Tainan’s Painted Village Featured on CNN: Hu Cuo Liao in Shanhua Transformed by Cartoons

Reported by Yu t
ru / Compiled Report

The beautiful scenery of Taiwan’s painted villages has also made it onto the international stage. In recent years, more and more painted villages have emerged across Taiwan. Starting with the earliest Rainbow Village in Taichung, to the more recently popularized Cow Painted Village in Changhua and the 3D Cat Painted Village in Chiayi, all have captured the attention of travelers. And now, Hu Cuo Liao in Shanhua District, Tainan—a painted village themed around cartoon characters such as Doraemon and Totoro—has recently gained international recognition, with even foreign media outlet CNN Travel covering the phenomenon.


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Hu Cuo Liao Painted Village in Shanhua, Tainan, is also known as the “Grandma’s Painted Wall.” It originated when three filial granddaughters, worried that their elderly grandmother felt lonely facing plain white walls, painted various colorful cartoon characters on them. They hoped to comfort her heart and bring vitality to her life. What started as simply painting parts of the white walls evolved into a community-wide project. The story of Hu Cuo Liao Painted Village is both tear-jerking and filled with the unique emotions of the local people.

In Taiwan, besides Hu Cuo Liao Painted Village, in recent years many towns and villages have embraced the painted art trend. These artworks, which blend local color and cultural heritage, not only help put the villages on the map but also generate tourism benefits and attract attention from numerous foreign media. However, after gaining fame, an important question to consider is how to sustain these efforts while using tourism to generate stable income without harming the environment.