Long Yingzong Literary Museum

If you visit Beipu, you might consider including the Long Yingzong Literary Museum in your itinerary. Originally a Japanese-style dormitory for Beipu Public School, the building boasts a history of over a century. It was later renovated to establish the Long Yingzong Literary Museum, commemorating the late writer Long Yingzong. The museum chronicles his life, literary works, and writing career, and even recreates the author's study, allowing visitors to feel as if they've stepped back in time. Long Yingzong was one of the most important novelists during the Japanese colonial period. A native of Beipu, he received Japanese language education at Beipu Public School and subsequently encountered world literature. In 1937, his Japanese work, 'The Town with Papaya Trees,' received an 'Honorable Mention' in a writing competition by Tokyo's Kaizo magazine, making him a writer who rose to prominence in the Japanese literary scene after Yang Kui and Lu Heruo. In 1942, he further represented Taiwan at the First Greater East Asia Writers' Conference. Besides depicting the existential anguish of colonial intellectuals in his works, Long Yingzong, who came from a local Hakka family, also extensively portrayed the local scenery of Beipu. In 2020, with the collaboration of various parties, the former dormitory of Beipu Public School on Changxing Street was renovated and transformed into the Long Yingzong Literary Museum. It not only carries on Long Yingzong's learning experience and fosters profound literary literacy through local education but also serves as a literary enlightenment hub for the children of Beipu.