Meiting

Beitou Meiting was built around the late 1930s. It is a Japanese-Western style villa that bears witness to the war years and was built to suit Beitou's local conditions. It stands by Beitou Park; since the Japanese era its owners have included the Office of the Governor-General, the Army Minister and Taipei Prefecture. After the Second World War in 1945 it was used mainly as a private house, and in 2006 it was registered as a Taipei historic building for its architecture. It is built into the slope beside Beitou Stream, joining the hill views on its south side with the stream. The upper floor has a Japanese timber frame and the lower level is a reinforced concrete basement used as an air-raid shelter, which made it unusual among Japanese-style houses of the time and gives it historic value. The gatepost carries a 'Meiting' nameplate written by the calligrapher Yu Youren. In the garden is a camphor tree protected under Taipei's tree protection regulations (No. 1679), and the boundary walls are built of Qili'an stone, which is no longer quarried. The interior was carefully planned. Using Beitou's geothermal resources, it once had a hot spring bathroom. A loft was built for looking out and for storage; it also regulates indoor temperature and keeps out damp, forms the ceiling of the floor below and holds the main structure of the building. The entrance has glazed mosaic tiles and door posts with a washed-stone finish, and the octagonal windows in the walls are a pseudo-Western decoration that became popular in the Japanese era. In 2021 the city's cultural affairs department entrusted its operation and upkeep to 台北市文化基金會. To promote the reuse of cultural heritage and the local area, it will carry on Beitou's distinctive cultural character through art exhibitions and educational activities, creating a space that combines history and culture with the arts.

Translated and shortened by DealTaipei from Taiwan's national tourism database. Sources are on the terms page.