Jiaobanshan Resort (Kakaban-san Lodge)
角板山賓館
Jiaobanshan Resort is a historic mountain retreat in Fuxing District, Taoyuan City, Taiwan. The original Kakaban-san Guest House was completed in 1914 of hinoki cypress and was later prepared for Crown Prince Hirohito's 1923 Taiwan tour (台灣行啟), although he did not use it. Located in the traditional territory of the Atayal indigenous people, the hilltop site later became President Chiang Kai-shek's favourite retreat, who reportedly found the scenery reminiscent of his hometown Xikou in Zhejiang. The current villa dates to 1960 and was opened to the public in 1995.
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History
Jiaobanshan Resort (角板山行館) occupies a scenic hilltop plateau in Fuxing District, Taoyuan City, in the mountainous interior of northern Taiwan. The site sits within the traditional territory of the Atayal (泰雅族) indigenous people, at an elevation of approximately 636 metres overlooking the Dahan River gorge — a landscape of dramatic beauty that has drawn powerful figures for over a century.
During the Japanese colonial period, the Taiwan Governor-General's Office recognized Kakaban-san (角板山, the Japanese rendering of the Atayal name) as a strategic location for administering the mountainous indigenous territories. In 1914, during the tenure of Governor-General Sakuma Samata, a guest house was built of hinoki cypress timber, reportedly at a cost exceeding 46,000 yen. The building, dubbed the "Prince's Tower" (太子樓), was later designated to host Crown Prince Hirohito (later Emperor Shōwa) during his 1923 visit to Taiwan (東宮行啟). However, the Crown Prince did not actually use this guest house during his April 1923 tour, though the facility subsequently hosted numerous other members of the Japanese imperial family.
Following Japan's surrender in 1945 and the transition to Republic of China governance, President Chiang Kai-shek first visited Kakaban-san (renamed Jiaobanshan) in October 1950. Reportedly enchanted by the mountain scenery — which he compared to his hometown of Xikou (溪口) in Zhejiang Province — Chiang designated the area as a presidential retreat. The current villa was constructed in 1960 on 5.76 hectares of requisitioned mountain reserve land, featuring red brick construction with six rooms, bulletproof glass, three escape corridors, and an elaborate underground bunker extending 40 metres into the mountainside.
Despite its modern amenities, Chiang Kai-shek continued to prefer the original Japanese-era guest house. His son Chiang Ching-kuo visited the newer villa more frequently. The original 1914 guest house was destroyed by fire in April 1992 and subsequently rebuilt as a four-storey building (now the Fuxing Youth Activity Center).
The villa was opened to the public on 20 August 1995, following President Lee Teng-hui's decision to transfer it to Taoyuan County. On 23 February 2005, it was designated a registered historical building. Today the resort complex encompasses the preserved villa, a war-readiness tunnel, plum gardens, and a former camphor collection office, offering visitors a layered experience of colonial, wartime, and Cold War-era history in Taiwan's mountainous interior.