Xinbeitou Train Station Finally Comes Home

On April 29, 2013, the Changhua County Cultural Affairs Bureau convened a “tangible heritage evaluation committee,” which ultimately announced that it would not be permanantly listing the former Xin­bei­tou train station, which had been sold at auction, as a historic site.

Just a few days earlier, the station’s buyer had announced that it would donate the building to the Tai­pei City Department of Cultural Affairs. After Bei­tou residents had spent almost a decade campaigning to get the station back, just weeks after its 96th birthday the station received a late birthday present.

Xinbeitou has made a name for itself thanks to its green-sulfur hot springs, but its actual name comes from the Xinbeitou train station. This photo shows the area’s well-known thermal valley scenery.

On its opening in 1901, the Tam­sui railway line became the first branch line in Taiwan. Departing from Taipei Station, it headed north, crossing the Kee­lung River, passing through the ­Guandu Plain and along the eastern bank of the Dan­shui River until it reached its destination, Tam­sui.

Bei­tou Station was an important hub along the Tam­sui Line. In 1916, a 1.2-kilometer branch line to Xin­bei­tou was added, with the original station situated catty-corner from what is now Bei­tou Park.

Nestled amongst the foothills of Mt. Da­tun, Xin­bei­tou Station was considered the most spectacular station along the line.

In 1937, as part of civil engineering efforts along Taipei’s railways, Xin­bei­tou Station was expanded by some 30%. Where the station originally had three dormer windows, it now had four, and the new station was constructed primarily out of Taiwanese cypress. From then through to its disassembly and removal in 1989, the station remained largely in that same state.

Sitting at the end of the Xin­bei­tou branch line, the station building was constructed perpendicular to the tracks and platforms, creating an almost garden-like setting that spectacularly showcased the area’s natural beauty.

Even more impressive is that the community around the station, renowned for its hot springs, actually took its name from the station!

But eventually the old, clunky trains were replaced as local transportation by subways. In 1988 Tai­pei City began construction of the Tam­sui MRT Line, and on July 16 of that same year, the last train pulled out of Xin­bei­tou Station.

At the time, residents of Bei­tou were so excited by the arrival of the MRT system that no-one particularly cared about the old train station, and in October 1989 the Tai­pei City Government sold the station building to Taiwan Folk Village in Chang­hua County for a token NT$1 just to get it off their hands.

When Xinbeitou Station was sold to Taiwan Folk Village in Changhua, it went for a token price of NT$1. At the time of the sale, it was the last ­remaining station on the old Tamsui railway line. The photo below shows the station after its expansion in 1937.

Established in 1987 in Chang­hua’s Hua­tan Township, Taiwan Folk Village was once a well-known theme park, bringing together history, culture, education, and entertainment.

Shi Jin­shan, the park’s founder, who passed away in 2007, had remarked that in 1989 he’d been the only person who considered Xin­bei­tou Station valuable, and that he had contacted the Tai­pei City Government expressing his willingness to preserve it. Once arrangements were made, he sent people north to take the station apart and transport it down to Taiwan Folk Village, where it was rebuilt and continued its life as the last remnant of the Tam­sui railway line.

Shi was essentially a collector of large antiques, searching Taiwan for treasures. Over the years, Taiwan Folk Village became home not only to the Xin­bei­tou station building, but also the Shi Family Compound from Lu­kang, Dian’an Temple from Bei­dou, the Lin Family Compound from Ma­dou, and some 10 other such buildings.

Following Shi’s passing, the management of Taiwan Folk Village was somewhat less than ideal, and out of concern for the historic buildings it hosts, the Chang­hua County Cultural Affairs Bureau provisionally listed seven of them—namely the Liao Family Clinic from ­Chiayi, the Lin Family Compound, the Shi Family Compound, Dian’an Temple, old structures from Dou­liu and ­Chiayi, and Xin­bei­tou Station—as historic sites that must be properly protected.

Additionally, due to the debt it had run up, Taiwan Folk Village was forced to auction off all of its buildings. In May 2012, asset management firm Sun­rong Company acquired the title to Xin­bei­tou Station.

As Taiwan Folk Village’s assets were being sold off, Lin Guan­hong, head of the Bei­tou Association’s Community Affairs Committee, visited the site to check on the condition of the station. He described the scene at the park as being “too terrible to look at,” “a complete disaster,” and “like some ruin left over from a war.”

