With a traditional lion dance and showings of old Taiwanese-language films, Taipei City's Peitou Hot Springs Museum (北投溫泉博物館) celebrated its 88th anniversary yesterday morning.
Addressing a group of young students and legendary Taiwanese-language movie actors and actresses, Lung Ying-tai (龍應台), director of the city's Bureau of Cultural Affairs, said that Taiwanese-language movies enriched her childhood.
"I was living in a little coastal town in Miaoli County when I was about 11 or 12. I remember I had to walk 2km to 3km to get to the nearest movie theater," she said.
"There were no streetlights at night and all we could see along the way were rice fields. Although we were poor at that time, we felt spiritually rich thanks to movies, which brought happiness and creativity to our lives."
As part of the festivities, the museum is holding an exhibition of old movie posters until Nov. 29.
The collection of 40 posters were all done by Chen Tzu-fu (
Chen, who began his professional career as a movie poster artist in 1946 at the age of 20, has created more than 5,000 movie posters over the years.
"When I first started, it took me about two days to complete a standard-sized sheet. After I got the hang of it, it took me only three hours," he said.
When the Taiwanese-language movie industry hit a crest of popularity between 1955 and 1980, Chen said he produced an average of 40 posters a month.
"I would know exactly what to put down on the canvas even though I hadn't seen the movie," he said.
Back then, most Taiwanese-language films were produced in Peitou.
"It was dubbed Taiwan's Hollywood and called the cradle of Taiwanese-language films," said Hsin Chin-chuan (辛金傳), a legendary Taiwanese-language film producer who received a lifetime achievement award at the Golden Horse Awards last year.
"One of the reasons that we enjoyed making films here was that hoteliers were so friendly that they put their facilities and staff at our disposal, free of charge," Hsin said. "In addition, it was heaven to be able to enjoy a soak in the hot springs after a tiring day of filming."
Among the former Taiwanese-language actors and actresses attending the event yesterday was Wang Man-chiao (
Wang, who is still an active entertainer, encouraged the public to see the movies and visit Peitou's hot springs.
"Movies and hot springs are the elixirs of life," said Wang, who entered show business after winning sixth place at the second Miss China Beauty Pageant.
Currently, there are 28 hot springs hotels registered in the Peitou District. At its peak, there were more than 100.
Built in 1913 during the Japanese colonial era, the Peitou Hot Springs Museum -- formerly the Peitou Hot Spring Public Bath Pool, was obscured by overgrown grass for more than 80 years. It was not discovered until 1994 when a class from Peitou Elementary School took a field trip to the area.
The site was designated as a historic relic in 1997 and made accessible to the public in 1998 following a four-month reconstruction project.
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