Chiao-Tou Sugar Factory (Taiwan Sugar Museum) Introduction
With the selected package from Kaohsiung, enjoy a relaxed visit to Qiaotou where time flows peacefully. Step into a unique Japanese aesthetic mindset and explore the historical site of the Qiaotou Factory Director's Residence, where you can experience the beauty of Japanese wabi-sabi through seasonal wagashi, Japanese tea, tea ceremonies, and floral art. Qiaotou Sugar Factory, formerly known as "Qiaotaitou Sugar Factory," is Taiwan's first modern mechanized sugar factory, established during the Japanese colonial period in 1901 (Meiji Year 34). It played a significant role in leading Taiwan into the prosperous era of sugar production and has set numerous records in Taiwan's sugar industry over the years. It was a pioneer in utilizing steel construction techniques and is listed as a historical site by the municipal government. The park retains well-preserved relics such as the sugar factory, Japanese wooden houses, air raid shelters, and a red brick water tower. In 2006, Taiwan Sugar Corporation established the Taiwan Sugar Museum on-site, preserving parts of the walls from the factory that is over a century old and providing a full view of the sugar manufacturing process, allowing visitors to experience the physical flow of sugarcane from transportation, extraction, purification, evaporation, crystallization, honey separation to packaging. Park features include both Japanese and neo-Baroque tropical colonial architectural styles, alongside 19 historical sites including red brick water towers, an ammunition depot, and a life-sized statue of Guanyin, which illustrate Taiwan's past struggles for economic development. The abundant public art creations and historical exhibition spaces add a contemporary cultural dynamism to the nostalgic environment. The vast park also boasts rich natural ecological resources, with birds, dragonflies, butterflies, and squirrels as common visitors. A stroll on a summer afternoon provides a refreshing breeze, and visiting the sales area to enjoy traditional cold treats from Taiwan Sugar Company while taking a five-minute ride is a great way to have fun with family and friends. The Director's Residence was built in 1940 by Kinmoku Sanzo, the director of the Taiwan Sugar Company, and is the best-preserved and most representative Japanese-style residence in the factory area. Its architectural features include a roof structure made of Taiwanese cypress, elevated floors, wooden bed frames, front and back gardens, and a Japanese water feature. Notably, it has a rare independent brick foundation among Japanese-style residences in Taiwan. The residence was restored to its original condition by Taiwan Sugar Company in 2011 and opened to the public for tours and photography in 2015. This elegant old Japanese house was selected as a filming location for the award-winning film "The Silent Scream" at the 54th Golden Horse Awards, transforming it into a popular spot for fans to take pictures. The Social Housing Office was built in 1901 and is one of the important buildings from the Japanese occupation period. Its architectural structure combines wood, brick, and reinforced concrete, making it a significant engineering achievement in Taiwan’s architectural history. The exterior imitates colonial Dutch architecture in Southeast Asia, with features such as raised foundations for ventilation, corridors, and continuous arch shapes reflecting European styles. The square holes surrounding the building are not decorative; they are gun holes used for defense against bandit attacks. This location has become an Internet hotspot due to its appearance in the film "The Silent Scream." The Qiaotou Sugar Factory Club was established in 1902 by then-president Suzuki Tozaburo to provide a gathering place for employees who traveled from Japan to Taiwan, allowing them to enjoy drinks and socialize. The building’s exterior is primarily in the "tropical colonial style" and is completed using Japanese wooden construction techniques. It is now transformed into a museum of sugar industry artifacts, a café, and a pig-themed museum, which showcases over 1,300 collectibles themed around pigs, donated by Professor Chen Shih-Meng from National Taiwan University and former director Ge Fu-Chiang from the Taiwan Sugar Company’s Livestock Research Institute. The Rain Tree Plaza was once a shooting range for Japanese troops during the colonial period. After Japan's defeat in 1958, the National Government built a dormitory for employees training exchange students from Vietnam behind the Rain Trees. Below the Rain Trees, a spiral stone staircase made of cobbles creates a natural performance stage. The Iron Love Park was created using discarded iron pieces, chains, discs, washers, and bolts from Xiaogang Refinery and Gangshan Incineration Plant. These were artistically designed by the sugar factory to produce six art pieces themed around "love," transforming the sturdy image of steel into romantic installations. The Shigu Bridge Sugar Cultural and Creative Park was established in October 2010, located in Qiaotou Sugar Factory (Northern District Warehouse Group) in Kaohsiung City. Operated by Shigu Cultural and Creative Co., the park repurposes idle century-old factory space while preserving its historical appearance, infusing new life into drumming arts, with the water theater being the most renowned feature, providing a stunning audio-visual experience. In August 1978, former Kaohsiung County Commissioner Yu Deng-Fa and his son Yu Rui-Yan were labeled as "bandit spies" by the government, charged with "not reporting bandits" and "promoting bandit interests," and sentenced to eight years in prison. On January 22, 1979, Xu Xinliang, Huang Xinjie, Chen Ju, He Chunmu, Zhang Junhong, and Zeng Xinyi participated in a demonstration in Qiaotou Township, marking the first political protest in Taiwan after more than 40 years of martial law imposed by the National Government, an event known as the "Qiaotou Incident."
