Taichung Dakeng - Ya Gu Garden

In the 1990s, on television screens, accompanied by the laughter and shouts from Hu Gua's signature show 'Hundred Battles', Ya Gu Garden in Taichung's Dakeng was once the most glamorous European-style amusement park in all of Taiwan. It once featured magnificent water shows, vibrant flower seas, and crowds of visitors shoulder-to-shoulder. In its prime, its annual revenue reached over 100 million yuan, truly a local tourism legend. However, after the devastating impact of the 921 earthquake on central Taiwan, coupled with subsequent failed business transformations, Ya Gu Garden officially closed its doors in 2008. Since then, prosperity has faded. European-style statues have gradually become mottled and weathered by wind and rain, and the exquisite landscaping has devolved into overgrown wilderness. This once joyful paradise, after being abandoned for over a decade, was ironically rated the 8th 'Most Terrifying Ruin in the World' by the British 'The Metro' newspaper years ago due to its eerie, bizarre, and time-capsule-like atmosphere, once again drawing national attention. Rumors abound that those who sneak into the ruins at midnight often see blurry figures moving by the abandoned water fountain, or even faintly hear the cheers and screams from the variety show sets of yesteryear in the power-cut amusement park area, as if souls lingering on past glories are still unwilling to depart. Today, this mysterious ruin has been transformed by racing enthusiasts into Taiwan's first legal racing test track, with the roar of engines finally breaking the long-standing silence. This park, oscillating between ruin and rebirth, remains one of Taichung Dakeng's most intriguing legends to this day.