Luodong Forestry Culture Park
History
In 1905, the original site of the park became a major timber production area of the Luodong Branch of the Taiping Forest Area, drawn by the Forestry Agency of the Empire of Japan. The logs used to be transported out of Yilan on the Lanyang River. In 1921, the agency purchased a Taiwan Sugar Railway from the Taiwan Sugar Factory and used it as the Luodong Forest Railway to transport timber.
In 1982, the government adjusted its policies on the forestry industry and production from the area started to decline. In 1994–2001, the Third Luodong Township Urban Planning Review designated the area to be a special forestry industry culture site. In 2004, the Forestry Bureau unveiled a plan to turn the area into a culture park. Also in the same year, the Council for Cultural Affairs listed all of the remaining artifacts and buildings in the area as historical assets. The area was then turned into the Luodong Forestry Culture Park in 2009 and listed as a cultural landscape area in 2012.
Geography
The park spans over an area of 16 hectares. It consists of several timber ponds.
Architecture
The culture park is divided into several areas:
- art district
- artifact exhibition hall
- bamboo railway station
- primitive habitat
- storage pool
Transportation
The park is accessible within walking distance north of Luodong Station of Taiwan Railways.