Life in the Mountains--The American Military Housing of Yangmingshan's Shantzuhou

The name Shantzuhou means "behind the mountain," so named because in days past it was necessary to pass beyond Mt. Talunwei on foot to reach this place from Shihlin. With the founding of Chinese Culture University in the 1960s and the widening of Yangteh Avenue, Shantzuhou, with its relatively even terrain, became the most vibrant town in Yangmingshan, with carloads of people coming and going on weekends and holidays. But unknown to many is that the formation of the Shantzuhou community is closely linked to the expansive American military housing there.

Western-style furnishings and decor can be seen here and there in this community.

Relics of the past

In 1949, at the height of the Chinese Civil War, the Nationalist government retreated under gunfire across the sea to Taiwan, its political power in jeopardy. After the Korean War broke out on June 25, 1950, the United States, which had previously not intervened in the Chinese Civil War, began stationing large numbers of troops in Taiwan to prevent the expansion of communism in Asia, also providing economic aid to Taiwan. Due to a fortuitous turn of events at this critical juncture, the Nationalist government obtained US support and thrived in Taiwan.

To take care of the American officers stationed in Taiwan, the US, under the auspices of the Nationalist government, built a residential area for them. In 1951, architect Sen Chiu-hai, along with members of a planning commission from the US Army Advisory Group and personnel from Taiwan's government, circled the skies in a helicopter, armed with a map of Taipei, looking for a fitting place to build the military residences. They finally settled on Shantzuhou and Tienmu as suitable building sites. The government then ordered the Bank of Taiwan to carry out land acquisition and construction.

At that time Shantzuhou was still farmland. It was favored by the US Army for its secluded landscape and isolated location. A total of 217 houses were built, making it not only the largest military residential zone in Taiwan, but the one whose inhabitants had the highest average military rank. Even three decades after the departure of the US Army, this 13.88-hectare plot of land with more than 150 old buildings is the most intact group of American military housing currently remaining in Taiwan.

The Bank of Taiwan, which owns the property, rents some of the buildings out to foreigners. Under their attentive care, these old houses radiate a tranquil, bucolic charm.

Western architecture

To build the residences, the Americans provided blueprints for the houses and layout plans for the community, which were then constructed by the Taiwanese. Because the Taiwanese didn't have the authority to make changes to the plans, the buildings of the residential zone looked like American houses of the 1950s. It was as if an entire American town had been transplanted to Yangmingshan. Some architectural scholars therefore refer to the Shantzuhou American military housing as a settlement of "colonial" buildings.

Different from the usual cramped apartments in Taiwan, this group of military residences emulated the style of small-town houses. Most of them were bungalows, each one at least 264 square meters in area, and spacious lawns separated each house by ten to 15 meters, giving the residences ideal natural light, ventilation and privacy.

Most of the houses in the community were not separated by fences, and thus the lawns became recreation areas for residents and their children. This public space was the ideal portrait of a healthy, leisurely American lifestyle.

A prominent feature of the military housing was that each house had a chimney on the roof and a fireplace inside. Taiwan being subtropical, there's no need for chimneys or fireplaces, but to the Americans these accoutrements reminded them of home despite lacking practical use.

During the US military presence, a sentry was posted at each entrance to the community to ensure the safety and privacy of the residents and to prevent disputes with locals. A garrison of American MPs barred entry to those not in the US military. The residents enjoyed extraterritorial privileges, as if the zone were a country inside a country.

Yet within the heavily guarded, sequestered Shantzuhou American military housing, there occurred an incident that shook Taiwan's society. In 1957, Liu Tzu-jan, an employee at the Sun Yat-sen Institute on Policy Research and Development, was fatally shot in front of the residence of US Army sergeant Robert Reynolds. Reynolds had for a long time hired Liu to smuggle controlled products like imported tobacco and liquor out of the Army Co-op to sell on the market, pocketing the profit; and later, due to a monetary dispute between the two of them, Reynolds shot Liu to death. But Reynolds testified to a US military court that he didn't know Liu, and only fired in self-defense because Liu was in the military housing area peeping at Reynolds' wife while she was bathing.

The American military tribunal hearing this case did not investigate it in depth, ruling that Reynolds was not guilty due to insufficient evidence, whereupon he was released and immediately repatriated. Massive media coverage triggered large-scale anti-American riots in Taiwan. This became known as the Liu Tzu-jan Incident.

