Hsinchu Statue Park, Hsinchu City, Taiwan

This is a back entry from over a year ago from when we went up to Hsinchu's Statue Park.  We took the TRA to Hsinchu station and hailed a taxi from there up to the Statue Park- GuQi FengYu Park or 古奇峰育樂園 （guqifengyuleyuan).  I've heard it's possible to take a bus to a nearby bus stop, but we opted for the most direct way!  Regardless, if you're interested in seeing some pretty freaky statues, ranging from beautiful Buddhist statues to Daoist figures to graceful human figures to horses, demons, and even the Statue of Liberty in miniature, this is the place to go.  Below is a map of Statue Park (300新竹市東區高峰路306巷66號):

The grounds themselves are pretty interesting.  As you wander through the hilly paths of this private collection of statues, much of the park is shaded by trees, which makes for a very pleasant walk.  This is in contrast to most of the parks in Kaohsiung that offer little in the way of protection from the sun.  In fact, although many other bloggers, such as Casey, find this park a bit creepy (and I will admit that some of the statues are a bit displaced), I found this park to actually be quite charming despite its kitschiness!

There are plenty of statues to keep your interest piqued- from horses, to humans, to lanterns, all along a winding mountainside path.  There are even some side paths you can take that will lead further into the woody areas, which were particularly pleasant.  The key, I think, with this particular attraction is to keep an eye out for the older, more religious themed statues, as they are a bit more aesthetically pleasing.  That said, neither Jenny nor I ended up taking any photos of the more outlandish statues at the end of our walk (imitations of famous western works) lined up along some pretty ugly white tile.  Most of our photos are from collections off the beaten path covered in overgrowth, trees, and moss, since they seemed to be the most photogenic.

Honestly, I think this park could be something really special if the time (and money) was spent to reorganize the statues and display them in a more appealing way.  Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like this will happen in the near future, but if you happen to be in the Hsinchu area, it's worth stopping in for a stroll around.