The first time I knew about Rainbow Village was in my hometown, Malang City, East Java, Indonesia. The village in the Jodipan area, which was originally close to the Brantas river, was impressed by the slum village and was finally transformed by the creative hands of students in Malang and is now one of the interesting tourist destinations in Malang. I just found out that in Taichung there is a similar rainbow village and the location is close to where I live in the Taiping District.
Rainbow Village is located in the Nantun District, Taichung, Taiwan. Take a taxi for about 10 minutes or if you use an inner city bus it can be reached in ± 20 minutes, get off at Lintung University then walk for ± 10 minutes. Rainbow Village is open from 08: 00-18: 00.
This Rainbow village used to be a residential complex for veterans in Taiwan. Many of these housing estates have been abandoned and in damaged conditions, the Taiwan government then demolished these buildings. There is a house complex whose owner did not want to move and his house was torn down, namely Huang Yung-Fu. Then Huang's grandfather painted the houses in various colors with various pictures as a form of resistance to the Taiwanese government who wanted to tear down the housing complex where he lived. There are only 11 houses left from the 1200 houses that have been torn down. The housing complex created by Rainbow Village is now a bungalow that Huang's grandfather bought 42 years ago to be precise in 1978.
In 2008, initially Huang's grandfather only drew pictures on the walls of his house, painting small birds, planes, cats, people, etc. He continued to draw as resistance so that the Taiwan Government would not tear down his residence, Huang's grandfather reasoned that he did not want to move because he had spent his entire life there since the end of World War II.
Two years later, a student from Ling Tung University was touched by Grandpa Huang's persistence in painting his home area. He also started raising funds to help Grandpa Huang buy paint, as well as creating a petition, complete with stories of Grandpa Huang's struggles, to protest the demolition of the settlement. This painting activity also served as entertainment for the lonely Grandpa Huang. From only the walls of his house extending until all corners of the housing were all painted by Grandpa Huang. Until now, he still paints, getting up every morning at 4 o'clock to repair the damaged paintings.
This settlement became known as the Rainbow Village, attracting many tourists to visit. Grandpa Huang, of course, was happy that the settlement, which he only lived in, was now full of tourists. Currently Grandpa Huang is 97 years old. Not only the walls but even the streets had been painted by Grandpa Huang. From the information I get, Grandpa Huang usually sits near the gift shop to greet visitors, but that day was not a lucky day for me to meet him. Tourism in the rainbow village is free of charge, but we can make donations to support the care of Rainbow Village, for donations you can put in a box near Grandpa Huang, usually sitting near a souvenir shop or you can put it in a box near Grandpa Huang's house.
To find out the story about the origin of Rainbow Village we can go to the Story House on the front. Inside this house are displayed news snippets as well as photographs about the origin of the Rainbow Village. There is also a room full of paint cans and paintbrushes. There is also a souvenir shop that sells interesting items such as umbrellas, cups, t-shirts, hats, fans, coasters, postcards, all of which are printed with Grandpa Huang's childish style paintings. There are also food and soft drink stalls available there. The place is not that wide, for 1 hour being there it is very satisfying to enjoy the cheerful colors in every corner.
Being in Rainbow Village reminds you of the joy of childhood, as far as the eye can see, you can not escape the scenery of colorful paintings, like in a fairy tale world.
