UFO buildings and space age rocks: Taiwan 2019

A neglected Futuro home in Wanli.

I have habit of eschewing tourist package day trips if there is a possibility of reaching the same destinations using local public transport. After a decent amount of research I discovered that, although the Wanli UFO style village was not on any package tours from Taipei, it was possible to reach it using public transport. What has come to be known as the Wanli UFO Village, this place is a semi-abandoned holiday resort located in the north of Taiwan opposite a beach. There were two such sites built in the 1970s as holiday apartments. The one at Sanzhi has sadly been demolished but, at this stage, most of the ones at Wanli are still standing. The village contains Futuro and Venturo houses which are now quite rare. Designed by the Finnish architect Matti Suuronen, these houses resemble flying saucers and are retro futuristic pre-fab house models.

Despite Wanli's fame as a beach and paragliding location, when I arrived, I was greeted with an eerie emptiness which included a large empty parking lot, blocked off from automotive entry with large concrete bollards. This was ironically reassuring as I assumed I must be getting closer to the abandoned village. Interestingly on the left I viewed yet another abandoned building, a gigantic, castle themed seafood restaurant and hotel. And it was then, peeking through some overgrown foliage that I witnessed what was most surely a distinctive yellow Futuro building.

Spotted! Both a Venturo and Futuro house.

It paid off to be on foot. bollards eerily block any car entry into the UFO site.

The strange, castle themed Pacific Resort at Green Bay (Wanli). It has a bit of a Shining ambience!

The abandoned Pacific Resort at Green Bay. The restaurant sign is relatively new, making me wonder just how long ago it was closed.