The Asia-Pacific Institute of Creativity (亞太創意技術學院) was a college in Toufen City.

It is one of the many universities in Taiwan that have shut down and has become a destination for urban explorers. I trace back deep into human history, to an episode that has profoundly influenced the role of women to this day. I must say, I can understand Eve when she accepted the offer of the apple. The fruit of the poisonous tree is simply too tempting. I probably would have begged our reptilian friend for other fruits as well. So, my brothers from another mothers, now you partly understand my motivation. Unfortunately, there are the green frogs and the guards. But where there’s a will and a spirit, there’s always a way in.

APIC offered a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs in creative fields, including Bachelor’s degrees in Visual Communication Design, Fashion Design, Digital Media Design, and 3D Animation, as well as Master’s degrees in Design Strategy and Innovation and Digital Entertainment and Game Design.

Inside, everything is still intact—you can still feel the thirst for knowledge of today’s youth.

Like all universities in Taiwan, it has a beautiful campus. However, you can spot the natural enemy of every urban explorer—the camera.

The school was originally founded as Chin-Min College in 1985. In 2010, it was renamed the Asia-Pacific Institute of Creativity. Like many other universities, it struggled with declining student numbers and eventually ran into financial difficulties. Its remote location didn’t help either—Toufen isn’t exactly a lively place, especially on the outskirts. That creepy doll up there gave me a fright—I almost thought… green frogs.

I visited a few more places, some of which still had much of their interior intact—as if the school had just been abandoned, with only a bit of vandalism here and there. There were even remnants of a golf course.


Despite all the caution, I still ran into a camera, and it turned into a preemptive sport—quick jogging out of the area.

Copyright Claudius Petzold





