City
Hsinchu
Train
Station
English Guide Tour
The Hsinchu Train Station is the oldest train station in Taiwan. It was built by Matsugasaki Tsumunaga, a German-trained Japanese architect. This century-old station was completed on March 31st
, 1913. As the landmark of Hsinchu City, the station integrated elements of classical architecture with Baroque and Gothic styles.
Its design reflects the history and culture of that time. The following are some interesting facts about this spectacular train station.
Close inspection reveals that the Hsinchu Train Station possesses an asymmetric design. The clock tower and archway are slightly leaning toward the station’s left wing. It is the only asymmetric train station on the island of Taiwan and this asymmetry is by design. During the time of its design and construction, the station’s center was moved slightly to the left in order to achieve alignment with the road that became today’s Zhong-zheng Road. The station was intended by the city’s planners to be a key landmark in the city and this alignment was intended to achieve that effect as the road leads straight to the station’s entrance and the station marks the destination of the path.
The clock tower served to provide a unified time to the city and its citizens. Its design resembles a warrior’s helmet and advertises the might of the Japanese Empire that ruled the island at the time. Because the houses built during the period of Japanese colonial rule tended to be single-story buildings, the clock tower was a very visible structure, seen from various parts of the city.
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The four-sided clock featured mechanisms to keep all four clocks synchronized.There is a single main standard clock that is connected to the other clocks throughoutthe station. Electricity is used to keep all clocks running in sync with the main tower clock. This allowed time to be unified in the station in an era before modern digital clock synchronization technologies were available. The station’s designer created hidden “catwalks” in the station’s ceilings and clock tower for the purpose of convenient and easy building maintenance. Because the pathways located in high and dark places were usually only visited by cats, they became known as “catwalks.”
As the oldest train station in Taiwan and one of the few century-old train stations around the world, the Hsinchu Train Station is a nationally designated historic site. Therefore, it is a subject of maintenance and preservation projects. In consideration to such preservation efforts, the station’s nameplates were removed and the station became the only building on the island that does not feature nameplates.
