San-zhr Abandoned UFO Pod Village

Abandoned Pods at San-zhr, Taiwan

View Photos (12) Image © 2008 Craig Ferguson

As you travel east from Danshui along the number 2 highway that runs along the north coast of Taiwan, you come to the small town of Sanzhi (??). Just before arriving in Sanzhi (??), there’s an interesting site hugging the shoreline - an abandoned hotel/apartment complex that looks like somewhere ET might call home. I first heard about this a couple of years ago, but it was only recently that I was able to get out there. The first attempt to go there with a friend was about a year ago. At the time, all we knew was that it was on the north coast somewhere but we weren’t quite sure where and we ended up turning right where we should have turned left, so we missed it. About 6 months later, I came across it on Google Earth which allowed me to learn exactly where it was. Even knowing where it was, it took another 6 months of waiting for the right combination of weather and light before I made it out there.

Accounts vary on the origins of this complex, and indeed, as to whether it was meant to be a hotel development or a housing development. The most widely heard version says it was constructed in the 1960s and included/was to include a dam to protect it against sea surges, floors and stairs made of marble and a small amusement park. The site was commissioned by the government and local firms and there is no named architect. Local papers at the time reported that there were numerous accidents during construction which caused the death of some workers. As news of these accidents spread, no one wanted to go there, even to visit, and the project was subsequently abandoned. The ghosts of those who died in vain are said to still linger there, unremembered and unable to pass on. The complex was left in its unfinished state because no amount of redevelopment will bring people to the area due to superstitions about ghosts, and it can’t be demolished because destroying the homes of spirits and lost souls is taboo in Asian culture.

Another version states that the owner went ahead with the development prior to city halls official approval and because approval was rejected he could not run as a hotel and get a business licence. He stubbornly closed the doors to the project instead of fighting for approval. The relationship with ghosts and spirits is due to vagrants having used it as a place for living and in some cases as a place to commit rape and or murder of young victims. The building on the right was to be shops and office and the pods an upscale hotel resort.

And a third says that this project was built with the huge amount of money made on Taipei stockexchange during the 80’s but after a crack on the market, the promotor ran away and no money was left for the project. Nobody was willing to reinvest since it was too nearby the sea… then the ghost stories and the climate made their own contribution to the site.

When I was there, I met 4 young university students who were passing by and stopped for a look. They didn’t want to get too close to the buildings for fear that the ghosts would take them. They told me there was “heavy evil” in the buildings.

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Published on 1/4/08