A Journey Through the Ruins of Beitou Part 1: The Wenquan Road Hotels
Beitou is a lovely historic hotspring resort area in the north of Taipei. The Jinshan Fault runs directly underneath the town (don’t worry it’s quite deep) and pressure along this forces hot therapeutic water to the surface. There are plenty of well maintained old buildings in a beautiful river valley, and this article is not meant to detract from that. What it also has is a oddly high concentration of ruined and abandoned places, even taking into account that Taiwan has a lot anyhow. I was curious why and so decided to visit and research them. There are so many in fact that I've had to split this into 3 parts for manageability.
Beitou has plenty of beautiful sites that aren’t in ruins!
TL to BR: The library, Puji Temple, the old hotspring complex, and one of many waterfalls in the district
This bit of detective work was inspired by a resort called Xing Nai Tang (thanks Tobias at onlyforward.co for the name). About a month ago I passed by it for the first time in about seven years . I almost didn't recognize it.
The entrance in about 2011
The same site today
It was pretty much intact the last time I saw it but now this close to 100 year old complex is mostly destroyed.
Quite a few abandoned cars around Beitou too
The first resorts in Beitou were developed in the early 20th century by the Japanese who brought hotspring culture with them to Taiwan. Over the years the areas popularity hasn't waned much and it still draws large crowds of tourists. Even during the recent virus the resort has remained popular with local tourists going for a weekend soak. Although many modern towers have sprung up over the past few decades there are still a lot of wooden Japanese style buildings giving the area a lot of charm.
Wenquan Road Group
Wenquan (hotspring) Road is one of the main streets through the upper part of town and also the one with the most desolate structures. The aforementioned Xing Nai Tang is one of the more well-known. It covers a huge area and is a mix of modern and historic buildings. The main hall is one of the largest Japanese era wooden buildings in the city so it’s a huge shame that it’s little more than a pile of sticks and tiles now.
The Xing Nai Tang complex. This photo was taken in 2016, while the wooden building still had a roof.
From this article it seems business was declining and there were family disputes. As an interesting aside that article mentions prostitution was outlawed in Beitou in 1988 and that caused a lot of spring hotels, including this one, to struggle. Perhaps some of the resorts that have been abandoned for decades went out of business then. I tried to find a way into this complex to see how much was left but it is surrounded by a tall green fence and a big drop.
One of the more intact buildings is used for storage
Next door a large resort was demolished a couple of years ago but this pretty building from 1898 is thankfully intact (it’s been restored since this photo and is a private complex owned by a bank).
A little way up the road a concrete shell looms above a now empty plot. The lower area of this resort was removed but for some reason the upper area was left. With the absence of any details I can only guess at what happened here.
Looking over the concrete shell of a resort and a distinctive circular residential tower
Nothing much left here
Winding uphill I spotted a large three floor building that almost seems built into the cliff.
The one article I've found on this place suggests it was a hotel that has been abandoned for over 20 years. Exploring the interior I couldn't see much evidence of hotspring baths but the complex was much bigger than it first seemed.
This would have been a beautiful airy room
Through a distinctive portal there were more rooms and another building above that which was now mostly forest.
Forest in the upper levels
At the top of the road was a large derelict resort I’d spotted from Google Maps. Unfortunately the building was well-sealed and the exterior provided no details. What I saw of the interior was bare.
For something that's been abandoned for a long time it is remarkably intact. It's also remarkably modern and could only have been in operation for a very short time. With later research I've discovered this was the Maple Garden Landis Beitou Hotel and it looks as though it was luxurious. Reviews here last from the resorts opening in 2008 to 2010 when it seems to have been abandoned. Why was this brand new hotel left to ruin after just a few years? Despite a lot of searching I can't find a reason. There's a passing mention of closing for a refurbishment here but why would a 3 year old hotel need a refurbishment so quickly? If anyone knows what happened here I am very curious!
Inside the Landis
An empty block next to the Landis
As I returned along Wenquan I noticed some overgrown steps and a streetside building that I could now see was abandoned. Heading up the stairs took me to some individual houses and a large white building surrounded by barbed wire. There clearly used to be a wooden building in the courtyard and there were Japanese roof tiles among the detritus.
The houses were possibly small resort villas but they were too destroyed to get far inside. The white building was intriguing. Someone clearly cares for this place as the grounds are well kept and the interior is a little more intact. I did not therefore go inside.
Some fire damage inside one building
Further towards Beitou town the ruins of the Xinxiu Spring Resort are easy to miss. Obscured partly by trees is a long two floor wooden building and some lower annexes. I spied a possible way in but it meant completely destroying what I was wearing and I was taking the MRT that day.
It’s hard to get a clear view of the historic Xinxiu
A separate Japanese era building that will soon be removed
With old clothes and driving I'll attempt it again (on the second attempt I found there was no access). Xinxiu is naturally the site of many ghost stories and was one of the first resorts in Beitou. There are some interesting photos here of the early days and from when the large tower in front of it was built. It seems the resort operates in a newer tower and this old building has been left alone. There are a lot of ruined individual homes along this stretch too.
Unusual to see graffiti in places like this in Taiwan
So far so many mysteries, with just family disputes and perhaps dated facilities providing some clues. It’s natural for somewhere touristy like Beitou to go through boom and bust cycles and attract entrepreneurs with a bigger appetite for risk. It seems many could not weather the hard times. But that doesn’t quite explain why many sites weren’t renewed during growth phases.
The adventures that make up these entries are often posted as Instagram stories at tomrookart first. So please give that a follow too if you like as it can sometimes be a year or more before stuff turns up here. Locations are on the Hidden Taiwan Map. I keep this project free of intrusive ads but it does take up a fair bit of time. If you would like to support it please either buy some of my work here (use code hiddentaiwan for a discount). Or book through this link at My Taiwan Tour, who cover a huge range of places and experiences in Taiwan.