The Shuinandong (水湳洞) smelter in New Taipei City’s Rueifang District (瑞芳) was lit up on Friday to boost local tourism.
Weather permitting, the defunct facility — which was part of copper and gold mining operations during the Japanese colonial period — will be covered in soft amber light every night from 6pm to 9pm, the General Association of Chinese Culture said at the event.
Hopefully, illuminating the site, which is also known as the “Remains of the 13 Levels,” will draw the attention of tourists and boost the local economy, said the association, which is chaired by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
It took lighting designer Chou Lian (周鍊), who is responsible for a lighting project at the Statute of Liberty in New York, and Annie Chu (朱文英), a leading designer at YI.ng Lighting Design Consultants, two years to create the installation.
The team used 360 sets of lights in 15 combinations of brightness and angle to light up the site, Chu said.
Also known as the “Potala Palace of Mountain Mines,” the smelter processed ore from mines in nearby Jinguashih (金瓜石) and Jioufen (九份).
The refinery was taken over by state-run Taiwan Power Co in the late 1980s and was designated as a historical building in 2007.
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