Former Residence of Du

　Former Residence of Du, an archaic yet nevertheless elegant two-story brick building, is located in the alleyway across from Wu Clan Ancestral Hall (see map ). Judging from its architectural design, we preliminarily surmised that this residence once housed some person of considerable prestige, and after some research, we were able to confirm that, true to our speculation, this was the former residence of the Si-guei Du, the first popularly elected, and consecutively re-elected, Changhua City mayor, and that Du was also a substantially influential name in the Xiaoxi neighborhood at the time.

Recent Photo of Former Residence of Du

Mr. Si-guei Du was the first elected mayor the institution of regional autonomy in Taiwan in 1952, and in his two terms he dedicated himself to the development of numerous infrastructural constructions, such as that of the city hall building, the fish market, and the purchasing of land to use as site for a beer factory (now Jin-de campus of National Changhua University of Education), among others.

On the name plate of the Residence can be seen two words “杜樹 (pronounced du-shu),” which is the name of a relative of Mayor Du, but no one lives here anymore.

Reference

• Walking Xiaoxi, in Search of Treasures