[Traveler’s Notes]Taipei’s Creative Edge: A Cultural Mini Adventure

Written by TRAVELER Luxe Traveler’s Notes Hong Zhenlu and Zhuang Weiting

From a pen, a notebook, to the tableware you use every day, your travel bag, or even a wall or a garden—when infused with cultural and creative essence, a comfortable and beautiful daily life is actually all around us. Amid the joyful New Year festivities, join us as we visit art villages brimming with creative energy, or explore old neighborhoods in search of eclectic shops, letting boundless imagination enrich our minds and crafting everyday life with taste and character. Also, hear from cultural and creative artists as they share their creations and new discoveries from their travels, embarking together on a uniquely personal cultural journey.

● Taipei Treasure Hill International Artist Village
Art Meets Life in a Maze-Like Mountain Settlement
Once a water source area, Treasure Hill is located by the Xindian River in the southern part of the city, developing a unique landscape where art and original life coexist. This labyrinthine settlement built atop a hill is tucked away in a corner on the southern edge of the city. Follow Section 3 of Tingzhou Road behind the Shuicai Market and turn into Lane 230 to find the only access road connecting the site to the outside. The settlement is built against Little Guanyin Mountain, with the terrain starting to gently undulate from the entrance—perhaps why some used to call this place “Little Jiufen.”

Since the first Han settlers arrived 300 years ago via the Xindian River and built the Treasure Hill Temple, which primarily enshrines Guanyin Bodhisattva, the immigrants naturally named the settlement “Treasure Hill,” following their faith and the mountain’s contours. In later land records, this place has been a water source area, a military stronghold, a site of illegal military dependents’ villages, and more. Local veterans married foreign brides, while young students moved in for its low-cost housing. The population of Treasure Hill has never been divided into locals or outsiders—anyone who settles in this secluded world becomes a resident living in harmony here.

[Info]
Treasure Hill International Artist Village
add No. 230, Lane 3, Section 3, Tingzhou Road, Taipei City (Exit 1, Gongguan MRT Station)
time 11:00–22:00, closed on Mondays.

● Taichung Zhongxing 1st Lane Green Light Project
Grids of Charm in an Old Building
It all started with an old building that couldn’t be rented out. The building, owned by shareholders of FANTASTIC, is located in Lane 117, Section 1, Meicun Road, right next to the Grass Jelly Boulevard. Standing at the lane’s entrance, you can see the green living wall of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Green Park. With such a prime location, why wasn’t anyone renting it? From those who came to inquire, they discovered many young aspiring entrepreneurs had limited funds and couldn’t afford high rents—and didn’t actually need that much space. So they tried dividing the old building into several small spaces for rent, giving birth to FANTASTIC Store No. 1, No. 2, and the “Green Light Project.”