Songshan Cultural and Creative Park

The Songshan tobacco factory was built in 1937 and was among the most advanced industrial buildings in Taiwan, with a baroque-style garden courtyard at its centre and dormitories, a nursery and a bathhouse for its workers. It closed in 1998 and reopened in 2011 as a creative park: the industrial halls hold exhibitions and design shops, the courtyard is kept as a garden, and the Taiwan Design Museum and a large bookstore complex sit alongside.

What you actually see

• The 1937 factory - industrial halls converted to exhibition and studio space.
• The baroque courtyard - the planted garden court at the centre of the complex.
• The Design Museum - Taiwanese design collections in the converted buildings.
• The ecological pond - the old water storage pond kept as a wildlife area.

When to go

Year round; the park keeps daily hours and exhibitions vary. Weekends bring markets and crowds. Evenings are pleasant in the courtyard.

Honest expectations

What is on depends entirely on the current exhibitions and some are ticketed and expensive. The retail element is heavy. Weekend crowds fill the halls.

Nearby

Taipei 101 is a short walk east, and the Grand Hotel is north.