Xingfu Amusement Park, then and now
As I was filming a scene for the movie in the old abandoned police station just off Bitan Road a few weeks ago, I noticed among the old mysteriously abandoned photo albums and other paperwork stacks of what looked like money on the sagging shelves inside. It turned out to be stacks of old brochures for the old Xingfu Amusement Park that was located on top of the hill. Indeed, the complex had replaced the top of the hill, carving it completely into terraces to support the rides, the monorail and the giant ferris wheel that was visible from anywhere in Taipei.
The park’s heyday was back in the 80’s as far as I can tell. I remember seeing the ferris wheel on my first trip to Bitan, back when the suspension bridge was still the two-lane version. But the place was shut down in the 90’s. Sandman tells me that he and Thumper witnessed the workers breaking it down, and one crane operator was killed when the ferris wheel fell on him. Since then, the place has acquired a reputation as being haunted (????). Young men apparently like to take their easily-scared girlfriends to the old place and watch them get all weak in the knees, if you know what I mean.
There’s not much left of the place to haunt these days, though. They tore down the pavilions about a year ago, and the only building left is the one on which the ferris wheel stood, plus a monorail tunnel just above it. I have no recollection of what the place was like at the time, so the brochures, seemingly brand-new and heavily adorned in Disneyesque characters, were a real find. I decided to take my camera up there along with a brochure and see if I could figure out just where the brochure pictures were taken and then take present-day versions, if possible.
The gate looks pretty much like it did in the brochure, though a tree has grown in front of the park sign, which is pretty dilapidated. Trees have grown up in front of the temple in the background as well.
The brochure included a bird’s-eye view of the park, obviously taken from the ferris wheel. I tried to replicate it by climbing up the mountain beyond the old site. From this photo it was a lot easier to see where things were, originally.
This was the building on which the ferris wheel was based. The outer rooms are gone, and the interior is full of graffiti. Trash is piled in front, including the remains of a few old go-karts and whirling teacups from the old rides.
The go-kart track is still traceable. From the picture, I needed to find a section of the track where it looped around on itself and was surrounded on both sides by tires. There was only one such section, so it wasn’t hard too hard to find.
The terminal of the go-kart track was just underneath the monorail, and I located it using the cupid statue I could just make out in the brochure. The cupid statue, though now legless and bent, still presides over a mosquito-ridden pool.
The rocket and helicopter rides are long gone, but I was able to triangulate where the brochure picture was taken, and superimpose it on the present-day site. Note the spaceships read “Apllo”.
The merry-go-round is also gone, but I managed to pull parts of the old horses from the thick grass. An older man in a farmer’s hat was cutting the grass in the area as I poked around, and when I showed him the brochure he was delighted. I gave it to him, as I’d run out of pictures to find, and in any case there were thousands more lying in the old police station.
While I find it fascinating to see the history of the park, I’m glad it’s not here today. The jungle has pretty much reclaimed the mountaintop, and it’s much more pleasant now. I’m also happy that we don’t have to deal with throngs of customers streaming through Bitan every weekend; I’m positive that the place was intolerably noisy as well. I much prefer the peace and quiet the abandonment has left us.
Very cool little investigation. Don’t you think that carousel horse head would look good mounted on a place an then on the wall of your apartment, like a hunting trophy?
Comment by Anonymous — December 1, 2006 @ 2:39 am
I would but I’m afraid I’d piss myself while coming across it unexpectedly at night.
Comment by TC — December 1, 2006 @ 2:40 am
hey tc could i (somehow) get a copy of one of those brochures… that place fascinates me and i have always wonderef how it looked
Comment by momoformosa — December 8, 2006 @ 8:24 am
There are hundreds of them still in that old police station in Bitan. Just go to the second floor to the innermost room and look on the shelves.
Comment by TC — December 8, 2006 @ 8:25 am
hello!TC I live in Bitan for 23 years.But i never been there before,people say there has ghost???really a scary place???Ha!Ha! until I see your photo,I realize what the place look like.Thank you 🙂 By the way your photo is amazing!!
Comment by kid — December 11, 2006 @ 4:12 am