory, built in 1940, is a standard Japanese wooden house with a tile roof, constructed by the then-manager Kinmoku Shinsaburo of the Taiwan Sugar Company. It is the best-preserved and most representative Japanese dormitory in the factory area. Architectural features include a roof structure made of Taiwanese cypress, elevated floors, wooden bed frames, a front yard, a back garden, and a Japanese water feature. Notably, it has a rare independent brick foundation for Japanese dormitories in Taiwan. In 2011, Taiwan Sugar Corporation restored it to its original condition, and since 2015, the external space has been open for visitors to explore and photograph, while guided tours of the internal space are available by reservation. This elegant old Japanese house was chosen as one of the filming locations for the award-winning film "The Tag-Along," becoming a popular spot for fans to take photos. The Public Housing Office, built in 1901, is one of the important buildings from the Japanese colonial period. Its structural design blends wood, brick, and reinforced concrete, marking a significant engineering achievement in Taiwan's architectural history. The exterior mimics Dutch colonial architecture in Southeast Asia, featuring elevated foundations for ventilation, corridors, and continuous arch designs indicative of European style. Notably, the square holes surrounding the building are not decorative but were functional gun holes for defense against invading bandits. This site also became a popular check-in spot due to its connection to the film "The Tag-Along." In 1902, the then-president Suzuki Tōsaburō built a club within the sugar factory for the benefit of his employees who had come from Japan, providing a place for those far from home to gather, chat, and enjoy drinks. The building's exterior follows the "tropical colonial style" combined with Japanese wooden construction techniques. Today, it has been transformed into a museum for sugar industry artifacts, a café, and a pig museum, with the latter featuring over 1,300 themed collectibles donated by Professor Chen Shih-Meng from National Taiwan University and former director of the Taiwan Sugar Company's Livestock Research Institute, Ko Fu-Chiang. The Rain Tree Square was once a Japanese military shooting range during the colonial period. After Japan's defeat in 1958, the Nationalist government built dormitories for Vietnamese exchange students behind the rain trees. Below the rain trees lies a spiral stone staircase constructed from round stones, creating a natural performance stage. The Iron Love Park utilizes discarded iron sheets, chains, disks, pads, and bolts from the Xiaogang Refinery and Gangshan Incineration Plant. Through the creative design of the sugar factory, six art pieces themed around "love" were created, transforming resilient steel into romantic installations. Established in October 2010, the Shigu Bridge Sugar Cultural and Creative Park, located in the Ciaotou Sugar Factory (Northern Warehouse Group) in Kaohsiung, is operated by Shigu Cultural Creative. It redeveloped the vacant century-old factory space, preserving the historical appearance of the sugar factory and infusing new life into drum art, with the water theater being particularly renowned for its stunning sound and light effects. In August 1978, then-Kaohsiung County Mayor Yu Dengfa and his son Yu Ruoyan were labeled by the government as "bandits," accused of "failing to report bandit activity" and "propagating bandit ideas," and sentenced to eight years in prison. On January 22, 1979, activists including Hsu Hsin-liang, Huang Hsin-chieh, Chen Chu, He Chun-mu, Chang Jun-hong, and Zeng Hsin-yi held a demonstration in Ciaotou, marking the first political protest in Taiwan after more than forty years of martial law, an event now referred to as the "Ciaotou Incident."
