Beitou Museum Introduction
Beitou Museum was originally built as the "Jashan Hotel" in 1921 (the 10th year of the Taisho era). This Japanese wooden structure retains typical Japanese details such as a spacious main hall, intricate lattice carvings, and traditional shoji doors and windows. Its excellent location on the hillside offers a stunning view overlooking the Beitou Valley, while connecting with the distant Mt. Datun, Mt. Guanyin, and Mt. Danfeng, forming a beautiful landscape painting. Surrounded by a garden that embraces the thermal springs of Beitou, it became one of the representatives of high-end hot spring hotels during the rapid development of Beitou in the 1920s and 1930s. After the war, the government took over the building and used it as dormitories for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was not until 1965 that it was sold to the private sector as a villa and became a popular filming location during the 1960s and 1970s. At the end of 1983, Mr. Chang Chun-Ming, who had passed by Beitou and admired this old Japanese house, resolutely leased it and began restoration, officially establishing the "Taiwan Folk Arts and Cultural Museum" in 1984. In 1987, as the collection grew richer, it was renamed "Beitou Museum," dedicated to the collection of artifacts related to Han Chinese, indigenous peoples, and folk crafts in Taiwan. In 1998, it was designated as a municipal historic site by the Taipei City Government. To preserve the building for the long term, a five-year restoration project began in 2002 with public-private collaboration. In 2008, it was relaunched under a mixed operational model for cultural promotion, resembling a "rebirth" of this century-old building, and became an important example of cultural heritage preservation in Taiwan. Currently, the museum houses over 5,000 artifacts, ranging from local hot spring historical materials (such as Beitou pottery, hotel ledgers, and illustrated postcards) to Han Chinese life ritual objects, indigenous textiles, wood carvings, and embroidery, showcasing a richness of multicultural fusion. The museum also preserves the aesthetic spaces of the former hotel, such as the Prince Hall, veranda, tatami mats, and Japanese-style rooms, allowing visitors to closely experience the elegance of Japanese wooden architecture. Additionally, the museum treasures the painting "Scenic View of Jashan" by the artist Bo Zhou from the Japanese colonial period, symbolizing "blessings arriving at the door" with the Eight Immortals, depicting the glorious scenes of Jashan Hotel hosting guests and grand banquets.
Beitou Museum hosts the annual Jiashan Tea Party.
Taipei New Four Countries Eighty-Eight Shrines Stone Buddhas
