Lin Kaijun Building, Colonial-era building in Keelung, Taiwan.
The Lin Kaijun Building is a Western-classical mansion in Keelung's Ren'ai District, built in 1931 with materials imported from China and designed by Tangshan craftsmen. Its roof carries a sky garden and a two-storey reinforced-concrete octagonal domed tower that once looked out over Keelung Harbour. The elevated East Coast expressway now blocks part of the northwest facade and the tower.
Lin Kaijun, a coal-mine operator from Sanxia, built the mansion in 1931 on the bank of the Xuchuan River. He lived there only briefly, renting it around 1936 to the painter Ni Jianghuai, who lived and painted there for about three years. After the war it was let out for shops and bars, including the Meiqi Bar, and in 1966 it appeared in the film The Sand Pebbles.
Locals long called it "Keelung Ghost House" after years of neglect and complex ownership, and it was once voted among Taiwan's ten most haunted sites. Earlier it housed the Mei Qi Bar, a haunt of American servicemen, and in 1966 it appeared in the film The Sand Pebbles. Its roof held a sky garden and an octagonal dome tower with views toward Keelung Harbour.
The building sits at the corner of Zhongzheng Road and Ai Yi Road in Ren'ai District, with its northwest face and octagonal tower partly hidden by the elevated Zhongshan Highway. Five bays along Zhongzheng Road are still rented to shops, while the corner entrance, roof garden and two bays on Ai Yi Road stand idle. The ground-floor arcade was fitted with protective sheeting after exterior cladding fell in 2020.
The rooftop holds a two-storey reinforced-concrete octagonal dome tower and a sky garden, built so the owner could look out over Keelung Harbour. Since the East Coast Elevated Road was added, the tower and the northwest facade have been largely hidden from view.
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