As you come to the bustling Yanping Road in Zhongli, the two hundred year-old Renhai Temple is always crowded with pious worshippers. In fact, other than the historic temples, the downtown area also has rich cultural heritages. For instance, the renovated Japanese-style dormitory in Xinjie Elementary School has become the first historic building within a campus in Taoyuan. Surrounded by abundant historic attractions, Zhongli, a place nurtured by Hakka culture, is a perfect place for a cultural light travel. When you walk into Xinjie Elementary School, a historic wooden Japanese-style house is situated in the rear and northern side of the new Chaoyang Building. Its nostalgic and quaint Japanese style always attracts the attention of passersby. This Japanese-style dormitory was built in 1934 and was used to accommodate the teaching faculty in the Japanese colonial period. In 2003, when Xinjie Elementary School underwent a reconstruction, the eighty year-old historic Japanese-style building was discovered. Since the building was in a good condition and had high preservation value, the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Taoyuan City Government submitted the preservation proposal to the Councils for Cultural Affairs. In 2004, the building was officially registered as a historical building. In 2005, its renovation began and took four years to be completed. The building’s quaint and historical ambience makes it a popular spot for photography. Visitors also like to have a rest at the open corridor and feel a moment of laid-back leisure. Currently, the Japanese-style dormitory is a single-storey wooden building, which shows a sense of gradation because of the inclined roof covered by dark gray cement tiles, adding more Japanese ambience to it. The dormitory has both front and back yards which are the evidence of its glorious past and its exterior walls are well preserved. To allow air circulation and prevent humidity, the groun...