Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park Introduction
One of the five major creative cultural parks in Taiwan, the Chiayi Old Winery is located next to Chiayi Railway Station. It is known as the "Home of Baijiu" because it was the earliest distillery in Taiwan to produce sorghum liquor. In 1916, the Japanese entrepreneur Akashi Shōtarō founded the Taisho Distillery Co., Ltd. Chiayi Factory here. In 1922, due to the implementation of the monopoly system, the factory was seized and came under the jurisdiction of the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau's Tainan Branch. After the restoration of Taiwan, the National Government continued the monopoly system, and in 1957 it was renamed the "Taiwan Provincial Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau Chiayi Branch Chiayi Distillery." The Chiayi Distillery moved to the Minxiong Industrial Zone in 1982, leaving behind a large number of production machinery and related equipment, including bottle washing machines, wine storage tanks, bottle conveyor belts, chimneys, sorghum storage silos, and weighing instruments, all precious witnesses of the winemaking culture. Seven buildings were designated as city historical sites, and the boiler chimney, which once stood at 53 meters, was one of the early landmarks of Chiayi City. The Ministry of Culture completed restoration work in 2013, repurposing the site as the Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industry Park. Among the five major creative cultural parks across the country, the Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industry Park is the most anticipated. Located in the commercial and geographic heart of Chiayi City, it can be considered the starting point of the cultural facilities belt in the historical context of Chiayi City. It connects to the Chiayi District of the Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau (a city historical site), proceeding north to Chiayi Railway Station (a city historical site), the Railway Warehouse Art Village, the Cultural Center, the Hinoki Village, the Forestry Recreation Club (a city historical site), the North Gate Station at the entrance to Alishan (a city historical site), and the Prison Museum (a national historic site), forming a shining cultural pearl of Chiayi, with the Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industry Park being the largest and most brilliant among them.
