Wanli
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More bizarre than truly dark, but pretty much unique in the world, this is a largely abandoned beach resort on the north coast of Taiwan featuring a cluster of semi-derelict Futuro and Venturo Houses as well as an abandoned big hotel – a superb playground for those into urbexing!
More background info: Wanli was originally a indigenous settlement, the Spanish and the Dutch had colonial aspirations in the area for a short period until the area was taken over by the Chinese. Shortly before the beginning of the Japanese colonial era (see History of Taiwan) the village was destroyed apparently in an act of reprisal for some rebellion against camphor foresters near what today is Daxi (where the connection to Wanli could possibly be I do not know). Under the Japanese the place was renamed Banri, but reverted back to its former name when the ROC established itself in Taiwan and the village was incorporated into Taipei County, later New Taipei City.
The beach holiday resort at Wanli was apparently developed in 1980 by a Taiwanese businessman. He had encountered Futuro Houses in Japan in the early 1970s, and in the mid-70s travelled to Finland to visit the company that had designed and manufactured them, but he then decided to opt for copies of his own – which was actually of dubious legality. So the Futuros at Wanli were not made in Finland but at home in Taiwan, it appears. Still, the design is largely the same.
The Futuro House was designed in the late 1960s by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen. Their flying-saucer look was very much a theme of the time in the early Space Age (today they are regarded as “retro-futuristic”). But it was also practical considerations that led to the design. Futuro Houses were made of lightweight plastic materials and could be quickly assembled and disassembled or even transported whole by helicopter to almost anywhere. Originally they were intended as seasonal mountain huts. They are 26 feet (8m) in diameter and 13 feet (4m) high. The inside could be adapted flexibly and numerous quite different interior designs emerged. There was also a rival product called the Venturo House, which is less flamboyantly space-age-y, and square rather than round, but somewhat more practical and easier to maintain.
The initial interest in Futuro Houses quickly ended when, after the 1973 Oil Crisis, plastic building materials became very expensive, and also society’s attitude towards plastic began to change. By the mid-1970s only about one hundred original Futuro Houses had been made. But the production was then terminated. By the time the Taiwanese businessmen decided to establish the beach resort at Wanli, real Futuro Houses were thus no longer on the market as new. That could also be an explanation as to why he instead had copies made. In total the beach village consisted of ca. 100 units, mostly Venturos but also a cluster of Futuro Houses.
In the beginning, the Futuro Houses were popular, but already by the late 1980s, interest had waned and some units were abandoned. The decline continued after the businessman who had founded the Wanli resort died in the year 2000. Today the whole complex is owned by a construction company who may be planning a complete redevelopment of the site. That would endanger the remaining derelict Futuro Houses, but apparently some owners still refuse to sell them, even though they no longer use them.
For now the Futuro Houses at Wanli form the largest cluster of such units anywhere in the world – mostly Futuro Houses stand alone. Around 60 of the original Futuro Houses manufactured are believed to be still in existence. One completely restored house stands in the grounds of the MONA art museum in Hobart, Tasmania, but this is the private property of the museum’s owners and thus not publicly accessible unfortunately (I asked as part of the preparations for my 2024 summer trip to Australia).
If you want to know more about Futuro Houses there’s a whole dedicated encyclopedic website devoted to them that I could not have any hope of rivalling – so if you have a deeper interest in the topic and Wanli in particular I have to refer you that site (external links, opening in new windows). There’s also an in-depth thesis (another external link) about the preservation efforts regarding the very first Futuro House, which is still in Finland – the text will be too specialist for most, but it comes with photos and figures/drawings. For a brief intro and overview you can also check out this older Blog post of mine, which has further links.
About the history of the large abandoned hotel at Wanli there was nothing I could unearth, not even what its name was.
There are still two hotels that are in operation nearby, so the Wanli beach resort is not completely dead. Apparently it is popular with surfers, and the clusters of surfboards stored in one Venturo House that I saw attest to this. When I was there in early January, the whole place was practically deserted, but maybe in summer there is a little more activity here.
What there is to see: Wanli was for me the first stop on an all-day multi-destination excursion from Taipei with a private driver/guide. He had apparently not been here before and called it “a very strange place” … well, urbexing and bizarre retro-futuristic architecture are not for everybody. But I loved it!
We parked a short distance from a duo of Futuro Houses (see above) in the southern half of the (former) beach resort village. I headed straight for the brightest yellow one of the Futuro Houses, whose entrance door was ajar. I clambered over the little barrier at the bottom of the access stairs (not much of a serious obstacle) and climbed up. I opened the door and slipped in. Wow, I stood in front of a bar/kitchen area complete with bar stools you could sit on. The circular kitchen behind the bar even had some crockery items and a box of (presumably) tea bags!
It was abandoned and partially trashed (vandalized, I guess), but more intact than I had anticipated. That also applied to the bathroom, still complete with a washing machine and tumble dryer. The bedroom in between, still containing a bed with a mattress on it, was more badly damaged, however. Likewise the fourth room. There was some graffiti, but not all that much – and none of it interesting.
