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Taipei

Greening UP ark

The Very First Large Park- From the Royal Garden to the Taipei Expo Park

The Taipei Expo Park held The 2010 Taipei International Flora Exposition. It covered a total
area of about as wide as three and half Daan forest park including the Yuanshan Park, the
Fine Arts Park, and the Xinsheng Park. This is nowadays one of the large parks where Taipei
citizens could throw various events. The original purpose of The Taipei Expo Park was to serve
the colonial officials and nobles. It was the first park built by Japanese government in the
colony and named “Yuanshan Park” in the earlier days. Yuanshan Park was also the first sizable
one in Taiwan.

Yuanshan Park possesses a beautiful natural scenic of the Tamsui River. It was the cemetery for
the sacrificed army soldiers before 1896 and then converted to a park thanked to a Japanese
officer in Taipei county. It was pretty much a royal garden for the Japanese officials and nobles
only. Some records from “Taiwan Daily News” showed the officials enjoyed the park very
much. Additional constructions were added later for the sake of welcoming the Royal Prince
Yu-Ren. A Shrine for the late Japanese lord, The Taipei Zoo, a large sports ground (Zhongshan
Football Stadium) etc. were built to enhance the park’s function and made it the number one
destination for outings. This park was exclusively for the Japanese royal and officials and not
opened to the public until the war was over. Among all the parks in city, Yuanshan Park was
the one and only not built along with the urban planning project during the colonial period.

A Large Amusement Park Built During the Japanese Ruling Period, Now
the 228 Peace Memorial Park

Today’s 228 Peace Memorial Park was named as “Taipei New Park” (built in 1908) in those
days because the Yuanshan Park was built earlier. It was the first modern city park in European
style built according to the urban planning in the Japanese ruling period. Facing to the busy
Taipei Railway Station, “Taipei New Park” located at the core of this long-term urbanized and
political developing city, was not just a park that gathers people’s common memory but also a
miniature history of Taipei city’s culture and sovereignty transfer.

To make this the first amusement park for citizens and continue to carry out the urban
planning, Japanese government added a memorial museum, a carp fountain, a stadium, a stage
for concert, a wrestling field, a statue of the Governor and chief of civil affairs to The Taipei
New Park. Almost a large scale amusement playground in the city, this park served both
memorial and social educational purposes. Celebrations of the Japanese emperor’s birthday,
the governor’s inaugurations and many of primary schools joint athletic meetings were held
here. A good deal of western sports was also introduced to Taiwan by Japanese because of its
availability.

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