Budai 543 Story House Introduction
At the entrance of the Budai 543 Story Museum, there is an installation art piece called "Budai Mouth," which is the old name of Budai. The museum used to be the "Bureau of Customs and Excise Kaohsiung Branch Budai Detention Center," commonly referred to by locals as "Customs." The museum showcases the historical changes and cultural characteristics of Budai through art exhibitions, offering visitors an innovative and interesting way to understand the past of Budai. The first floor of the museum displays paintings that represent 400 years of Budai's historical changes, with each painting symbolizing a colonial period, including the prehistoric period of Taiwan, the Dutch and Zheng period, the Qing dynasty, the Japanese occupation period, and the period after Taiwan's restoration. In the early post-restoration period, Budai prospered due to maritime trade with China, earning the nickname "Budai Little Shanghai." The museum's children's reading room is modeled after the prosperous shiphouses of that time, with tatami flooring for children to sit and read picture books. The exterior is decorated with famous shops from that era like Yongle Tea House and Night Fragrance, as well as materials such as rice and sugar that had the highest export volumes, highlighting the former glory of Budai. The second floor features old photographs and installation art depicting the lives of Budai residents. One impressive piece is a "three-dimensional painting" that appears on camera as a flat oil painting, but is actually a large installation where the artist has painted three-dimensional objects like tables and chairs in oil painting-like colors, creating an immersive experience for visitors, making them feel like the protagonists of the painting. The next time you visit Budai, in addition to enjoying delicious seafood at the fish market and admiring the High Heel Church, don't forget to stop by the Budai 543 Story Museum to learn about the details of Budai's past through art experiences.