However, compared to many of the other buildings, Lin said that the station building was still “somewhat complete,” despite it missing windows, doors, and seating, and some of its crossbeams having started to crumble. Hearing this, many Bei­tou residents were struck with guilt over their lack of action to preserve the building before it was torn down and relocated.

When Xinbeitou Station was sold to Taiwan Folk Village in Changhua, it went for a token price of NT$1. At the time of the sale, it was the last ­remaining station on the old Tamsui railway line. The photo below shows the station after its expansion in 1937.

Reflecting on Bei­tou people’s apathy toward the station at the time, Lin has but one word for it: “heartless.”

But as the idea of community building began to grow in Taiwan in the 1990s, people started focusing more on local cultural assets. Since 2003, repeated calls have come not only from ordinary residents, but also from people in politics, social campaigners and the cultural community for the Xin­bei­tou station building to be returned. Local musicians including Chen Ming-chang, composer for Hou ­Hsiao-­hsien’s 1986 film Dust in the Wind, even put together an album entitled Our Beloved Station, giving voice to the feelings of the sons and daughters of Bei­tou toward the station and their wishes that it return home.

Sebastian Liao, then director of the Tai­pei City Department of Cultural Affairs, is amongst those sons of Bei­tou, and he and his successors have continued to be strong supporters of the efforts to bring the station back, including raising funds and facilitating negotiations between community representatives and the station’s titleholder.

Fate wasn’t finished with the beloved old building yet, though. In 2011, the Chang­hua County Government extended its provisional historic site designation on the Xin­bei­tou station building and six others originally under the care of Taiwan Folk Village, with effect until May 7, 2013. This meant that should the Chang­hua Cultural Affairs Bureau decide by that date that the station building was to be permanently listed, it would have to remain in Chang­hua, never again able to return to its home in Xin­bei­tou.

And with the station building having been auctioned off in 2012 and thus in private hands, even if it wasn’t made a permanent historic site, if the people of Bei­tou wanted it back they’d have to pay, and probably over NT$100 million.

Given the situation, Bei­tou residents­ had already laid out a plan for the worst-case scenario, deciding to build a replica of the station in the event that they couldn’t get it back.

In late April, with the deadline drawing near, things took a dramatic turn. First Sun­rong Company, which had previously been unwilling to sell the building, wrote to the Tai­pei City Department of Cultural Affairs formally announcing their willingness to donate the building “without compensation.” This reignited hope in the hearts of the people of Bei­tou that the station would return.

Then, on April 29, the Chang­hua County Cultural Affairs Bureau convened a “tangible heritage evaluation committee,” ultimately announcing that while three of Taiwan Folk Village’s former buildings would be permanently listed as historic buildings, in the interests of cultural heritage preservation, they would request that the Tai­pei City Government take back Xin­bei­tou Station now that its temporary protection was to expire.

Chang­hua County chief executive Cho Po-yuan was pleased with the decision, stating that he believed such preservation of history, from the station’s escaping destruction in Tai­pei through its preservation in Chang­hua to its return home, was in line with the original intentions of Taiwan Folk Village founder Shi Jin­shan.

The people of Bei­tou were overjoyed by the decision as well. Tai­pei’s Department of Cultural Affairs had long since arranged for a plot next to the park by Xin­bei­tou MRT Station to be kept vacant for the eventual return of the old station building, and the community was fully behind the station’s being returned to its old location and restored to its original condition.

Lin Guan­hong of the Beitou Association has remarked that while getting the station back is absolutely a happy ending to the story, the process of actually moving the building should best be completed before Taiwan enters typhoon season, as the old wooden structure may not be able to withstand the ensuing storms.

The more than NT$600,000 collected through fundraising efforts aimed at buying the station back, says Lin, will be used to pay for the transportation and restoration of the station building. Meanwhile, the Tai­pei City Government has begun work on listing the building as a historic site, along with setting aside money in the 2014 budget for renovations, to join with the people of Bei­tou in celebrating the return of this relic.

After 24 years away, Xin­bei­tou Station is finally to be welcomed home again. And with the station set to celebrate its centennial on April 1, 2016, this nonagenarian son is sure to have quite the spectacular party.