Linkou Club Annex Location

There was a question from Zhuxiu regarding my Construction at Old HSA Site entry.

He wrote:

"Whatever happened to the Linkou EM Club that was located just across Zhongshan N. Road from Headquarters Support Activity? It was next door to the MAAG theater compound when I was stationed with the Naval Security Group in 1963-64."

When I arrived at USTDC in 1973, it was called the Linkou Club Annex and it was located on the south side of Minzu East Road, across from the Roma Hotel at the intersection of Jhongshan North Road and Minzu East Road. Here's a photo of the exterior of the building (courtesy of the "Dawgs" at the Linkou website).

I believe someone told me that it moved there from another location in the area and maybe someone can tell us where that was. Here's a Google image of the area that I've edited to show some of the landmarks as they existed in 1973-1974.

Does anyone know what the old Linkou Club location looks like today? If you have a fairly recent photo, please drop me an email.

Construction at old HSA Site

A couple of days ago I mentioned that the old Headquarters Support Activity compounds are presently under construction for next year's exhibition. After all the buildings in both compounds were demolished years ago, the East Compound (USTDC, PX, commissary, etc.) became home to an art museum and park. Much of the new construction will be done in that park area.

Today I received some current photographs of the area from Kenneth, a friend of Kent's (Taipei Air Station blog and website) who lives in Taipei.

It's not hard to figure out what this sign is saying, though it probably says it in a more friendly way than ours do here in the States.

This is facing north on the east side of Jhongshan North Road. You can see the top of the white, modernistic looking art museum ahead. I think we're at the approximate spot where the hostels were located.

This is the same shot taken from a spot just a little further south. I think it is probably close to where the gate was to the East Compound.

This photo was probably taken from approximately the same spot as the one above, but you're now facing south. The tall building on the corner directly ahead was the Roma Hotel when I was at TDC during 1973-1974, but I think it had other names over the years. If you look to the right of the photo, you can see the bookstore that was on the far corner. I don't remember what it was called in those days, but you could buy all kinds of books, records and tapes -- all bootleg copies, as far as I know -- at bargain prices. I think someone told me that it is still a book store today.

Mystery Field

After writing yesterday about all the changes coming to the old HSA areas, I started thinking about the area that was located between the gate to the East Compound and the two hostels to the left of that gate.

My memory is a little hazy (and probably becoming more so each year) but I'm guessing that plot of ground was probably about thirty yards square. It was surrounded by a high concrete wall when I was there in 1973-1974 and was covered with high weeds.

Some said it was a mass grave, though I've never been able to find any such reference. Still it seems like it would have been a pretty valuable piece of real estate to leave unimproved, even during the 1970s.


The photograph here was probably taken from an upper floor of what was then the Roma Hotel during my time in Taipei. I believe that building is still there today at the northeast corner of the intersection of Minzu East Road and Jhonshang North Road. The photo itself is of the hostel where I used to live (room circled), but you can clearly see the fenced-in and weed covered area that I'm talking about.

If anyone out there remembers that piece of ground or knows what the real story was about it, please leave a comment. It was apparently cleared when they demolished all the buildings and built the Art Park that covers that area today, but I've always wondered about its history.

More Changes Coming to HSA Compounds

Kent, over at the Taipei Air Station blog, recently alerted me to this website, which describes major new changes coming to the old Headquarters Support Activity East and West compound areas.

Of course all the old buildings that we knew back in the day, such as the USTDC building, BX, commissary, theater, library, chapel, gas station, etc., were torn down many years ago but things are about to change again with the construction of the 2010 Taipei International Gardening and Horticulture Exposition. Kent says that a friend of his in Taipei reports that work has already begun and there are now construction fences down both sides of the street.

The more things change, the more they . . . keep right on changing.

MAAG Hsinchu - Commerce and Production 1950's

Old friend Kent, over at the Taipei Air Station blog, has been posting several fantastic photos from the Hsinchu area that were taken during the late 1950s.

Today's entry is titled "MAAG Hsinchu - Commerce and Production 1950's" which you will find at this link and then by clicking on "Next" at the bottom of each page.

Lots of really great photographs from that period!

Taiwan Report Index

During the past few months, I've posted pages from the "Taiwan Report - Taipei Edition," a booklet that was published by the U.S. Taiwan Defense Command in 1973. The booklet was sent to American servicemen and women being assigned to Taiwan and it was designed to ease their transition into their new surroundings. It's a great historical record of life in the Taipei area as experienced by American military personnel 35 years ago.

Les Duffin kept a copy of the booklet all these years and has been kind enough to scan and share all 118 pages. I've posted them pretty much as I've received them, but the 15 chapters (plus intro and quick reference sections) are not always easy to find in the chronological format of a blog.

