From Jan. 24 through May 30, the National Taiwan Museum Railway Department Park will offer themed guided tours of two special exhibitions -- "Taiwan Railway Hotel (1908-1945)," and "Debating 'Modern': The 1935 Taiwan Exposition." Through the two exhibitions at the museum's Beimen branch, visitors may have a deeper insight into Taiwan's progress into modernity.
With the background set in 1935, the guided tour will first take viewers to see the "Taiwan Railway Hotel" exhibition for them to know the significance of the first and the only Western-style hotel in Taiwan during the time, and then to view the "Debating 'Modern': The 1935 Taiwan Exposition," which provides a glimpse of Taiwan's industrial developments in the later years of Japanese colonization and Taiwanese people's aspiration for liberty, equality and human rights underneath the prosperity.
The Taiwan Railway Hotel represents a segment of the island's railway culture. Completed in 1908, the Railway Hotel was the first and only Western-style hotel in Taiwan at the time. Located directly across from the Taipei Railway Station, the hotel opened just before the inauguration ceremony of the Western Trunk line (縱貫線).
The European-style hotel was modern and luxurious, with a lobby, a bar, and a billiard room on the first floor. It housed a large banquet hall which could accommodate 1,000 guests. The hotel also had the first passenger elevator in Taiwan.
Unfortunately, the hotel building was destroyed in an air raid in 1945 during the Second World War. While the glamour of the hotel would no longer be seen by the later generations, part of the old settings have been recreated at the Railway Department Park for viewers to get a glimpse of the hotel's classical charm.
"Debating 'Modern': 1935 Taiwan Exposition” exhibition is a recreation of the 1935 Taiwan Exposition, based on the diary entries, novels, travel notes, and reports of the visitors who had attended that year. The exhibition revolves around the themes of progressive and modern Taiwan, reflecting different aspects of the exposition and various perspectives regarding Taiwan's progress into modernity.
The Sunday afternoon guided tours are named after two elementary students in the 1930s who visited the 1935 Taiwan Exposition. The two fifth graders, Chen Qiu-yan (陳秋燕) and Lou Yao-zong (羅耀宗), were winners of an essay competition organized by Taiwan Governor-General's Office (台灣總督府) in 1935.
"Modern Journey of 1935: Taiwan Railway Hotel and Debating 'Modern': 1935 Taiwan Exposition”
Dates: Jan. 24 – May 30, 2021
Times: Every Sunday 2p.m. – 3:30p.m.
Location: Beimen Branch, National Taiwan Museum, Gallery 3
Address: No. 2, Section 1, Yanping North Road, Datong Dist., Taipei City
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