Taipei Zhongshan Hall Introduction
The Taipei Zhongshan Hall, formerly known as the Taipei Club Hall, was built in 1936 and designed by Kaori Ide, the head of the Construction Section of the Governor-General's Office during the Japanese colonial period. The overall design is grand and elegant, making it one of the few large public buildings in Taiwan at that time. After the victory in the War of Resistance in 1945 and the retrocession of Taiwan, it was renamed "Zhongshan Hall." In 1949, when the government relocated to Taiwan, Zhongshan Hall served as the venue for the National Assembly and the Legislative Yuan. In 1969, it was returned to the Taipei City Government and came under the jurisdiction of the Civil Affairs Bureau. In 1992, it was designated as a second-class national historic site by the Ministry of the Interior; in 1995, it was classified as a municipal historic site under the jurisdiction of the Taipei City Government following an amendment to the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act. In 1999, Zhongshan Hall was transferred to the Cultural Affairs Bureau and has since become one of the city's major centers for performing arts, hosting events such as the Taipei Traditional Arts Festival, Children's Arts Festival, and Taipei Film Festival every year. In 2011, the internal space of Zhongshan Hall was renovated, and exhibition rooms, Taipei Academy, and an arts salon were added. It fully opened to the public, transforming into a multifunctional venue for education, arts, and recreation. In 2019, it was upgraded to a national historic site by the Ministry of Culture.