So today's post contains the complete index to Taiwan Report, with individual links to each section. My objective is to make it easier for readers to "thumb through" the booklet from page 1 to page 118. I'm also adding a link somewhere in the right-hand column of the blog so you can come directly to this posting at any time in the future.

Keep in mind that if you click on each of the pages within each chapter, you'll be able to view the full-size image.

• Introduction
• Chapter 1: US Military Units in the Taipei Area (Part 1)
• Chapter 1: US Military Units in the Taipei Area (Part 2)
• Chapter 1: US Military Units in the Taipei Area (Part 3)
• Chapter 2: History and Facts (Part 1)
• Chapter 2: History and Facts (Part 2)
• Chapter 2: History and Facts (Part 3)
• Chapter 3: Policies and Support Facilities (Part 1)
• Chapter 3: Policies and Support Facilities (Part 2)
• Chapter 3: Policies and Support Facilities (Part 3)
• Chapter 4: Climate, Housing and Furnishings (Part 1)
• Chapter 4: Climate, Housing and Furnishings (Part 2)
• Chapter 4: Climate, Housing and Furnishings (Part 3)
• Chapter 4: Climate, Housing and Furnishings (Part 4)
• Chapter 5: SOFA, Customs and Identification
• Chapter 6: Schools
• Chapter 7: Chapels, Churches
• Chapter 8: Recreation (Part 1)
• Chapter 8: Recreation (Part 2)
• Chapter 8: Recreation (Part 3)
• Chapter 9: Open Messes and Clubs (Part 1)
• Chapter 9: Open Messes and Clubs (Part 2)
• Chapter 10: Transportation
• Chapter 11: Clothing
• Chapter 12: Currency, Finance and Banking
  
• Chapter 13: Stores, Restaurants, Health Precautions
• Chapter 14: Servants
• Chapter 15: Miscellaneous (Part 1)
• Chapter 15: Miscellaneous (Part 2)
• Chapter 15: Miscellaneous (Part 3)
• Quick Reference

Thanks again to Les for having the foresight to preserve this historical document and for taking the time to share it with all of us.

Taiwan Report - Intro

It looks like I messed up yesterday when I said that I had already posted every chapter of the Taiwan Report. Apparently I published only certain parts of some chapters, including the introduction. Hey, I'm 65 years old so cut me some slack, huh?

So today I'll post the complete intro, including the front cover of the booklet and if I discover any other unpublished sections I'll post those in the days ahead. Once everything is posted, I'll do the index with links to each section as I promised earlier.

So here's the cover and intro of the Taiwan Report - Taipei Edition:

Taiwan Report - Chapter 13

I thought I had posted all the chapters of the Taiwan Report over the past several months, but I apparently missed chapter 13, which had to do with stores, restaurants and health precautions. Those pages are shown below. As always, you can click on any of the pages to see a larger version.

Taiwan Report was the publication we mailed out to those being assigned to USTDC and other military units in the Taipei area. The publication date was 1973, and if there were earlier or later editions I'm not aware of them.

Within the next day or two I plan to post an index to all of the chapters in the booklet.

Taiwan in 1957-1958

I found this excellent article that was written by Bob Ronald who (I believe) was a Jesuit priest who taught in Taiwan, beginning in 1957. He describes all of the sights and sounds of 1950s Taiwan as perceived by a new resident.

This is a 29-page Adobe PDF document so of course you'll need Adobe Reader to view it. If you don't already have it on your computer, you can get the free download here.

Another Pedicab

I've received and posted several photos of pedicabs here. By the time I arrived in Taipei, I don't think they were any longer used in the city, but when guys like Sarj and Stev were there in the late fifties and early sixties, they were apparently pretty common.

A few U.S. cities still issue permits for pedicab drivers who cater mostly to tourists, but they're pretty much a novelty in most places today as far as I know.

Taipeimarc recently alerted me to this old pedicab that was listed for sale on Craig's List. It has since been sold, but I contacted the woman who took the photos to see what I could find out about it. You can see all the rest of those photos here.

It turns out that a friend of hers participated in an auction for the contents of an unpaid storage unit. When they opened it up, this pedicab was inside. They're guessing that it might be one of the pedicabs that were imported for the 1962 Seattle World's Fair. I'm not sure about that because the style -- especially the enclosed wheels -- looks older than that to me. I'm thinking it was built sometime in the 1950s. I'd guess even earlier than that, except that the nameplate is in English. The headlight that runs on a small generator is definitely an add-on.

I did a quick search for the Victory Company in Taipei but came up empty.

If you can help solve the puzzle of when this thing was built, or whether it was one of the Seattle World's Fair pedicabs from 1962, please let me know.