When it comes to museums, Taiwan doesn’t seem to have any famous ones other than the National Palace Museum, which showcases imperial Chinese treasures brought across from China by Chiang Kai-shek in the mid-1940s. But in reality, Taiwan has several great museums that are impressive, innovative, and feature insightful and fascinating exhibits. One of these is the Lanyang Museum, in Taiwan’s Yilan County.
At first glance, from the side, Lanyang Museum resembles a large, sleek rock soaring out of the ground. Indeed, the museum was designed in the shape of a cuesta, a tilting stone escarpment that is common to Taiwan’s northeast coast. The museum is surrounded by a small lake with ducks and other birds.
Located on Taiwan’s northeast coast, Yilan County has an interesting geographical profile because it includes flat land sandwiched between mountains and the ocean. Yilan thus features abundant forestry, rice, and marine fisheries resources. The Lanyang Museum bears homage to this with separate levels devoted to Yilan’s mountains, ocean, and plains.
The museum features an attractive collection of dioramas, artifacts, and historical photos. Among the most interesting cultural exhibits is a model of a wooden platform which people compete to climb up in the Zhongyuan Qianggu festival, a late 18th century festival. There are many life-size displays of farmer and workmen mannequins engaged in irrigating or other kinds of work. It was interesting to see a yamu boat, used by farmers to harvest rice in their paddy fields.
Yilan also has a significant aboriginal presence, especially the Kavalan tribe (who the famous Taiwanese whisky brand is named after) who have lived in Yilan for 1,000 years and traditionally lived near rivers and streams. Han settlers came later in the 18th century and gradually pushed the aboriginals out of their lands.
There are an actual fishing boat, which you can climb into, and a traditional boat, as well as the skeleton of a Bryden’s whale which washed up dead ashore. The museum has an open, colorful and spacious layout that provides a nice ambiance to enjoy the exhibits.
How to get there: From Taipei, you can take the train to Yilan’s Wai’ao Station and walk to the museum, or take the long-distance Kuo-kuang 1877 bus at the Nangang Exhibition Center bus stop, which stops right at the museum.
Note: The museum is closed on Wednesdays.
Wooden platform which people compete to climb up in the Zhongyuan Qianggu festival
Yamu boat, used for harvesting
Walkway to the aboriginal house
Aboriginal hut
Duck farmer with ducklings beneath him
Some people were there just to take photos in front of the museum. Can’t blame them
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