The original School Principal Factory, a local culture museum in Fenglin Township, was in the home of Fenglin Middle School's first principal, Chang Chi-lang. The five retired school principals in the photo-from left to right, they are Tai Kuo-chen, Tai Kuo-chien, Liao Kao-jen, Chen Jen-tsung, and Lai Tung-ming-are all Fenglin Middle School alumni. (Jimmy Lin)

A signup sheet is posted near the entrance to the "School Principal Factory," its every timeslot, excepting those for Lunar New Year's Eve, claimed by a volunteer.

"We want to help our local culture museum fulfill its purpose; we want to ensure that every visitor to Fenglin understands the history and significance of the School Principal Factory," says 73-year-old Liao Kao-jen, himself a retired school principal. "We therefore do our best to make sure we have volunteers here year round." Liao jokes that where other areas are known for their pineapples, wax apples, or natural scenery, Fenglin has made its name producing school principals.

When Taiwanese New Wave cinema was in full swing in the 1990s, people used to say that you couldn't throw a stone in Taipei's Hsimenting movie district without hitting a director. In Fenglin Township the joke is that the area produces one school principal per telephone pole. There's some truth to that. Since 1951, 104 Fenglin natives have gone on to become principals. In fact, it has produced more principals per capita than any other township in Taiwan, earning it the nickname, "the school principal township."

How did the "school principal township" come to be? Below, retired principals Tai Kuo-chien, Lai Tung-ming, Liao Kao-jen and Chen Jen-tsung relate how they came to be school principals.