The neighbouring, somewhat less yellow Futuro House had a more substantial barrier at the bottom of the access stairs, so I didn’t venture up (also because we were pressed for time), but this also had intact windows and may have had a similar interior. But we then headed to the pair of Futuros to the south-east. No barriers here but peeking in from the top of the stairs I saw that these were completely trashed inside, so I saw no reason for venturing inside.
Unbeknown to me at the time (I only found out when I did my research for this chapter) the squarish house next door, facing the seafront, also has a partially concealed Futuro House inside, which may be even more intact than any of the others, but will be inaccessible given its surrounding superstructure.
There are three more detached Futuro Houses on an alleyway leading north, but I did not get close enough to inspect those.
Instead we walked up an alleyway towards the beachfront, passing some Venturo Houses in different stages of dilapidation. Those just south of the yellow Futuro House had gone from their platforms altogether. A couple of others were semi-collapsed, one had a partially missing window so we could peek in and see the heavily trashed interior, which however still featured pieces of intact furniture and even an old tube TV set. Yet another was full of surfboards.
Two of the Venturo Houses directly facing the beach seemed to be the only ones still in use – they were intact and clean with no graffiti, had neatly drawn curtains and modern A/C units attached to the rear. But there was not a soul to be seen here either at the time I was there (on a wet winter day).
To the north of the Futuro/Venturo village stands an abandoned hotel. Just as we were driving past when we were about to leave Wanli I saw that there was a large-enough gap in the barricaded front entrance. So I asked our driver/guide to stop the car so we could briefly go in there too.
I’m glad we did go inside. Past the former reception area was a grand atrium, four storeys high and with an intricately painted four-domed ceiling and steps leading down to the doors to where the outdoor swimming pool would have been (now completely gone). To the side of the ex-reception area were some rooms with wall murals on a beach resort theme (though not all were so straightforward to interpret). One room may have been a casino or restaurant.
I would have loved exploring this ex-hotel in more depth, but given our full programme for the day our guide suggested we move on. He knew nothing about this abandoned hotel either but was clearly fascinated enough by it – or perhaps rather by the curious interest my wife and I showed in this place – that he took a selfie, with us in the frame behind him, before we stepped out of the door again and drove off to our next destination (which was Keelung).
All in all, this was an unexpected highlight of the day. I hadn’t foreseen that it would be possible to enter one of the Futuro Houses and had known nothing about the abandoned hotel – so that was all a bonus on top. The urbexer in me was in his element. I just wish we could have had a bit more time to explore the place further.
Location: on Taiwan’s north coast, ca. 14 miles (23 km) north-east of the capital Taipei and only a good 5 miles (8.5 km) north-west of the harbour city of Keelung.
Google Maps locators:
Futuro Houses village: [25.1865, 121.6859]
Abandoned hotel: [25.1883, 121.6849]
Access and costs: Off the beaten track, but not too difficult to reach; free.
Details: When I visited Wanli it was as part of a whole day excursion to multiple sites north of Taipei. It was a private tour by car with an English-speaking driver/guide that had been organized by the company I used for tours and train arrangements all over the country (see Taiwan >practicalities). Since the same driver/guide was hired for several days of touring I cannot say how much just this component may have cost.
If you have your own vehicle you can drive here yourself, of course. Take the No. 2 coastal Highway north of Keelung. In Wanli turn right just before the Howard Green Bay Resort Hotel, go straight across the roundabout and follow the road as it bends right until you come to the best visible bright yellow Futuro House. Then park and explore on foot.
Getting here by public transport is also a possibility, namely by bus from either Taipei (line 1815) or Keelung (790). Get out at the Green Bay stop and walk from there (as described above).
Access is free – but nominally you are not allowed to enter any of the Futuro Houses or the abandoned hotel, but of course for many urbexers it is bending the official rules that is part and parcel of such activities.
Time required: You could probably spend a good couple of hours here to explore properly. When I was there as the first stop on a private tour with a driver/guide we had a long itinerary ahead of us, so were a bit pressed for time and only stayed in Wanli for about half an hour. It was enough for exploring one of the Futuro Houses and for a good look around, but the abandoned hotel alone would have deserved far more time.
Combinations with other dark destinations: nothing in the immediate vicinity, but if you have your own vehicle or are on a private tour (like I was) a visit to Wanli can be combined with going to Jinguashi to see the Gold Museum, the Kinkaseki POW Camp Memorial as well as Suwang-dong.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: Wanli in general looked rather drab when I was there, including the deserted sandy beach (not the cleanest). But that was in winter on a cold and wet day. In nicer weather it may be different, but even then it’s hardly a mainstream tourism hotspot (unless you’re a surfer perhaps).
However, just to the north is Yehliu Geopark, one of northern Taiwan’s most popular tourist attractions. It’s a peninsula featuring numerous rock formations eroded into more or less bizarre shapes. The names that these formations are given are suggestive: “Queen’s Head” (there are two here) “Playful Princess”, “Dragon’s Head”, “Bear’s Paw”, etc. … but many look just like mushrooms. The park is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.; admission 120 NTD. Bus line 1815 also stops here; for those coming by their own vehicles there is a large car park.
