Bringing Fresh Life to Heritage Architecture

TEN DRUM CULTURE VILLAGE
(TEN DRUM CREATIVE PARK)

Tainan is well known for the strong flavors ubiquitous throughout the city’s cuisine—nearly any meal will be exploding with taste: sweet, savory, maybe even both. This is in part due to the city’s history as a center of sugar production.

In 1890, Tainan had 1057 operational sugar mills. New methods of industrialized sugar production introduced during the Japanese Colonial Era led to the opening of larger mills. One such mill was the Rende Sugar Refinery which operated for nearly a century. After its decommissioning in 2003, the Ten Drum Art Percussion Group decided to repurpose the buildings into the first cultural space dedicated to folk drumming in Asia: Ten Drum Culture Village.

Drum music is an essential part of temple culture in Taiwan. The Ten Drum Art Percussion Group is a traditional folk drumming group that incorporates world influences into their performances. Their album “Drum Music Land” was nominated for the Best Traditional World Music Album award at the 52th Grammys. Ten Drum Culture Village features a repertory theater as well as two indoor performance halls and a large experimental outdoor stage composed of five gear-shaped stages.

Interestingly, Ten Drum Art Percussion Group doesn’t derive their name from the number of drums they use, but rather from the shape of the Chinese character for 10, “十”, which resembles a cross. The cross is a symbolic representation of balanced power and also visually appears to be two drumsticks crossed together. The group uses drums made of compressed pulp fiber produced by the Qingxilin Drum Factory. The innovative and environmentally-friendly manufacturing process is the theme of one of the buildings inside the village.

In addition to being a center for the percussive arts, the village also features a chimney slide, Kiki’s Delivery Service-themed zipline, a spiderman-jump experience, a rooftop swing and a rappelling experience. Why? Because it’s Taiwan! The architectural style of the park is reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Howl’s Moving Castle“. For the more adventurous, these attractions can offer another perspective of this industrial age culture park.

This hundred-year-old sugar refinery isn’t without natural features. 349-meters of suspended walkway surround a massive 100-year-old banyan tree with walkways ranging from 2 to 5 floors in height. Climb up for a unique vantage point of the park.

Finally, the Culture Park also features a bakery and restaurant, complete with local specialties served in drum-shaped bowls. There’s no doubt this cultural park has something for visitors of all ages.

Just Sleep Tainan Hushan is located next to Ten Drum Culture Village. It is a sugar mill themed, children-friendly hotel. It is also near the CHIMEI Museum.

While in Tainan, be sure to head to downtown Tainan for delicious small eats and a traditional bowl of slack season noodles.