Spanish, Dutch, Japanese, Chinese, … Taiwan is known for the numerous country that either tread its ground and even battled it. France is one of them. Today, there still is a place to witness the vestiges of this historical conflict: Keelung French cemetery. The war behind Keelung French cemetery The corpses buried in the cemetery belong to the French soldiers … Read More
Formerly Taiwan’s public places, schools, parks, and government offices featured approximately 45,000 statues of the former president of the Republic of China (ROC), Chiang Kai-shek.[1] Although the removal of Chiang’s statues and symbols of oppression began in the late 1980s and 1990s, thousands of statues still stood in public spaces well into the 21st century. Since the start of Taiwan’s … Read More
Culture of Taiwan’s Traditional Markets | Characteristics of Taiwan’s Traditional Markets | Disappearing Traditional Markets | History of Taiwan’s Traditional Markets Compared its heydays, Huilong Market is finding it harder to attract passerby and a steady stream of patrons. The vendors instead rely on their regulars to sustain them. During Keelung For A Walk’s interview with Zhou, a butcher at … Read More
The city of the thousand bomb shelters Let me start with a disclaimer: there might not be exactly one thousand bomb shelters in Keelung; there might be less… there might also be more! If you ask a local, she/he will tell you there are 500 bomb shelters in the city; if you go to the local government website, it might … Read More
The Most Fortified City and Its Hidden Forts Keelung is the most fortified part of Taiwan.[1] The landscape is a strategic masterpiece evidenced by its history of defensive positions in each era of occupation. For example, the Japanese occupation beginning in 1895 spawned nearly 700 bomb shelters resulting in Keelung’s claim to the highest density of hiding spots in all … Read More
The Most Fortified City Keelung is the most fortified part of Taiwan.[1] The landscape is a strategic masterpiece evidenced by its history of defensive positions in each era of occupation. For example, the Japanese occupation beginning in 1895 spawned nearly 700 bomb shelters resulting in Keelung’s claim to the highest density of hiding spots in all of Taiwan. [2] Hidden … Read More
Lighthouses exist in a liminal zone on the border between the elements, between the known world of houses, streets and hills and the dark, unknowable depths of the ocean. One one hand, they are expressions of man’s noblest ideals: structures whose sole purposes are to save lives, to reassure the lost, and to let societies prosper. On the other, they … Read More
4 Historical Lighthouses in Keelung Lighthouses have long had a unique hold on the human imagination. They are neither of the sea nor of the land. They exist in a liminal zone on the border between the elements, between the known world of houses, streets and hills and the dark, unknowable depths of the ocean. On the one hand, they … Read More
What do fallen empires leave behind? The Keelung remains from previous empires that can be found around town are astonishing. In a scene of the movie “The Life of Brian”, a zealot asked an assembled group of other zealots: “What have the Romans given us?” The round answers in turn: “The aqueduct?” “And the sanitation.” Et cetera. Finally, the zealot … Read More
Have you ever wondered what happened to the Shinto shrines built by the Japanese colonial regime in Taiwan after World War II? Why were there Shinto shrines in Taiwan? There existed a de facto state religion in the Japanese Empire, the so-called State Shinto 国家 神道 (kokka shintou). In Japanese colonies, as well as areas occupied by Japan during the … Read More