It isn’t just night markets that are abundant in Taiwan. There are dozens of creative parks and museums to visit around Taipei, Kaohsiung, Hualien, Tainan, and Taichung. In Taipei City there are two—Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, and Huashan 1914 Creative Park.
When I was in Dulan, Taitung County, my roommate Pascale promised she’d meet up with me when I returned to Taipei. The first thing on our agenda: Huashan 1914 Creative Park.
If you easily get museum-ed out like me (I can only tolerate seeing one museum a week before all the statues start to look alike), a creative park is a more casual way of appreciating art. You’re not confined indoors with snobbish critiques. You don’t have to pretend you master the history behind the popular artworks. Clueless, wide-eyed tourists are welcome to learn.
Most of all, you can selfie all you want because… Let’s be honest, even the most high-browed artist and culture vultures want to Instagram something from the venue.
Located in Zhongzheng District in Taipei, Huashan 1914 Creative Park used to be a winery back in—you guessed it—1914. After decades of abandonment, relocation, restructure, and further abandonment, it was transformed into the “Huashan Arts and Culture District” in 1999. In 2007, “Huashan 1914 Creative Park” began operation.
The park has plenty of shops, cafés, bars, a cinema, and exhibit spaces to explore. Pascale, an exchange student from the UK, told me that each visit is never the same because the exhibits are always changing. Some days the park is empty because of the lack of exhibits, but when there’s a pop-up event, festival, or show, expect a crowd.
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We spent a few hours admiring the buildings, walking around the greenery, peeking into the exhibits, looking for our favorite Asian cartoon characters in the pop-up shops, and using random pink and green walls as our Instagram backdrop. Then we were off to the train station and headed to the night markets for our next agenda: food trip!
Huashan 1914 Creative Park is located at No. 1, Sec. 1, Bade Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan. Open 24/7. Free entrance.