Museum Island

Jin Lian Shing Touristic Factory/Wanli Brick Relics Museum Founded in 1973, it was originally the oldest tunnel kiln in Miaoli County. Nowadays, JLS is a marketing brand known all over Taiwan, having received the famous cultural innovation trademark approved by the Intellectual Property Office. JLS has been promoting industrial culture and community building since 1996. In 2003, the first year of certification, it was awarded certification in creative living by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). In 2004, “Wanli Brick Relics Museum” opened to public. In 2005, “The hometown of bricks: Jing Lian Shing Touristic Brick Factory” was registered as trademark. In 2006, the first year of certification, JLS officially became a “touristic factory”, certified by MOEA. Also in the same year, JLS represented for Miaoli County and became an “industrial heritage site” listed by the UN’s cultural heritage protection day. In 2016, the first year of certification, JLS received the Miaoli Industry Story Museum Mark from the Miaoli County Government.

The Pingtung King Boat Cultural Museum was built in 2022 and officially opened in 2024. The museum is a five-storey building featuring five main exhibition themes: " Ocean Belief", "Patrol on behalf of Heaven", "Wangyeh Culture of Pingtung", " Craftsmanship of King Boat " and "Donggang Wangyeh Worshipping Ceremony(The Donggang King Boat Festival)". Via immersive experiences, visitors get to learn the historical context and craftsmanship of King Boat and Wangyeh culture. The Donggang King Boat Festival has been registered as a national folklore with its intangible cultural heritage preserved within local knowledge system and the inheritance of traditional craftsmanship. ●The Disappearance and Discontinuity of Craftsmanship and Culture of King Boat The King Boat Festival is a major event in Donggang with high participation from the locals. However, the lack of systematic inheritance has led to the gradual loss of certain knowledge and rituals. For example, there is a craftsmanship vacuum in making wooden King Boats. Initially, these boats were built by skilled craftsmen in shipyards, but with the introduction of fiberglass boats, the number of traditional wooden boat builders have been decreasing. On the other hand, many young people lack understanding of the significance and knowledge of the King Boat Festival, which is resulting in their low participation. Although elementary schools,junior and senior high schools in Donggang have arranged learning courses related to the King Boat Festival, onsite teaching and practical experiences can only be provided triennially during the festival which is held for seven days. Therefore, the local people are concerned and finding ways to pass on the King Boat Festival to the young generation. ●Local identity and conflict. With the increasing media exposure of the Donggang King Boat Festival, the number of tourists and worshippers has been growing every year. Locals begin to wonder if this festival that they are proud of can turn into a tourism attraction. However, the media's overemphasis on the process of burning the King Boat has led to a concentration of visitors solely on the day of the King Boat's touring and sending off Wangye, providing no substantial benefits to the overall development of the area, and also contradicts the locals' traditional viewpoint of sending the King Boat as a taboo. As a result, conflicts often arise between tourism's participation of the festival and locals' maintenance of their beliefs. How can local identity and cultural autonomy be constructed, and how can cultural heritage be managed and local industries developed? The establishment of the Pingtung King Boat Museum offers a discussion platform and imagination space. ●Cultural resources and heritage. The establishment of the Pingtung King Boat Museum will provide not only the building and its collections, but also an overall concept of the region. It will include various aspects of heritage, such as main part of the museum, histories, and humanities, aiming to "museumify" local culture. We hope that the Pingtung King Boat Museum can transform cultural assets into resources that combine tourism development, educative value, and cultural heritage.

The official launching of the “Tainan County Cultural Center” in October, 1983. The opening ceremony of the “Cultural Affairs Department, Tainan County” in January, 2000. Reorganized as the “Cultural Affairs Department, Tainan County Government” in October, 2002. Reorganized as the “Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tainan County Government” in October, 2008. Reorganized as the “Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tainan City Government” in January, 2010. Due to the county to city merger, the Xinying Cultural Center was established as a second-level institute under the governance of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Tainan City Government on December 25, 2010. To correspond to the organizational adjustment of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Center established the Minjhih Cultural Center Management Division for management on January 1, 2013.

There have been a row of railway warehouses standing beside Zhongli Train Station since the Japanese ruled period, which was never changed in the development of the traffic network. In the past, goods from the north and south including rice, tea, and flour were once stored in here waiting to be transported to its destined place. Each warehouse has witnessed an important period of history where Zhongli prospered in its agricultural development and rail transportation. The fifth warehouse once served as a Southeastern restaurant. The cultural history research team made up of local youths have accidentally discovered that although the once forgotten warehouses were rebuilt before, the timber framing of the buildings are very well preserved. In order to preserve this historical space, the Taoyuan Art and Culture Front, as an association, rented the warehouses from the Taiwan Railways Administration and recruited volunteers to restore the place together. The work includes removing the original interior, giving the damaged timber framing temporary support, and rearranging of the office space. Now, the “Zhongli No. 5 Warehouse” has become an art and culture base for exhibitions, shows, guided tours, and a co-working space, and it was officially opened on , to reproduce the glory of the railway cultural assets of Zhongli.