Xinbeitou Hot Spring Area

The general Beitou Hot Spring Area encompasses over a dozen locations, including Geothermal Valley, Longfeng, Phoenix, Hushan Village, and Xingyi Road. More narrowly, the "Beitou Hot Spring Area" primarily refers to the vicinity of Zhongshan Road, Guangming Road, Xinmin Road, and Quanyuan Road, which encircle "Beitou Park." This area boasts the largest and most concentrated collection of hot spring hotels, as well as the richest natural and cultural resources. In 1894, German sulfur merchant Ouely utilized the Beitou hot springs to construct a hot spring club, marking the beginning of Beitou's hot spring development. In 1896, Hirata Gengo, a Japanese merchant from Osaka, recognized the excellent quality and significant tourism and commercial value of the Beitou hot springs. Consequently, he established "Tengu-an" along the Beitou Stream, Taiwan's first hot spring hotel, which served as the precedent and origin for Beitou's hot spring bathhouses. The Beitou Hot Spring Museum, situated within Beitou Park and adjacent to the Beitou Stream, was formerly the "Beitou Public Hot Spring Bathhouse." It was built in 1913 by the Taipei Prefectural Office, modeled after the Izu Mountain Hot Spring Bathhouse in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Spanning 700 ping, it is a two-story building, with a 235-ping brick ground floor and a 190-ping wooden second floor. The building's north facade evokes the solemn atmosphere of a Japanese shrine, making it Taiwan's most renowned and largest public bathhouse. After World War II, the bathhouse fell into disuse for a long period. Later, thanks to the enthusiastic efforts of local Beitou residents, the city government began planning in 1998 (Year 87 of the Republic) to transform the site into a community museum themed around Beitou hot springs. An inauguration ceremony was held on October 31 of the same year, officially opening it to the public.