Abandoned Mansion / Production House, Xizhi （廢墟在汐止）
Main Building Exterior
(Last update 2023/2 . The entire site here has been demolished)
Just north of Xizhi there were once a pair of large buildings that at first glance looked like an office building or some industrial facility. I visited them in about 2014.
The large southern apartment
A couple of years or so after my visit I learned this place was used as a filming location for the popular drama series Meteor Garden, which was released between 2000 - 2002. Thanks to Wes, who pointed out where it appears in the series, I've been able to correlate some photos.
It was built by a famous singer and director called Liu Jiachang. He was most active during the 1970’s and 80’s and won the Golden Melody award a few times. In this article it’s described as a luxury mansion, so it seems it was intended to be his residence. I expect through his industry connections he rented it out to directors for stuff like Meteor Garden.
The building was built in the 1990's. Some of the faux-luxury furnishings seemed so cheap and tacky and I now know why. Many were movie props! It felt like a hotel in some parts with many individual rooms and suites. These could just have been for cast members or perhaps for extended family and guests. I only know that it was used for Meteor Garden, and it seems to have been abandoned just after filming ended. It would be strange to build it for just one show so it makes sense if it was intended to be Liu’s house. At the southern end is a huge two level apartment which was more complete than the others. This was the main characters' home in the series and it appears in a lot of shots.
The large southern apartment from the upper floor
The same room in the show.
I heard after we visited that a murder had taken place here however it seems this was just a ghost story. A friend's wedding photographer wouldn't enter because of this.
One of the things I like about exploring these places is trying to piece together the stories of what happened there and who was involved. It's been great to finally know some answers. The fifth and sixth levels were unfinished with some building materials still in place. There were some large rooms that were several floors tall. These rooms could have been for studios or perhaps squash courts, and the materials were possibly used for constructing sets. The site was abandoned after Liu had a dispute with the government. Liu was originally from China and had close ties with the KMT. It seems the Chen Shui-bian administration charged him with illegally profiting from KMT and state-related business. Liu left Taiwan for China around 2002 with controversy surrounding him, abandoning this site in the process. The case is complex and I’m not completely sure of the details but it was clearly settled, resulting in the demolition of the buildings.
Weirdly for such a large abandoned building this was the only piece of graffiti I saw. I suggested at the time that this place isn't that well known. Now it's well visited.
A large room with many suites coming off it, and almost the same shot in Meteor Garden. Apologies for the photo quality, it's the only one I had of this room. The second shot is from another episode looking up the stairs.
It was very interesting to explore and in 2015 many of the furnishings were still in place giving it a recently deserted feel. There was a lot weathered and broken furniture and nature was taking over in parts, but the damage was not extensive. There were even a couple of chandeliers hanging. The floor of the ballroom had been damaged by water and had a strange undulating effect. Where mirrors had fallen there were beautiful rivulet patterns on the walls behind. It's not often you find a place that so perfectly looks like humanity vanished in the late 90's and I loved wondering around. The building was huge and I've only posted a fraction of it here.
The ballroom and the same room shot from the other end.
A fallen mirror
Everyone in Meteor Garden is strongly defined by their wealth. Was this normal in Taiwan in the 90's and 2000's? Now?
The building was easy to access and no attempt had been made to guard or secure it. There were a couple of other people checking it out on the same day. The second smaller building was totally empty and not interesting.
Meteor Garden itself was a hugely popular show. The house was used by the main character who is young and very rich. He's also arrogant and seems to think he can win over the woman of his dreams with his money. They fall in love, out again, in again... It's been a bizarre feeling seeing the place on a TV show: Happiness at seeing places the I'd been in another existence, tempered with a sadness that it all went to ruin. The more clips I've watched the more the people in it feel a little real, even though it looks a little corny through modern eyes. I get a lot of people from the Philippines viewing this post (hi guys :-) I loved Cebu) so I’m guessing the show is quite popular there still.
A lot of rooms were furnished despite never seeming to appear in the drama
The windows gave this room a strange green tint
Directions:
This link will put you at a village a little to the south
Find other places on the Hidden Taiwan Map . The adventures that make up these entries are often posted as Instagram stories at tomrookart first. So give that a follow too if you like as it can sometimes be a year or more before stuff turns up here! Otherwise please take a look at the often Taiwan related art I create elsewhere on this site!