So we would get: No. 126, Yuhe St, Xindian District, New Taipei City—not the same address as the demolished / rebuilt site discussed above.
Guy
I live in Ankang, this morning I was held up for ages at some traffic lights by the police until some blacked-out SUVs with a load of police cars and red plate police motorbikes as escorts rolled through. Must have been them!
I’ve been to the Jingmei ex-prison before, and it’s a sobering look at Taiwan’s recent past. I think a lot of younger Taiwanese are a little ignorant of these times, my wife certainly was, no one talked about it when she was younger. I don’t know if things have changed and kids learn about it in school now, but it’s important to preserve sites like this for future generations.
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I’m not completely sure of this, but I suspect that the above unusable link has moved to this unsecure URL (please be advised that entering will be at your own risk):
I couldn’t figure out how to reach the NCCU URLs, or the material in them, not even by using the Internet Archive.
Also, I guess this–
–has changed to this:
since Taipei County became New Taipei City, and Xiandian (Hsin Dien/Hsindien) City became Xiandian (Hsin Dien/Hsindien) District.
I couldn’t reach any of the videos from 2009, and while a search revealed YouTube URLs that may have contained the same or similar videos at one time, those YouTube URLs I visited indicated that the videos were no longer viewable, or used words to that effect.
Here’s an old Apple Daily article on the place (or I guess it is; I don’t really know Chinese) but it is NOT SUITABLE FOR WORK 
(or mixed company, and especially not suitable for children), because there’s a photo that shows transparent containers which reportedly contain human body parts.
https://tw.appledaily.com/headline/20090318/QJ274VYNS6LK2RQ5VP2FOWP3PE/
And thanks to @Marco, for fixing my post!
Edited to add:
Here’s a YouTube video from the twimi.net site linked above in this post:
Edited to add again:
If you go to the place on Google Maps and choose a Street View from March of 2009, it looks as if you can see the area more or less the way it looks in the YouTube video at about 1:23:
It also seems as if a news
camera crew or crews is/are there on the site.
I still haven’t figured out where everything is, though, or where it used to be.
Anyway, I hope this helps anyone who’s interested in this place and/or its history.
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A brilliant thoughtful post by the late great @Charlie_Jack above. You were a good soul, Charlie.
Adding on to what Charlie wrote, we also have a thoughtful feature article by Teng Pei-ju recently published by CNA / Focus Taiwan. Since this news agency likes to paywall articles after a brief period, I’ll place the full text below the line. It’s well worth reading.
FEATURE / How a site of White Terror persecution became a human rights venue
02/12/2026 08:24 PM
The facade of the main interrogation building at the Ankang Reception House. CNA photo Feb. 12, 2026
By Teng Pei-ju, CNA staff reporter
Summary
The transformation of a dark remnant of Taiwan’s authoritarian past into a venue for human rights education began in 2009, with the discovery of dozens of formalin jars containing human body parts inside an abandoned building in New Taipei’s Xindian district.
The jars were found by a journalist exploring the ruins of the “Ankang Reception House” (安康接待室), a euphemistically named 0.85-hectare compound where, from its opening in 1974, some of Taiwan’s most prominent political dissidents were interrogated and tortured.
Amid rumors – later debunked – that the preserved remains were the product of state-sanctioned human experimentation, public unease spread, and calls for authorities to do something about the decaying White Terror-era site grew louder.
Today, the former instrument of one-party rule has been repurposed as a monument to the ideals and people suppressed within its walls, with exhibits documenting its brutal past and guided tours organized by the National Human Rights Museum (NHRM).
Pocket of isolation
Together with accounts from its past detainees, Ankang illustrates how “the authoritarian government subjected individuals” to political persecution, Huang Lung-hsin (黃龍興), head of NHRM’s exhibition and education division, told CNA.
Speaking in 2022, Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文), a lawyer and pro-democracy campaigner from the Kaohsiung Incident of 1979, recalled being confined to a single interrogation room for approximately 50 consecutive days, with only limited opportunities to leave for bathroom breaks.
Some of Taiwan’s most prominent political dissidents during the White Terror period were interrogated by state security officers in Ankang’s white, soundproofed rooms. CNA photo Feb. 12, 2026
He endured sleep deprivation and a loss of sense of time and space in the brightly-lit room with white soundproof walls and perpetually curtained windows, as security officers worked round the clock to extract a confession before sending him to military court on sedition charges.
