Children’s World or Fairy Tale World amusement park (童話世界遺跡) was an amusement park in the 1980s, located at the border between Guanxi Township in Hsinchu County and Longtan District in Taoyuan City.
The park covered an area of over 20 hectares. It was also used as a filming location for the 1986 Taiwanese movie Beidou Xinquan. It was built with an investment of nearly 300 million NTD. The park was planned to include a family-friendly amusement area, a scenic leisure area, and a lakeside resort area.
It offered various attractions such as a pirate ship, horseback riding, bumper boats, and more. The buildings were full of whimsical charm, with structures like Dwarf Village, Cinderella Castle, Xinghua Palace Castle, and the Little People’s Kingdom Castle. In addition to the stunning castles, the 66-foot-high Giant Kong Observation Tower was a remarkable feature. The fairy tale-like cartoon scenes gave visitors the illusion of being in Disneyland.
Due to its location within the catchment area upstream of Shimen Reservoir, development was later prohibited to protect the water resources. As a result, the park was abandoned. Eventually, Bhikkhuni Xinchun took over the site, renaming it Buddha World. The site has since been transformed into a Buddhist retreat under the Linji School which is closed too.
Some of the historical castle structures from its fairytale-themed days still remain. The site is easily accessible, and no one seems to be taking care of it. Some of the buildings are still in relatively good condition, giving a glimpse of the park’s former charm.
Below, there is a nice access point to the reservoir.
Above is the Buddha World, closed at the moment.
(picture from 2019)
(Copyright Claudius Petzold)
