Visit an alternative offbeat attraction to ward off bad luck by voluntarily "getting locked up" at the Guanshan Precinct!

Reported by reporter Li Anjun / Taitung

If you've been having one misfortune after another this year and even masters—be they monks, lawyers, or fortune-tellers—can’t turn your luck around, why not try being locked up in jail? It’s said that it can “turn your luck around.” But you're an upstanding person, just having a rough patch—should you really stir up trouble at the police station or commit a crime? Of course not—that would be overly dramatic, extreme, and ridiculous. Actually, all it takes is a phone call to an officer at the Guanshan Precinct in Taitung. They’ll “arrange” for you to visit the detention center at the right time to experience what it’s like to be locked up.

▲ The Guanshan Precinct opens its detention cells to let “visitors” experience being locked up—just for fun, and definitely don’t commit a crime and get arrested for real. (Photo provided by Xiao Long)

Can being locked up really ward off bad luck? Let’s first look at a previous news report. The protagonist was celebrity Yang Qi. One day, she went to the Nangang Precinct and told officers that she was having a streak of bad luck and hoped the police would “scold her.” At the time, the interviewing reporter faintly heard her say to the officer, “Just pretend, okay?” and “Just consider it public service.” The officer kept refusing, saying, “Why should I scold you for no reason?” After pestering for 20 minutes, the people’s guardian finally reluctantly said to her, “Yang Qi, you silly girl, go home already!” Only then was she satisfied and left.

Later it was revealed that Yang Qi had lost a million NT dollars to fraud, and there were also disputes between the advertising production company and clients for whom she had shot commercials. Worried she might get dragged into legal trouble, she visited famous temples all over Taipei to pray. An elderly woman told her about the folk custom of going to the police station to get scolded as a way to ward off bad luck. So Yang Qi actually went to the police station and asked officers to scold her. If only she had known earlier that the Guanshan Precinct offered this “service,” she wouldn’t have made a fool of herself at the Nangang Precinct or disrupted official duties.

The Taitung Guanshan Precinct is one of the few police stations that open their “detention cells” to let visitors experience being locked up. Staff member Zhang Zhongkang emphasized, “The original idea was to use it for outdoor education for kids—to teach them about the rule of law. The process involves letting kids enter the detention area and experience the loss of freedom so they understand that wrongdoing is absolutely not an option.” Zhang said firsthand experience is more effective than a thousand lectures. “There are indeed rumors about something like ‘turning your luck around,’ and quite a few people have even thanked us after the experience.” With the Lunar New Year approaching, they expect a wave of visitors.

Before experiencing detention, visitors go through a few routine procedures: fingerprinting, being interrogated, and standing in front of a height chart to be photographed from the front, left side, and right side—very clear shots. Then they’re handcuffed and taken into the detention cell. Scenes that you’d normally only see in movies or on TV can all be personally experienced here. Zhang Zhongkang said that since its low-key opening in 2005, over 40,000 ordinary folks have “walked right into the trap.” As for whether it really changes your luck? Sorry, the police station doesn’t guarantee anything.

Interestingly, the walls of the basement detention cells are plastered with slogans like “Admit mistakes and change, taking law-abiding as an honor,” surrounded by red-barred and red-floored cages that create an intense sense of oppression. In the corner, a low cement wall partitions out a crude squat toilet. This tiny basement space once held 30 people. Just spending two minutes there makes you feel extremely stuffy—who’d dare commit a crime? Zhang Zhongkang emphasized that if the detention cells are “in use”—that is, currently holding someone—then the experience can’t be offered, so advance booking is a must. Officers provide guided tours every day from 10 AM to 3 PM.

Additionally, this is home to Taiwan’s only police historical relics museum, displaying documents from the 1940s to 1970s with slogans like “Confidentiality and anti-espionage are everyone’s responsibility.” There are also uniforms, torture instruments, communication devices, security equipment, bookshelves, stationery, antique hand-crank telephones, Japanese police swords, handcuffs and shackles, hand-cranked air raid sirens, and more from the Japanese colonial era—all of which are truly eye-opening.

“Even a mimeograph machine from the 1970s brand Youmei has been preserved. When the Japanese saw it, they were thrilled and insisted on buying it back at a high price. There are also asbestos-made fireproof suits and Japanese-era police typewriters—they were all very eager to get them. Hey, sorry, we’re not selling. These are priceless treasures of Taiwan’s police force.”

The museum displays yellowed photos, books on special operations and vigilance, household registries handwritten in brush ink, and even the wooden-carved police pigeon emblem that once hung in post-liberation police station offices, all well-preserved. Police-issue samurai swords, extension line No. 8, historic rifles and pistols are displayed in a row, along with bulletproof gear from ancient times to the present—faithfully presenting the blood, sweat, and tears of police life.