After the rain – A new day for Suantou Sugar Factory

Built in 1906, Suantou Sugar Factory was the third largest factory in Taiwan during the Japanese occupation. In 2001, Typhoon Nari flooded the plant and seriously damaged the sugar-making equipment, leading to the factory's closure. Today, Suantou Sugar Factory has transformed itself into Suantou Sugar Cultural Park, a tourism and leisure development that includes Taiwan Sugar's unique mini-train, as well as stunning Japanese-era dormitories and baroque style architecture.

The cultural park has also created a railway heritage museum and an ecological garden. By combining the concept of environmental protection with resource recycling, the sugar factory now has an educational function. In recent years, many traditional Taiwanese industries have transformed to integrate tourism. It is hoped that these changes will help educate the public about rural Taiwan and save traditional industries teetering on the brink of vanishing into the sands of time.

以下為中文對照

雨過天青 蒜頭糖廠另闢新天地

嘉義蒜頭糖廠建於西元1906年，在日治時期曾是全台第三大廠。2001年納莉颱風造成廠區淹水，製糖設備嚴重毀損，因此停止製糖業務。今日蒜頭糖廠結合台糖特有的五分車，以「蔗埕文化園區」為主題，轉型朝觀光休閒發展，廠區內也可欣賞到日式宿舍群及巴洛克式建築。

文化園區另外設置了一座鐵道文物館，園區內還有生態公園，結合了環保概念與資源回收的應用，使糖廠兼具教育的功能。現今在台灣有不少傳統產業轉型後會建立觀光工廠開放參觀，希望讓大家在認識台灣農村的同時，也幫助傳統產業以不同方式繼續下去。

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