Shuinandong Smelter (水湳洞選煉廠)

the ruins of old bottles in shuinandong smelter aka 13 levels in Jinguashi, taiwan

(Update 2023: The site has been surrounded by a tall and not very climb-able fence. The roofs of the large white warehouses have now mostly collapsed and it seems some demolition work is going on there. Activity in the site suggests it may be tough to get in unnoticed. The large ruined buildings are now lit up at night and I imagine there’re security cameras around the lights. I haven’t seen any pics from inside appear in urbex groups for a while)

I'd been itching to get in here ever since I snapped the above photo a couple of years ago. However one attempt ended in getting lost in mist, and time or weather never co-operated again, until yesterday.

The Shuinandong Smelter is an enormous ore sorting and smelting complex at the foot of the Jinguashi mining area. It was built in the early 1930's to handle the huge amount of gold and copper mined uphill. Over each level or step (the smelter is nicknamed 13 levels), the ore was refined and the minerals sorted. The old photo below shows the smelter shortly after construction. The sheds that stood on each level have long gone. The main building with the arches that remains is mostly blocked by the highest shed in this picture, while the electricity building that also remains is on the far right. The smelter closed sometime in the 80's along with most of Taiwan's mines. It has been slowly engulfed by nature ever since. The setting among the mountains is spectacular and has made this one of my favorite places on the island.

The Electricity Hall and the Arched Building behind.

We entered the smelter by heading under a small bridge, but that way in no longer exists. The smelter is best seen from the coast road. Unfortunately I just had an old smartphone camera with me so the photos in this entry are a little mixed. We first reached the electricity building

exterior of transformer building at old bottles in shuinandong smelter aka 13 levels in Jinguashi, taiwan

This huge building has two cavernous floors, and contained power transformers and other electrical equipment. However, all that remains are the bushings (the porcelain coils) of the transformers on the walls and ceilings. Smelting is a very power intensive process and there were bushings everywhere. 

Transformer bushings.

To reach the second level we went through one of the windows to the rear of the building, and up some very wet and mineral caked steps. The second level is also empty, but the space is impressive. The building has a fair few holes on each floor (part of the architecture, the rest of the floor is sturdy) but is otherwise easy to move around.

A wall of minerals and the Arched Building.

The site can be a bit of a maze in places, but there are some overgrown paths. It's not hard to find the way up to the arched building at the top of the site. This place has some beautiful mineral structures growing around the metal funnels on the ground floor. There are several levels at one end, with a surprisingly well carved staircase linking them. The top floor is the most interesting, with its temple style circular portal looking out onto the Pacific below. It seems this floor acted as the main offices of the site, though there is little furniture left.

Railway to nowhere. The top floor portal. A mineral encrusted funnel under the arches. This is probably toxic so don’t get too close!

Returning through the Electricity Hall it's simple to access the lower part of the site. There are more buildings down here and some more large sorting funnels. Of particular note are the two huge white warehouses, one with a partially collapsed roof. They are both empty but are still grand spaces. The windows are double glazed and look newer than the building. Perhaps there were plans to reuse this area but then the roof collapsed? Walking through the rubble pile with care will bring you to a small employee bathroom/social complex, with stairs into the lower warehouse.

In here there were a few cool things. Somehow a door has been placed high on the rafters. At one end a spring was running out of the wall with a brilliant verdigris stain.

How and why?

There are a few very trashed factory buildings directly below. Don't try to continue down the path to them as it drops off. Instead go along the white warehouse and either climb down, or hop over a gate to the road, and under another gate. These were interesting and are worth looking through but by this time we had been exploring in the sun for hours and were a bit fried and hungry, so we went quickly through. 

We exited through an empty barrel-roofed building and wondered along a trail into the Shuinandong car park. Here you can either catch a bus back up to Jinguashi, or across the highway there is a stop for an infrequent Keelung bus. We headed back up to Jiufen for beer and food in a beautiful and well hidden teahouse near a small tunnel coming from the main steps. I even managed to find a shortcut that avoided the nightmarishly packed 'old street'. 

View from Jiufen

The smelter is unguarded and there were several Taiwanese visitors exploring at the same time we were. It will take you a few hours to explore and see everything. Check out the location of this and other things around it here. The adventures that make up these entries are often posted as Instagram stories at tomrookart first. So give that a follow too if you like as it can sometimes be a year or more before stuff turns up here! If you’d like to check out some Taiwan based art and maps I keep a gallery here.

The smelter in 2012/13. Prior to the white warehouse roof collapse.

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Green Island - Little Visited Sites (綠島)

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The Hidden Corner of Chiang Kai Shek's Residence, and Shilin Paper Factory (臺北士林官邸 + 前士林紙廠)