Taiwan Motor Transport Maintenance Depot

Shulin is a heavily industrialized district of approximately 185,000 residents on the southwestern periphery of Taipei. Until recently it was home to one of the most well-known large-scale ruins in the metropolitan area: the former Taiwan Motor Transport Maintenance Depot (台灣汽車客運公司機料廠), more generally known as the Shulin Factory. This abandonment was far from secret—it was regularly used for photo and video production, airsoft and paintball games, flying drones, practicing graffiti and street art, and the occasional underground techno party. It was so popular, in fact, that it attracted several con artists who impersonated security guards and the property owner to charge a fee for usage of the site, occasionally extorting large sums from more professional operations, which eventually led to their arrest.

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:28 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 7.1Shutter Speed 1/200 secFocal Length 22.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 13.3 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:24 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 7.1Shutter Speed 1/200 secFocal Length 18.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 13.3 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

This complex was likely completed in 1980 with the founding of the state-owned Taiwan Motor Transport Company (台灣汽車客運公司), or Táiqì (台汽) for short. The maintenance depot is ideally located along the main north-south transportation corridor, and would have served a fleet of hundreds of coach buses throughout the 1980s. Unfortunately the company struggled to remain profitable, and by the end of the decade it was running at a loss. The grim financial prospects led to downsizing and eventual privatization, with daily operations transferred to the newly founded Kuo-Kuang Motor Transport Company (國光汽車客運股份有限公司) in 2001. From the sounds of it, this particular maintenance depot discontinued operations in 1995, and has been idle ever since.

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 07:55 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 6.3Shutter Speed 1/160 secFocal Length 18.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 12.6 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:19 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 5.6Shutter Speed 1/125 secFocal Length 19.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 11.9 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:02 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 4Shutter Speed 1/60 secFocal Length 18.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 9.9 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1205

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:17 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 3.5Shutter Speed 1/30 secFocal Length 20.0 mmISO 280Exposure Value 8.5 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 07:57 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 3.5Shutter Speed 1/30 secFocal Length 18.0 mmISO 500Exposure Value 8.5 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:14 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 3.5Shutter Speed 1/30 secFocal Length 18.0 mmISO 500Exposure Value 8.5 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:16 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 5.6Shutter Speed 1/125 secFocal Length 18.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 11.9 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:06 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 6.3Shutter Speed 1/160 secFocal Length 18.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 12.6 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1215

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:05 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 7.1Shutter Speed 1/200 secFocal Length 18.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 13.3 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Normally I am interested in digging a little deeper into the ruins I document on this site but in this case my work has already been done by scores of others, as there is an incredible amount of media captured at this site and published online. If you’re curious to see more, just search for the common name of the site in Chinese (樹林台汽廢墟). I will only mention this drone footage, which does a fine job demonstrating the scale of the complex.

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:08 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 7.1Shutter Speed 1/200 secFocal Length 19.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 13.3 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Oh, and rumours are true—we had a wicked rave here one night. It was quite impressive to see hundreds of people assemble in this abandoned complex and dance until dawn. Even the phony landlord had fun, from what I recall.

Date Captured February 11th, 2017 at 18:34 UTCCamera SM-G9208Lens Samsung Galaxy S6 Rear CameraAperture ƒ / 1.9Shutter Speed 1/15 secFocal Length 4.3 mmISO 1000Exposure Value 5.8 EVOriginal Size 1200 × 800

Date Captured February 11th, 2017 at 22:24 UTCCamera SM-G9208Lens Samsung Galaxy S6 Rear CameraAperture ƒ / 1.9Shutter Speed 1/13 secFocal Length 4.3 mmISO 200Exposure Value 5.6 EVOriginal Size 1200 × 1200

Date Captured February 11th, 2017 at 22:19 UTCCamera SM-G9208Lens Samsung Galaxy S6 Rear CameraAperture ƒ / 1.9Shutter Speed 1/11 secFocal Length 4.3 mmISO 200Exposure Value 5.3 EVOriginal Size 1200 × 1200

Date Captured May 26th, 2017 at 08:09 UTCCamera NIKON D3100Lens AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED IIAperture ƒ / 7.1Shutter Speed 1/200 secFocal Length 20.0 mmISO 200Exposure Value 13.3 EVOriginal Size 1800 × 1200

Finally, I should reiterate something briefly mentioned in the introduction: this place has been demolished as of 2019. It now exists only in our collective memory.