Chiayi: Yushan Villages, The Forestry Complex, and The Old Produce Markets (嘉義阿里山林業村)

(Last update Apr 2023) One of the modern icons of Chiayi City is the Song of the Forest; a large domed structure that you can walk through. Designed by Wen Zhi-Wang and opened in 2012 it's built out of old railway tracks and local flora such as the rotang palm. According to information on the Chiayi website it represents both the railway and the sacred Alishan trees. It’s supposed to be spearheading the regeneration of this post-industrial section of the city.

Until about a decade ago the area where the Song of the Forest stands and the large fenced off green space next door were railway sidings. These are long gone but the lumber workshops and the communities that built up around them are still there. This post is a quick look around what remains of this industry and the workers’ villages.

Yushan Villages One and Two

What I have been to figure out from Chinese language sources is that these settlements belong to the Forestry Bureau. In the heyday of the lumber industry the department employed about 3 to 4000 people. A lot of processing and logistics took place around the railways in this part of Chiayi. The industry grew especially quickly during the Japanese era and most of the buildings in the area date from that time. They were built in an Osakan style as a few of the top officials hailed from that part of Japan. There were workshops and warehouses and two villages, both named after Taiwan’s highest peak. Yushan Village One is adjacent to the park while Yushan Two is a collection of pretty but collapsing wooden homes behind the a museum. Over time buildings in the villages were added and altered and now there’re a mix of older wooden houses and newer metal and cement buildings.

Typical of the more recent houses in Yushan 1

Today it seems the villages are in a similar situation to military dependents’ villages. There have been a few fires and demolitions and the area has many empty plots. Save for a few older residents most houses are empty. News reports suggest people have been allowed to continue living here but the land has been rezoned and there are compensation disputes. One village section directly abuts the Song of the Forest Park but is hidden behind a high fence. In heavy rains water flows off the park and floods the residents’ houses. If these residents are indeed former employees of the Forestry Bureau then it seems unfair that their homes are hidden like an embarrassment and flooded by the park that’s supposed to celebrate their history. (As of 2023 the majority of homes in Yushan One have been cleared)

The village is not accessible from the park. There is a gap in the fence but the residents complained stray dogs used it and they blocked it off. You can reach it by walking down the lanes coming off the museum road. Of particular interest is the warehouse like structure directly next to the park. It has the cypress cross-beam roof typical of most early Japanese era warehouses. At some point it was subdivided into small homes.

It’s quite open to the north, and was next to a railway siding, so I think it was open on this side to allow unloading from trains. Apart from a locked room next to the entrance it is unused and uninhabited.

Certain parts of the villages are covered by a historic listing, but it doesn’t extend to the whole area. The warehouse didn’t have a number so I’m unsure if it is included. The warehouse still exists as of 2023 but it’s likely in very poor condition now.

The warehouse as seen from the Song of the Forest

Chiayi Musuem

Interesting map of Taiwan’s large earthquakes. 1908-9 were particularly shaky

Further down the road is the Chiayi Museum. It’s got a fairly interesting display about Taiwanese earthquake history, and some fossils. It’s famous for Koji pottery if ceramics are your thing but I don’t really have much interest in that. Next to the museum is an old concrete building called the Chiayi Motive Power Room Wood Sculpture Museum, which is a mouthful. It was the engine room for the nearby lumber works. I was intrigued but sadly it's always been closed when I've visited.

The Forestry Bureau Warehouses

This area is currently undergoing restoration (and as of 2023 seems to be finished though I haven’t visited yet). The workers allowed me to come past the gate and snap a couple of pictures but not go any further. The complex is a series of warehouses and factory buildings related to the lumber industry. The earliest date from 1913. It doesn’t look far off completion so I hope to have a proper look around during my next visit.

Yushan Village 2 is next to the museum and the Bureau warehouses. Most of the old wooden houses here are in a bad state though a couple are still inhabited. This village is more cohesive and compact than Yushan 1. I could see this area being saved while I think Yushan 1 has lost most of its assets now. As of 2023 this area is more fenced in and a few houses have gone.

Alishan Depot

Just across the road from the museum is the depot and repair facilities for the Alishan narrow gauge railway trains. It's a large park with a lot of old locomotives and carriages. The engine shed is still used and I like that you can walk around the site and watch repairs taking place with no real barriers. The Alishan Railway is a narrow gauge track that winds up to the high mountain logging areas on Mt Ali. While some sections are open parts of the main track were damaged in typhoon landslides and there have been other problems with accidents and derailments. On Mt Ali itself a few branch lines are still operational. The cypress wood Beimen Station and Hinoki Village are nearby. The village is a bit of a bus tour trap, though it is attractive.

Old Markets and Water Towers

On the opposite side of the museum a few large market compounds still exist. They’ve not been used since at least 2014. I took a look around what seemed to be the produce one. There wasn't much to see and at one point I either set off an alarm or a cicada and so jumped out again.

For some reason it’s used to store piles of logs. A little connection with the lumber industry still.

In 2023 this place was still unused. Next door a pair of old grain silos loomed over the mainline railway until about 2021. There weren't many of these left in the country, a famous and larger example is located in Yuanlin. Despite a fair few search combinations I can't find anything much about these two. Most of these towers were built to help with grain surplus in the 1960’s and 70’s.

With Song of the Forest and a new mall in the background

I hope one day I'll actually be able to visit the Forestry Complex. When that happens I'll update this. For now, some of these sites are worth a visit and some are just little curiosities. All can be found 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! For some Taiwan related art have a look here