Despite the conflict and division, some people in the neighboring areas of Shantzuhou began to work as domestic help at the American community for extra income, and aspects of American life such as Western suits, cola, sandwiches and basketball gradually filtered into the nearby communities, transforming Shantzuhou from a plain, traditional farming village into a Westernized commercial district. Then the founding of Chinese Culture University in 1962 steadily increased the population of the area.

The US Army left in 1978 when diplomatic ties between the US and Taiwan were broken. The Bank of Taiwan, which owned the land, began renting the buildings of the once-heavily-guarded concession out to local people. The likes of statesman Lin Yang-kang and dramatist Stan Lai enjoyed life here in the mountains.

The American military left Taiwan after the US broke off diplomatic ties 1978. Some of the houses were never occupied again, falling into disrepair.

A voice of America

The US military presence in Taiwan not only brought with it military and economic support, it also introduced American culture. Perhaps the most lasting effect that the Shantzuhou military housing had on Taiwan was not in its influence on the immediate neighborhood, but in the military radio station: the Armed Forces Network Taiwan (AFNT).

The station broadcasted mainly in English and played Western music. At first its purpose was to serve the American troops stationed in Taiwan, but with the American hits they broadcasted weekly, it became the sole means through which many young Taiwanese were exposed to Western pop music during the censorship of the martial-law era.

The station was scheduled to be shut down after diplomatic relations were severed, but thanks to the demand of expatriates in Taiwan it was transformed into the familiar International Community Radio Taipei (ICRT). After the US troops departed, American culture became more popular than ever before. The 1980s were the heyday of ICRT, and the radio station on FM 100.7, with its old address in Yangmingshan at No. 8-1 Chungyung 2nd Road, Shantzuhou, represented the American dream to many youngsters.

In 2000, the ICRT headquarters moved from Yangmingshan to Sungchiang Road, and the original office was torn down and replaced by a mansion. Shantzuhou was once a place teeming with foreigners, and even now there still remain some guarded houses rented by AIT officials. As for the remainder of the military housing, the Bank of Taiwan plans to tear them down--more than 150 units in all--and auction off the land to developers with the aim of building new high-rise apartment blocks in Shantzuhou.

Slated for demolition, these aging historic buildings face an uncertain future. Will they ever be given a new lease on life as preserved historic assets?

A protected existence

Today, Shantzuhou has become Yangmingshan's most vibrant sector, and if the Bank of Taiwan's plan to auction off the 13.88 hectares is carried through, it is expected that an additional 10,000 or more residents would be introduced into this community that's already gridlocked with more than 28,000 Chinese Culture University students. This would be a significant impact to quality of life. Local residents assert that the military housing is a historical asset to all, reflecting the unique history of the Cold-War-era US military presence in Taiwan, and that the buildings themselves bear cultural significance. They should not be auctioned off to big business for profit; the entirety of the over 150 buildings and 13.88 hectares of land should be preserved to showcase the buildings' historical style and the cultural heritage of the community.

But the Taipei Department of Cultural Affairs has so far agreed to preserve only two sections--a total of 3.73 hectares, with 22 dormitories registered as historic buildings. This is only a fraction of the total area advocated by the residents.

Their future uncertain, the sprawling Shantzuhou American military housing, sitting on the periphery of the Taipei basin, bears silent witness to half a century of Taiwan's history. Today some of these houses are cared for by renters, showing gorgeous, tidy exteriors and unique, exotic charm; others have lain vacant for years, appearing untidy and dilapidated inside and out, as if in ruins. In these pleasant, quiet small-town environs, the Bank of Taiwan's stark and imposing signs are ever-present, warning people not to enter.

What's to become of Shantzuhou, if community growth and conservation are to be equally valued? At a time when old dormitories from the Japanese-ruled era are generally acknowledged to be worthy of historic preservation, can the American military housing of Yangmingshan win the same interest? These small mountainside houses are quietly waiting for us to make the final historical judgment.

The American military residences around the 1960s were spacious and supplied with imported cars rarely seen by local people in those days.

The American military left Taiwan after the US broke off diplomatic ties 1978. Some of the houses were never occupied again, falling into disrepair.