Yao’s fellow Kaohsiung Incident campaigner Chen Chu (陳菊), who was only 18 at the time of her detention, also spoke of enduring an agonizing interrogation before being escorted through a narrow passage linking the white rooms to tiny cells with limited ventilation and light.
During this time, Ankang existed as a pocket of isolation, Huang said, noting that the closest residential community, Hsi Yang Yang (喜洋洋), was only completed in 1982.
Some locals may have known that the hilltop compound was an Investigation Bureau facility, but its actual function remained a mystery to them, he said.
Site of injustice
Ankang was designated a historic site by the New Taipei City Government and a “site of injustice” – a space where human rights violations by the state took place – in 2022.
Despite calls from some residents to turn it into a green space with parking, Huang stressed the importance of preserving Ankang, as it is the only site used to interrogate civilians during Taiwan’s martial law period from 1949 to 1987 still standing, making it a tangible testament to the political persecution of the era.
A narrow corridor lined with detention cells. CNA photo Feb. 12, 2026
Two other interrogation sites that predated Ankang, including a traditional private residence in Datong District requisitioned by the authorities and an official building in Xinyi District, have both been torn down and the sites repurposed, he said.
Through guided tours of Ankang and other sites, such as former military courts, prisons and execution grounds, the NHRM aims to help the public gain a deeper understanding of the hardships endured by political prisoners, Huang said.
He said the NHRM had organized more than 100 tours of Ankang, attracting nearly 500 participants since March 2025.
Human rights tours
Even though Ankang has fallen into a state of dereliction over the years, with its wooden structures crumbling and iron doors rusting, visitors can explore most of the compound.
They will also be shown the shelves where the formalin jars, since removed, were once kept and told that the facility had been used by the Ministry of Justice to store forensic evidence in the post-martial law era.
Visitors listen to a tour guide in front of the gate of the Ankang Reception House. CNA photo Feb. 12, 2026
Speaking with CNA after a December tour, a 31-year-old Hong Kong visitor surnamed Liu (廖) said visiting the site helped him better understand what the detainees had experienced.
“The oppressive atmosphere” in some of the spaces, he added, is “not something one can fully grasp by merely looking at photos or floor plans.”
A Taiwanese woman, surnamed Hsia (夏), brought her two elementary school children on the same tour, hoping to expose them to the history of the White Terror, an era marked by violent political repression and pervasive surveillance and censorship under the Kuomintang’s (KMT) authoritarian rule.
She said she had been unaware of this past – a taboo in her family and schools – until university and felt compelled to ensure that her children would not go through the same experience.
“I don’t want my children to be like me, growing up in the dark.”
Enditem/ASG
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Many hidden away places.
I went here a few times– in Fengshan. Very creepy vibes. Still had cells with mats on the floors where they kept kmt era “ drug addicts" . It was a mix of old WW2 era Japanese stuff (and supposedly where the final call for the attack on pearl harbor was made) and then the transition the kmt made for it as an interrogation/”rehab” center for misbehaving military personnel.
It was maybe 4 years ago but really creepy. Some rooms that were barred off had all kinds of kmt slogans on the walls. Old Japanese medical rooms.
Massive old radar rooms with basements to protect from bombings and later turned into kmt “interrogation" rooms. One that was filled with water for the really difficult cases.
Very much worth a look if it’s still open.
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As the article above indicated, the National Human Rights Museum (Jingmei branch) is operating tours to the Ankang site. So yes it’s still open.
Guy
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And even the Jingmei site itself is a bit awkward to find.if you didn’t use Google maps. They kept them in out of the way places.
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Sorry. Should’ve pointed out I was talking about a different place in Fengshan..I’ve edited my post
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Taiwanese are boycotting a film about an unresolved part of history. Can any good come out of this? | The Straits Times Taiwanese are boycotting a film about an unresolved part of history. Can any good come out of this?
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Taiwanese film The Century Bloodshed, depicting the 1980 Lin family massacre, sparked furious backlash for insensitivity and lack of consultation, leading to its indefinite postponement.
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The controversy exposed Taiwan’s generational gap in processing historical trauma and challenges in transitional justice efforts regarding the martial law ‘White Terror’ period.
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While prompting ethical debates on portraying real-life trauma in art, the controversy spurred public interest in historical truths of the White Terror, which will help younger Taiwanese appreciate how far their society has come as a democracy.
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dunno what the big deal with the terror, other than it white
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