Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park Introduction
One of the five major creative cultural parks in Taiwan, the Chiayi Old Distillery is located next to Chiayi Train Station. It is known as the "Hometown of Baijiu" because it was the first distillery in Taiwan to produce sorghum liquor. In 1916, the Japanese businessman Chiaki Shotaro established the Taisho Distillery Co., Ltd. Chiayi Factory here. In 1922, due to the implementation of a monopoly system, the factory was requisitioned and came under the jurisdiction of the Tobacco and Liquor Bureau's Tainan Branch. After the recovery of Taiwan, the National Government continued the monopoly system, and in 1957 it was renamed the "Taiwan Provincial Tobacco and Liquor Sales Bureau Chiayi Branch Chiayi Distillery." The Chiayi Distillery was relocated to the Minxiong Industrial Zone in 1982, leaving behind a large number of production tools and related equipment, including bottle washing machines, wine storage barrels, bottle conveyor belts, chimneys, sorghum storage silos, and weighing devices, all precious witnesses of brewing culture. Among them, seven buildings were designated as municipal historic sites, and the boiler chimney, which once stood at 53 meters, was one of the early landmarks of Chiayi City. The current restoration and reutilization project was completed by the Ministry of Culture in 2013, and it has been planned as the Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park. Among the five major creative cultural parks in Taiwan, the Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park is the most anticipated one, as it is located in the commercial and geographical center of Chiayi City. In the development of cultural and historical context, it can be regarded as the starting point for cultural facilities in Chiayi City, connecting with the Tobacco and Liquor Bureau Chiayi Branch (a municipal historic site), and extending northward to Chiayi Train Station (a municipal historic site), the Railway Warehouse Art Village, the Cultural Center, the Guangyi Forest Living Village, the Yinglin Club (a municipal historic site), the Alishan Entrance Gateway Beimen Station (a municipal historic site), and the Prison Museum (a national historic site), forming a bright pearl of Chiayi culture. The Chiayi Cultural and Creative Industries Park is the largest and brightest among them.
