新埤反空降機槍碉堡一號

June 12th, 2015

While cycling through Xinpi, an otherwise ordinary expanse of rural Pingtung, I was surprised to see a sign indicating that there was a “fort” somewhere in the area. I cut loose from the main road I was following and went to go investigate. After following a bend in the river just outside a small settlement I found it: a Japanese anti-aircraft fortification dating back to the late 1930s or early 1940s. I haven’t found a formal name for this fortification so I’m going to call it the Xinpi Machine Gun Tower (新埤反空降機槍碉堡) until I hear of something better.

A Japanese era anti-aircraft turret in Xinpi.

The last fortification I visited was all locked up. This one is free to enter.

I previously encountered similar fortifications in rural Changhua but was unable to gain access to either of them. This time around I had no problem at all. Actually, a local man saw me taking interest in the old fort and sauntered over to let me know that I was welcome to go take a look by swinging open the door and saying as much (in English, oddly enough, which is almost completely unheard of down in the south).

Climbing a rusty ladder to the top of the fortification.

The interior held no great surprises but it was still interesting to take a closer look at this World War 2 relic out there in the middle of nowhere. The turret had three levels: a partly flooded basement filled with trash and spiderwebs (no thanks), a central chamber with several concrete pedestals for sitting or resting weapons on top of, and an open area up top accessible by a rusty old ladder. It is strange to think that however many decades ago there were people up there watching the skies for allied planes passing overhead.

The main chamber inside the Japanese era fortification with a sunbeam shining in.

Back outside I had a brief chat with the local man who had welcomed me mere minutes ago. I asked whether there had been an airbase located nearby and he told me that this particular fortification had been built solely to defend the nearby village. He doubted it had seen any action in the war and I could see nothing that would suggest he was wrong.

This is far from the only fortification in the area. If you’re in the area you may as well check out some of the other old forts around Xinpi. the second old gun fort in the area while you’re there—it’s a little east of this one in Jihu Old Fort Park (箕湖古碉堡公園). And be sure to read about the rest of my day on the road!

Map

Themes

Japanese Colonial Era Taiwan (台灣日治時代)
Urban Exploration in Taiwan (台灣城市探險)
World War 2 History in Taiwan (台灣第二次世界大戰歷史)
Military Fortifications in Taiwan (台灣碉堡)

Series: Southern Taiwan Ride 2015

This series chronicles a multi-day bicycle trip around the deep south of Taiwan, specifically from Tainan to Taitung in June 2015. Along the way I visited many places in Kaohsiung and especially Pingtung. A lot of what I saw and experienced hasn’t been written about in English very much so I’ve taken some extra time to provide background information to better contextualize what’s in the many photographs in this series. Altogether this is a complete trip journal clocking in at around 20,000 words from start to finish!