Yixian Park Introduction
Yixian Park is located near Taipei Main Station and is also known as the Sun Yat-sen Historical Site Memorial Hall. The park is a small area dedicated to commemorating Sun Yat-sen. The Republic of China chose this site as one of the parks to honor the "Father of the Nation," mainly because it was the location where Sun Yat-sen stayed in a teahouse during his visit to Taiwan in 1913. This teahouse was also the venue for political discussions between Taiwan Governor-General Sōma Matsuharu and Sun Yat-sen at that time. The current address is No. 46, Section 1, Zhongshan North Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, bordered to the north by Civic Boulevard Section 1, to the east by Zhongshan North Road Section 1, and to the west by Taipei Main Station. The area of Yixian Park is about 3,025 square meters, and the main building in the park is the "Mei House," which is approximately 50 ping in size. The Mei House, named for the plum trees planted in the garden, was built in 1900 and was originally operated by the Japanese businessman Yamato Munekiyo as a teahouse. The Mei House was a prominent high-end teahouse in Taipei during the Japanese colonial period, located in Beimen Town, frequented by the Governor-General of Taiwan, business tycoons, and social elites, where geishas could be summoned to entertain guests. The teahouse features a rectangular traditional Japanese architectural style with an old-fashioned dark-colored tile roof. It is said that the teahouse once attracted visitors by advertising performances by the Geisha of the Takasago clan. The Mei House not only hosted notable political figures such as Sun Yat-sen and Hu Hanmin in the early 20th century but was also featured in the 1907 film "Taiwan Real-Life Introduction," directed by the renowned filmmaker Takamatsu Toyojiro, highlighting performances by Japanese geishas of the Takasago clan as one of the twenty sights of Taiwan.
