Not from this world – or is it? The '70s was all about thinking outside the box, embracing life with an open attitude and wearing clothes that were pretty wild. It's no accident that they're known as the colorful decade. As in all areas of life, you can still find traces of this very special time in architecture. The first futuristic buildings were built at that time.
In this blog post, we're going to take a look at a construction project that's second to none. Is it something from an old science fiction movie or is it truly extraterrestrial? We are on the road in Sanzhi, a somewhat remote region of Taiwan. To our right, the waves gently crash against the shallow, sandy beach and then slowly retreat. The beaches here are surfing hotspots, and a great place for all water sports enthusiasts. It's no surprise that the nearest hotels are nearby.
To the left is where the shore begins. It slopes up a bit and then merges with a forest that’s overgrown a bit. But wait—something yellow catches our eye amidst the wild trees and bushes. Is it a bird or an airplane? No, it's a UFO! Or at least something that looks like what we'd expect one of these much-discussed flying objects from outer space to look like.
As we get closer, we see that the bizarre structure isn't the only one here. There are loads of them here, in the form of flying (or rather hovering) saucers or futuristic, cubic buildings. There’s a strange quiet in the air, broken only by the distant cries of a few seagulls.
What kind of place is this? And why is it so abandoned? Given the location, right on the beach, it's likely there's a lot going on! We're standing on the edge of the so-called UFO settlement, an unfinished construction project with a fascinating history. You'll find out more about it in this article. Read on!
History of UFO Settlement in Taiwan
The UFO settlement is also known as Sanzhi Pod City, Wanli UFO Village, or Sanzhi UFO Houses. This construction project got its start back in the 1970s when a local businessman bought a soda factory. He had this idea of a special kind of vacation resort. He figured that lots of people would come to live or spend their vacations here—the location was just perfect.
In line with the zeitgeist of that time, the holiday homes and residential properties were to be something really special: futuristic, as if made of a single piece. With all the bright colors, these decorations are sure to attract families and young people to the coast every year. Above all, it was to become a holiday destination for those who could afford a vacation in such an amazing place on earth. Today we know: This plan didn't work. But what went wrong?
Problems with Construction of UFO Settlement in Taiwan
Of course, building an entire vacation resort costs a lot of money. It's not clear how much exactly, but the costs probably increased much more than expected. Various pools and large, well-kept green areas with landscaped ponds were planned. The successful completion of the construction quickly became a distant prospect. There were also legal discrepancies that had to be clarified. Building permits, ownership rights to the land—all of these caused problems during the construction of the UFO settlement in Taiwan. As a result, the construction was put on hold a lot.
However, it wasn't just the costs and legal issues that kept the plans from moving forward. The buildings were intended to be built in a way that was different from what we're used to. After all, you don't build a UFO out of traditional brickwork. So the engineers had to come up with a way to build structures with a futuristic look that would be stable enough to last for decades.
On top of the financial issues, there were also rumours of paranormal incidents. This eventually led to the project being put on hold after just two years and then eventually abandoned.
Rumors in UFO Settlement
There are lots of paranormal activities in Wanli UFO Village that you can find online. But what's really going on there? In fact, there have been lots of reports of strange noises or lights that are difficult to verify. However, they can be explained logically due to the location by the sea and the neighboring hotel complexes.
We'll look at the most well-known rumors about the UFO settlement and then see if paranormal activity was really responsible for the final failure of the ambitious construction project.
First, let's take a look at the site today—it's been like this for decades. Plants are overgrown, the pond water is brown, and the strange structures are slowly collapsing. The atmosphere is really unique, and it's easy to imagine ghosts. So it's no surprise that legends and myths surround the UFO village in Taiwan.
Paranormal Activity?
The UFO village is haunted!
Aside from the obviously spooky atmosphere of the ghost settlement, most of the stories about this place revolve around a cemetery. This is located right behind the UFO settlement and is already overgrown. Some say it's a Dutch cemetery that dates back to when the Netherlands colonized some areas of what is now Taiwan.
It's thought that around 70,000 dead people are in the graves and the soil beneath the settlement. And here a characteristic of many Taiwanese comes into play: Taiwanese are very superstitious. In their culture, it's really important to take care of the graves of the deceased and keep them tidy.
It's possible that ancestors can rise from untended graves and cause great misfortune. It's a pretty strong superstition in Taiwan. People there avoid going into the water or even to the beach in the summer (which is known as the ghost month of July). Because there, they could be attacked by the ghosts of the shipwrecked. There were more than enough of them, especially from the colonial era. It's pretty clear that Ghost Month is smack dab in the middle of the crucial peak season.
