Li Small Story Forest Introduction
Li Small Story Forest Facebook Page URL Please link Read Little Tea House Facebook Page URL Please link Zhongli Elementary School Japanese Dormitory is located next to Zhongli Elementary School and was built in 1917. It was formerly the dormitory for staff of Zhongli Public School and continued to be used as dormitory for Zhongli Elementary School staff after the government relocated to Taiwan. In 2015, it was announced to be registered as a historical building. The Japanese dormitory of Zhongli Elementary School consists of three buildings, including one twin-style Japanese dormitory, one single-story Japanese dormitory, and one contiguous brick building. The Japanese dormitory of Zhongli Elementary School bears witness to the enlightenment of modern education in the Zhongli area and has research value regarding architectural techniques from the Japanese colonial period. The park is conveniently located in the city center of Zhongli, witnessing the development context of the Zhongli old street area from the Japanese occupation to the present, rich in historical significance and value. The dormitory cluster retains precious old trees in lush greenery and features a designed outdoor second-floor observation platform that offers a view of the entire park, showcasing the characteristics of Japanese black tiles and Minnan red tiles. The Japanese dormitory of Zhongli Elementary School was announced to be registered as a historical building in 2015. In 2016, research, restoration, and reuse planning were completed, and restoration and reuse work began in July 2017, completing on schedule in August 2018. Generally speaking, the life cycle for the restoration and reuse of cultural heritage is five years, while the Japanese dormitory of Zhongli Elementary School took less than four years from property allocation to restoration completion and commissioned management. While the Cultural Bureau entrusted a private team for operation, it also collaborated with the administrative team of Zhongli Elementary School, environmental education professionals, and a professional curating team to launch the new education exhibition of Zhongli Elementary School and the restoration feature exhibition of the Japanese dormitory at the opening, integrating local curriculum and environmental education learning plans, and implementing experiences in parent-child reading, storytelling, listening to stories, and food education. The Japanese dormitory of Zhongli Elementary School was named "Li Small Story Forest" through a citizen vote and is positioned as a parent-child education space. It is currently operated by the Taoyuan City True, Good, and Beautiful Social Welfare Foundation, providing functions such as reading, storytelling, lectures, and food education space, becoming a comfortable and safe environment for parent-child interaction and diverse learning, collecting memories of everyday life, old photos, oral histories, and interesting life stories in Zhongli. (Image and text source: Cultural Bureau of the government)
