Text & Photography / Kaohsiung City Government
Visiting Meinong always offers a deep sense of the tranquil and simple Hakka village charm. The Meinong Plain is blessed with beautiful mountains and rivers, abundant natural resources, and along the flow of Meinong’s irrigation channels, you’ll truly come to understand why Meinong is deservedly a “water town.”
Early spring in Meinong is lush and charming. (Photo / Kaohsiung City Government, same below)
From the former rain-fed fields to irrigated farmland, the Meinong Zhuzimen Power Plant laid an important foundation for modern infrastructure in southern Taiwan. This modernist-style Baroque building retains its original appearance intact aside from the roof, which was renovated after being strafed by Allied forces during World War II. With its sleek curved pediment and arched windows, the lines are simple and elegant. Free of elaborate ornamental columns, the power plant lacks a cold industrial feel and instead radiates a classical, gentle architectural charm.
The Zhuzimen Power Plant's Baroque-inspired factory building is a century-old industrial heritage site.
The 21.3-meter drop between Zhuzimen and the Nanhua River is the source of its hydroelectric power.
After the completion of the Zhuzimen Power Plant, the Shizitou Irrigation Canal was finished in 1911. For the people of Meinong, every aspect of life—food, clothing, shelter, and transportation—is closely tied to the irrigation channels. Thanks to the water supply from the canals, farmers can grow two rice crops a year. Water lily production accounts for 80% of Taiwan’s total, and in earlier times, tobacco cultivation earned Meinong the reputation as the “tobacco kingdom.”
Info
Zhuzimen Power Plant
Address: No. 20, Zhumen, Shishan Village, Meinong District, Kaohsiung City
Phone: (07)685-1079
Hours: Advance application required with Taipower
Meinong produces 80% of Taiwan’s water lilies.
“The irrigation canals are where we Meinong folks grew up playing in the water,” says Liu Chenghai, a Hakka-guided tour interpreter in Kaohsiung. On hot summer days, sitting on an inner tube and floating down the canal is both fun and refreshing. By the stream, children play in the water, women wash clothes, and Meinong’s annual coming-of-age ceremony is also held at the water bridge. Holding dried betel nut leaves, participants walk through the 132-meter-long water bridge to reach the head of the canal—this marks their transition into adulthood.
The Shizitou Irrigation Canal has a long and storied history
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