Taiwan Storyland is fueled by nostalgia, but its view of history isn’t completely rose tinted. A large wooden sign near the classroom admonishes students to speak Mandarin instead of Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) or Hakka (說國語不要說方言), a government policy at the time. Other KMT propaganda and slogans are pasted or painted onto walls, fences and even barrels in front of the puppet theater.
“When younger people see those signs, I think their reaction is ‘wow, were things really that over the top?’” says Wu. “They’ve studied Taiwanese history in their classes, but seeing those signs up close really gives them a sense of what our lives were like.”
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