USASTRATCOM

This blog was created for USASTRATCOM Long Lines Battalion Army personnel who served in Taiwan during the 1965-72 time frame. Specifically, those who lived and worked in and around Taipei are the target. If you worked at the Grass Mountain or Gold Mountain facilities or anywhere in downtown Taipei, we would like to hear from you. All are welcome to visit and contribute to this blog. Your comments and pictures are encouraged.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Peitou Village, Taiwan

During our tour from 1968-69, Peitou had a legendary reputation. Almost everyone I knew had several stories to tell from personal accounts, or embellished ones that had been passed down.

The Japanese are to thank for the many hotels that were sometimes side-by-side. From the paperback booklet, whose front cover is shown, the author maintained that there were over 70 hotels there. Who would bother to count? Was the versatile Literary Inn among them?

There were two basic roads to take you there. One was from Tien Mou and the other was from the Grass Mountain hostel.

It's not illogical to assume that the Japanese, who built the hostel, would also have built the road from there to Peitou. It's a very scenic 30 minute drive.



Bought at one of the many bookstores south of the East Compound on Chung Shan North Road, this dandy little fountain of information will be used again in later posts.


The description of Peitou was right on the money back in the late 1960s.

YangTou Road was the scenic route to take to Peitou. The Grass Mountain hostel is at the top of this photo and our apartment complex is at the bottom.

Entering the village using this route made you think that Peitou was isolated up in the mountains. Kind of like Shangri-La.

Here is a very short list of some of the Hotels in Peitou and their addresses.

According to the hotel list on the previous page, this was the approximate location of the Metropole Hotel.

"C" in this photo is the current location of the new Spring City Resort. It is also the site of the old Paramount Hotel. The street name today is YouYa Road. In 1969, it was spelled Yu Ya Road.

1970 photo by S. Swallom, courtesy of Dawgflight.com

The Hotel Peitou was slightly west of the other hotels at that time.

Matchbook cover provided by Taipics.com 
 The size of the Hotel Peitou might have been exaggerated by its depiction.

1970 photo by S. Swallom; courtesy of Dawgflight.com

The New Life Hotel was located on one of Peitou's busiest streets.

Card provided by P. Birden; courtesy of Dawgflight.com

Notice the Peitou, Taiwan address.

This address would have been the location of the New Life Hotel.


The Hotel Sincere is one of the hotels mentioned in the booklet.
According to the address, it wasn't far from the New Life Hotel.

The Peitou (Beitou) Hot Springs Museum is one of the remaining old buildings standing  from our time in Taiwan.

This is actually a Christian Church in Peitou. My friend, Victor, indicates it is Roman Catholic.

Photo by S. Swallom; courtesy of Dawgflight.com

Many others will remember quite well this centrally located fountain in Peitou.

4 comments:

  1. The Spring City Resort in the sixth image, which used to be the Paramount Hotel, is on 18 You Ya(幽雅) Road. The address was spelled Yu Ya Road in 1969, according to the fourth image.
    The last image, to be more specific, is a Catholic Church.

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  2. I continue to thank you for keeping me on my toes. John

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  3. Durinng my first two tours in Taiwan, I worked at the Sugar Bldg, Seven Star, Gold Mountain, Lungtan, and Taipei Air Station. My third tour was in Kaohsiung, working at Juzon Tropo site and my last trip was as a civilian teaching the Chinese Army Signal Corps on IMSE and that was mostly in CHung Li. Many wonderful memories of Taiwan and the Usastratcom Long Lines BN too.

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  4. Thank you for the comments on your tours. Definitely a special time in our lives.

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