Elizabeth SchmitzTaiwan travel can be about unique experiences – if you know where to look. Off the beaten path and up one flight of stairs outside of the metro in Taiwan is little slice of childhood heaven; bright colors, happy quotes, and beautifully painted animals, monsters, and families. Travel to Taichung to see this incredible burst of color created by an 87 year-old military veteran fondly called “Grandpa Rainbow”.
Photo: Connie via Flickr
Grandpa Rainbow Welcomes You to Rainbow Family Village
An eye catching and unusual small village in Taichung, where almost everything in sight is tinted, highlighted, or painted in jubilant shades. An appreciation of the spectacle and tranquility is felt as one meanders the teeny streets of this tiny area of the big city.
Cheerful lively colors leave all happy and call out to everyone’s inner child as they find what appears to be an endless canvas of original whimsical life size version of kaleidoscopic Pictionary.
Photo: Steve Barringer via Wikimedia Commons
Two Reasons that inspired Grandpa Rainbow
This tiny village was crafted by Huang Yongfu, a native of Hong Kong, who is now 90 years old. After picking up the paint brush and continuing to paint day after day, Huang Yongfu earned the name “Grandpa Rainbow.”
There are two major theories about why Grandpa Rainbow decided to paint the military dependents’ village – simply because he was sick of the monotonous and drabness of his surroundings, or Granda Rainbow did it to try to make the place a more frequented stop in order to avoid demolition from a new developer. Whatever the reason, Rainbow Village is a sight to behold and has many locals and Taiwan travel lovers inquisitive about the story of this pretty village.
Photo: Steve Barringer via Wikimedia Commons
Life-Size Pictionary
Everyday Grandpa Rainbow picks up his brush and begins right where he left off. Many of the walls run into the roofs and into the sidewalks; making it almost one big continuous original picture.
There are a lot of symbols and Chinese script on display in the artwork, and some even wonder if there is a story being told.
Photo: Connie via flickr
Sidewalks Walk Their Guests
What Grandpa Rainbow did can be done anywhere. It really is just brilliant splashes of color! Like the candy cane stop sign below. Not a detail has been left bare or to waste, which is in part what makes it just so marvelous. It isn’t exquisite art, but it is flowing, and it is flowing all together. I can imagine the sidewalks walk the travel lovers through the art, rather than through the alleys and neighborhoods.
Photo via Steve Barringer Wikimedia Commons
More than One Attraction
The street performer pictured below frequents the neighborhood in Taichung singing, dancing, and playing his guitar for the locals and travel enthusiasts who have come for a little bit of color and sound in their life!
Photo: Shih Chi Chang via Flickr
Unusual and Peaceful Haven
Very little about this village is known beyond what one sees at face value. But if nothing else, it is an unusual and peaceful haven in a boisterous and chaotic metropolis. If you do travel here and find yourself in this neck of the woods, it’s a safe gamble your day will not be dull – psychedelic patterns in paint will certainly brighten up your day!
Photo: Connie via flickr
Oh, and we couldn’t resist sharing a photo of this sleeping kitty. Living and dreaming in color perhaps?
Photo: Steven Barringer via flickr
For your Taiwan travel plan, take some time to get off the beaten path and take a breather in a life-size coloring book. It is a ten minute bus ride from Xinwuri station, and it is recommended you rent or use a bike when you travel here (green thinking, people). Regardless of the reason Grandpa Rainbow decided to paint, it was his paint that saved this little neighborhood.
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