The Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs will restore the Grass Mountain Chateau according to its original structure and remake replicas of all exhibits after a fire seriously damaged the first official residence of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (
The fire, which caused damage estimated at NT$36 million (US$1 million), burned down the main exhibition hall and its exhibits.
While the cause of the fire has yet to be determined, the department announced yesterday it would form an emergency response team to inspect the damage and discuss detailed plans in an effort to restore the 87-year-old municipal monument this week.
Cultural and historical academics and specialists in Japanese-style architecture will be invited to join the team and visit the site some time this week after the report on the cause of fire is issued, the department said.
The Taipei City Fire Department said that the investigation team was looking into the cause of the fire by analyzing the samples of ashes. The report on the investigation will be issued two to three days later.
Department CommissionerLee Yung-ping (李永萍) said the department planned to reconstruct the chateau as per its original design and wooden structure.
As the department had a similar experience restoring the Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Institute (蔡瑞月舞蹈社) -- also a Japanese-style wooden house -- seriously damaged in a fire in 1999, Lee said it should be able to restore the chateau.
Lee said all the exhibits inside the chateau -- including clothes, pictures and documents belonging to Chiang Kai-shek and his wife, Soong Mayling (
The chateau was built in 1920 as a vacation home for Japanese Prince Hirohito and later became a summer retreat and the first of 27 residences for Chiang.
The Taipei City Government took over the administration of the chateau after Chiang died in 1975, registering the building as a monument because of its historical significance. In 2002, it was turned into an arts salon and a museum.
President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), meanwhile, said he was saddened by the incident because as Taipei mayor he had struggled to transform the chateau into an arts village.
In the wake of his party's recent anti-Chiang campaign, its stance on the restoration of the chateau has attracted attention.
"[The chateau] was there before [Chiang] used it as his official residence. It should not be regarded in the same light as [Chiang's official residence].We should [look at reconstruction] with a different frame of reference. It's a historical building," Chen said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
Taitung County is to launch charter flights to Malaysia at the end of this year, after setting up flights to Vietnam and Thailand, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. The new charter flight services, provided by low-cost carrier Batik Air Malaysia, would be part of five-day tour packages for visits to Taitung County or Malaysia. The Batik Air charter flight, with about 200 seats, would take Malaysian tourists to Taitung on Dec. 30 and then at 12:35pm return to Kuala Lumpur with Taiwanese tourists. Another charter flight would bring the Taiwanese home on Jan. 3 next year, arriving at 5:30pm, before taking the
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
An exhibition celebrating Taiwan and Japan’s comic culture opened on Saturday in Taichung, featuring a section that explores Taiwanese reproductions of Japanese comics from when martial law limited Japanese representation. “A Century of Manga Culture: An Encounter of Taiwan and Japan’s Youth” held its Taiwan opening ceremony at Taichung’s National Taiwan Museum of Comics after an initial one-month run in Japan’s Kyoto International Manga Museum between May 24 and June 24. Much like the Kyoto exhibition, the show mainly celebrates the comic connection between Taiwan and Japan through late Taiwanese comic book