However, this superstition already manifested itself during the construction. It was thought that the spirits of the buried ancestors wouldn't be too happy about a vacation park being built over their graves. Rumor has it that this led to strange car accidents and general malaise among the workers on the construction site. There have been reports of body parts being found, construction workers having accidents, and other strange incidents. None of this has been officially confirmed.
Another story that has prevailed to this day is that of a destroyed sculpture. Word is that there was a statue of a Chinese dragon at the entrance to the construction site. In Chinese culture, long dragons stand for good luck and prosperity. To get better access to the construction site, they tore down the statue, which brought on a never-ending streak of bad luck.
Why did the UFO village project fail?
Let's focus on the reasons why the UFO settlement was abandoned. At the start of our article, we already mentioned the financial problems of the businessman who wanted to build an upscale vacation resort by the sea with this project. However, there are others, which we explain in more detail below.
Economic and Financial Issues
While Taiwan's economy was booming in the 1970s, especially in terms of real estate, the country suddenly found itself in a deep energy crisis at the beginning of the 1980s. The money ran out, the site was sealed off, and the shell buildings lay derelict for almost ten years.
In 1989, they tried to save the resort, but it didn't work out; they had to give up after a year. Something similar happened around 2010 when the site was sold again. Some buildings were demolished, but all construction work stopped here, too. The investors pulled out for reasons that aren't clear.
Did they also have too much respect for the ghost stories? There was never much coverage of this construction project in the press, not even locally. It is precisely this lack of knowledge about the failed construction projects there that is perfect fuel for the global rumor mill.
Wind and Weather
A location in a warm place right by the sea – sounds like a tourism gold mine at first. But if you take a closer look at the climatic conditions in Taiwan, you'll quickly see where the problem lies.
Taiwan's coasts are particularly prone to storms and typhoons. Even without storms, life there is challenging. The thermometer regularly reaches 40 °C in summer, and the air is very humid. For a vacation or even a permanent residence, this can only be endured in a well-air-conditioned house.
But here was another issue. The UFO houses are made of plastic, stand on supports, and have wooden or stone picnic tables underneath. This seems like a good idea on paper or on a screen, but it doesn't work in practice.
The cubic buildings were made entirely of fiberglass, including the bathrooms, so that everything looked as if it had been cast in one piece.
This was meant to make the futuristic exterior look cool. But plastic and fiberglass aren't great insulators, and with the warm and humid weather, a lot of things broke pretty fast. The damage was constant, and the residents and owners of the houses couldn't keep up.
Cost and Comfort
Not only was the settlement quite remote, but the rent for the accommodations was also very high. For example, the initiator of the whole project charged € 135 per day for one of these bizarre buildings – in the 1970s! Of course, not everyone could afford it. And due to the bad location by the sea—due to typhoons and strong superstition—this area was simply not suitable as a holiday resort.
The tenants came in the beginning, but at some point they just gave up. By the end of the 1970s, the estate had gradually become a ghost town. Today, only a few people live in the best preserved houses, which are intentionally secluded.
Future of UFO Settlement
What will become of the abandoned UFO settlement in Taiwan?
After several attempts to breathe life back into the ghost village have failed, it is questionable what the future holds for this place. The buildings are falling apart and many have already collapsed completely. Bad weather and ghost stories do the rest. Not even the mayor of the region says a word about the area.
It is therefore unlikely that the long-awaited resort will ever be built and operated profitably in this corner of the world. The construction project was a complete failure from the start. Environmental and cultural issues were either ignored or grossly underestimated. This is not uncommon, especially in large construction projects.
This failure could have been avoided. In our industry, there are a lot of things to consider when choosing a location for a construction project and how to implement it. It is not for nothing that the design process is so long. Many factors need to be coordinated and adjusted.
Conclusion
Why the UFO village in Taiwan was doomed to fail
A holiday resort right next to—or, if you believe the stories, even on—an unkempt cemetery in a very superstitious country with a strong ancestor cult: it could only go wrong. Then there was the wrong choice of materials. Plastic and fiberglass were completely wrong for this location from the start.
Superstition and enthusiastic myths tell of walking ghosts, lost souls, and workers who died on the eternal construction site. None of this has been officially proven. There are simply no reports of anyone ever dying while working on the site.
Rather, we can assume that various aspects of poor planning, which we have shown you in detail, led to the failure of this project. All the legends and ghost stories are probably one of the reasons why nobody dared to continue the construction project or to realize their own dream of a holiday resort after the demolition.
By the way, many newspapers reported that the entire complex was completely demolished in 2010 after the last known purchase by an investor. However, videos and reports, some very recent, show that most of the UFO houses are still there and are slowly falling apart.
All of this makes it a very special lost place that attracts people from all over the world who are seeking for adventure. And for us in structural engineering, it's another example of how important it is to consider every factor when planning construction projects. Even when it comes to storms and ghosts.