While surfing the Internet for information on Taipei to plan my recent holiday itinerary, I came across an interesting “development” (if one can call it such). Before I elaborate, take a look at these photos (a few others are uploaded to my Flickr account).
Apparently, this is an abandoned resort project in Sanjhih (三芝), a small town on the outskirts of Taipei. Known as “淺水灣飛碟屋” for obvious reasons, these circular pods were built in the early 1980s as cheap housing that could expand vertically while maintaining a very small footprint. However, numerous accidents occurred during their construction and as news spread to the urbanites living in Taipei, nobody wanted to take a vacation, much less visit, the area.
The locals believe the site is now haunted by the ghosts of people who died in the accidents. If indeed that were true, no amount of redevelopment is going to bring the masses back to the area. Demolishing the pods is out of the question because in Asian culture, destroying the homes of spirits and lost souls is a big no-no.
