Beitou Museum Introduction
The Beitou Museum officially opened to the public as a private museum in 1984. This elegant garden, nestled among the mountains and covering an area of 800 ping, features a two-story wooden Japanese-style building constructed in 1921. At that time, it was the most upscale "Jia Shan hot spring hotel" in the Beitou area. In 1983, the founder Mr. Chang Chun-Ming repurposed the historic site into a museum, establishing the "Taiwan Folk Arts and Cultural Heritage House," which was officially renamed "Beitou Museum" in 1987. The Beitou Museum is dedicated to preserving and showcasing Taiwan's early folk arts and cultural artifacts, with a collection of nearly 5,000 items, primarily focusing on Taiwanese folk crafts from the late Qing Dynasty through the Japanese colonial period to the 1970s. This includes over a thousand artifacts from Taiwan's indigenous peoples, as well as more than three thousand artifacts from Han Chinese culture, predominantly Hokkien and Hakka. In terms of dining, the Beitou Museum features a restaurant called Yiranju, which offers exquisite and creative kaiseki cuisine and afternoon tea, as well as venues for small meetings. The outdoor cherry blossom viewing platform at Yiranju provides a close view of Danfeng Mountain and a distant view of Guanyin Mountain, allowing visitors to enjoy specially crafted healthy light meals from the museum against a backdrop of beautiful scenery—an opportunity to savor slow food and a slow lifestyle away from the hustle and bustle. In terms of cultural experiences, the museum operates with a philosophy of multicultural management, utilizing the main hall for performing arts presentations, cultural activities, as well as providing venues for banquets and meetings, fully activating the heritage site. The museum also offers various experience courses from time to time, such as tea ceremony experiences, formal tea classes, wagashi (Japanese sweets) experiences, and Jia Shan's first birthday celebration events. *Currently operated by private enterprises.
