4/13/2012

Jinguashi, Taiwan


POW Camp Memorial, originally uploaded by Patrick Cowsill.
I wrote this story about Jinguashi (金瓜石) for Culture Taiwan. My family went there a couple of weeks ago. Here's the link: http://goo.gl/9N78u

3 comments:

Kaminoge said...

That's a very good article, though I think Jiufen lost most of its charm years ago after Taiwan switched to the five-day work week, bringing in the crowds...and the souvenir vendors.

That was a bizarre explanation given by the volunteer regarding the Crown Prince's Chalet. The real reason Hirohito didn't show up was probably much more mundane, like being on a tight schedule. I suspect the mining company built the chalet hoping the crown prince would come, without actually having any firm commitments that he would actually show.

I've heard other strange claims in Taiwan. An article in Compass Magazine, an English-language mag covering Taichung, once claimed that the Emperor Meiji (Mutsuhito) raved about the hot spring waters of Guguan. There is no record, however, of Mutsuhito ever visiting Taiwan. Maybe the stuff was bottled and shipped to him!

EyeDoc said...

Indeed, Meiji never visited Taiwan. Those enterprising Gu-Guan hot spring operators had created the legend.

Hirohito passed through Keelung three times, the first time on 4/16 (1923) when he first arrived, the second time on 4/23 sailing from Makong. On both days, he was rushed to Taipei for other celebratory events. He left for Japan on 4/27 again from Keelung. The 12-day itinerary was pretty tight, there was no time to make a side-trip to Kinkaseki.

Anonymous said...

Human being's imagination is limited. All memorials look alike after Lin designed the Vietnam memorial in Washington D.C.; engraved names on the black marvel wall. This one is a good example.
ChoSan

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