Taiwan Sugar Corporation and Aiai Houses

This view of Dali Street in Taipei has been like this for more than 70 years. The towering chimney of the sugar factory stands in the distance. Closer to where the picture was taken are low wooden houses and vegetable gardens. This was the Aiai Houses, where beggars could go and live (now called the Aiai Nursing Home of Taipei).
The Aiai Houses was started in 1922 by Shi Qian, a resident of Tamsui. Shi Qian worked in the Office of the Governor-General and was charged with investigating the life of beggars who lived in Monga (now called Wanhua). This unexpectedly instilled in him a desire to aid these beggars, and so he quit his job. In an uncultivated plot of land in the outskirts of the city, he started to take in beggars from all over, providing food, shelter, and medical care. He also taught them life skills such as how to weave, raise pigs, and grow vegetables.
Below the smokestack was the Taiwan Sugar Corporation’s factory during the colonial period. The material for sugar production was shipped there on the Xindian River, pressed into a sugary syrup, and then dried into sugar crystals. The sweetness of sugar and the bitterness of a beggar’s life find strong contrast in this photo.