Taiwan Oil Field Exhibition Hall in Taiwan
Taiwan imports almost all of its energy. That fact can make the island’s own oil history feel easy to forget. In Miaoli County, ChuHuangKeng is Taiwan’s most important early oil site. Local sources sometimes refer it as the first modern oil well area in East Asia. Labels can be disputed, but the place significance is without any doubt. It tells Taiwan’s main petroleum story for more than a century, from the 1861 discovery in the late Qing period, through Japanese rule, and all the way into the several wells that still produce natural gas today.
The Taiwan Oil Field Exhibition Hall sits next to the old field. At the entrance stands a statue of three oil workers at a wellhead. CPC Corporation, Taiwan’s state oil company, runs the museum. Inside, displays cover the discovery of oil here, the tools used in oil and gas work, and the daily life of an oil camp. The museum also has hands-on exhibits, a cable car exhibit, and a VR section that introduces deep-sea oil work.
The outside attractions are arguably even more intriguing than the museum itself. Outside, the site becomes more vivid. A former cable car route climbs the hill. It leads to an old oil derrick. The nearby area consists of a little village that was once vibrant in its heyday. Visitors can get sweets and old-school snacks in the village shop. Some old dorm buildings are now renovated into guesthouses and a cafe—a unique option if you wish to spend the night in the oil village.
Even the local Kaigoing elementary school name reflects this past. The name Kaigong comes from the Chinese 開礦, which means “open a mine.” Locals used “mining” language for oil and gas work, so the name points to the industrial roots of the village.
