The Old Clinic: A Vessel of Lukang’s Centuries-Long Story

As you walk from Lukang’s First Market toward Zhongshan Road, a unique building will catch your eye, diagonally across from the fragrant Yu Jan Jai bakery. It’s a distinctive blend of a traditional Han-style street-house and a three-story transitional Western-style mansion. Amidst the warm, grooved tiles, the Changyuan Hospital sign continues to watch over passersby. However, the glass window beneath the arcade now radiates a new and different light.

Initially a long street-house with four halls and two courtyards built during the Qing Rule Period, the building was reconstructed during the Japanese Rule Period as part of an urban redevelopment plan. The front hall was demolished to make way for a new, three-unit Western-style mansion, creating the organic building that embodies a cross-era aesthetic today. Changyuan Hospital was more than just a window through which its founder, Dr. Hsu Tu, introduced modern medicine and a modern lifestyle to Lukang. It was also the starting point for his son, photographer Hsu Tsang-tse, to turn his gaze upon his homeland through a camera lens. This historical value, as profound as the building’s own architectural evolution, was a key focus for X-Basic Planning during the initial investigation phase.

Throughout the restoration and reuse process, X-Basic Planning employed reversible techniques to preserve original traces of use. Through a “subtractive design” approach, X-Basic Planning highlighted the building’s essential character and the restoration’s achievements, carefully introducing modern operational equipment without compromising the original atmosphere. The building’s fragmented layout, designed for residential use, required our team to pay special attention to functional conversion during operational planning. This, in turn, created a dynamic exploratory path for visitors, with shifting views at every turn.

An Intertwined Spatial Narrative

In its transformation from a local clinic to a cultural space, Changyuan Hospital – Lukang Historic Image Museum has skirted the extreme of 100% renovation. Instead, it is grounded in the site’s rich history, creating a multi-layered experience that resonates with contemporary life. The two interconnected, three-story buildings unfold a diverse spatial narrative within the century-old clinic, featuring a replicated examination room, interactive light sculptures, themed exhibitions, an “old house hospital”, a Japanese-Western tea ceremony space, and areas for inspiration.

1F | Reviving Clinic Memories, Reshaping Local Flavors

Upon entering the permanent exhibition area of Changyuan Hospital – Lukang Historic Image Museum, visitors will find a meticulous replica of Dr. Hsu Tu’s clinic. Original medical instruments, patient records, and medicine cabinets are on display, recreating the atmosphere of a modern medical practice from the Japanese Rule Period.

An outdoor seating area has been opened, creating a dialogue between the century-old house and the Lukang streetscape. Visitors can relax among the trees and benches, savoring treats from the renowned local brand Siao Ben Aiyu. Be sure to order the Nikon S2-shaped Aiyu Jelly Special, a tribute to photographer Hsu Tsang-tse, along with five other specialty shaved ice flavors.

Here visitors will find the limited-edition carved flower cake, a collaboration between X-Basic Planning and the time-honored Lukang brand Cheng Yu Chen Bakery. Inspired by the decorative carvings on the Western-style building’s washed stone finish, this treat transforms architectural aesthetics into a sweet, edible memory.

2F | Immersive Light and Shadow: Continuing the Old House’s Legacy

In collaboration with light-and-shadow design team LightFul Studio, the Hsu familyr’s former residential space has been transformed into the Light Sculpture Exhibition Room. Here, digital multimedia technology brings Hsu Tsang-tse’s photographs to life, showcasing scenes from Lukang’s harbor streets and fragments of daily life. We invite you to use the smart interactive device to take a souvenir photo, transforming your personal encounter with this century-old clinic into a unique digital keepsake.

Also on the second floor, the Old House Hospital offers professional health checks and repair consultations for old houses. By uniting cross-disciplinary artisans and media partners, it aims to give old houses a new, enduring life. A detailed acrylic model of Changyuan Hospital is also displayed here, showcasing the magnificent building in miniature and making the before-and-after of the restoration clear at a glance.

Since its revitalization, Changyuan Hospital has continuously hosted a variety of themed exhibitions. Highlights from past exhibitions and new curations will be featured on a rotating basis in the second-floor exhibition space and “Wheel of Dreams”. In the future, we will continue to focus on themes such as Lukang’s cultural context, architectural aesthetics, family memory, medical history, and photographic arts, using our exhibitions to delve into the profound contemporary relevance of our historical heritage.

The exhibition space is currently hosting a themed exhibition on the Hsu family’s musical stories.

Called the “Wheel of Dreams”, this is the former living room of the photographer and his wife, Ms. Huang Chiu-nu. It preserves the original terrazzo table and concubine-style chairs, and its exhibition focuses on the family’s history.

3F | Savoring Tea and Elegance, Imagining the Unseen Sky

The third-floor Japanese-Western Tea Ceremony, hosted in the building’s original seating area and parlor, introduces modern tea artistry in collaboration with local Lukang businesses. The menu features a selection of Japanese and Western desserts, including flower cakes and rice cakes from the century-old Cheng Yu Chen Bakery, large taro balls from local dessert brand Sung-An Tou Fa Chü, and Earl Grey pound cake and tiramisu from our first public welfare rental partner, “Daily Sweet Thing Matters”, creating a cultural experience that transcends time.

Additionally, the Boven Magazine Library, renowned for creating immersive reading spaces, has established a presence in Changyuan Hospital, offering a curated selection of fine books from both domestic and international publishers. Here, one can read in tranquility, savoring the fine texture of time’s long river.

The outdoor seating on the balcony, with the roof of the second-floor street-house within arm’s reach, creates a unique spatial experience. The red-brick roof seems to frame a “sky beyond sight”, holding warm memories of Dr. Hsu’s children playing here long ago. Ascending the hanging staircase reveals the intimate connection between the front and rear buildings, a testament to the design ingenuity and communal wisdom of the ancestral past. It is a unique, three-dimensional history book of Lukang, and we now invite you to step inside and let daily life find new momentum here.

RF | Strolling on the Western-Style Rooftop, Recalling the Old Town’s Charm

From the rooftop of Changyuan Hospital’s Western-style mansion, one can not only see the river harbor and Lukang’s high point, but also enjoy a panoramic view of the core streetscape to this day. Continuing the local tradition of using rooftops for activities, Dr. Hsu’s family and important guests often gathered here for photos, leaving behind many precious historical images. This open-air space, with its original brick floor restored, still commands the best view. It has now become an ideal venue for movie screenings, concerts, and other arts and cultural events.

Changyuan Hospital, which has been a landmark in the area for a century, is about to revisit the memories of Lukang with a new identity as the Changyuan Hospital – Lukang Historical Image Museum. The meticulous study of the ancient town’s architectural fabric and its unique positioning as a Old House Hospital not only fulfills its function of historical display, but also carries the contemporary mission of embodying the value of old houses. Through every corner, every event, and every exhibit, the diverse and profound cultural heritage of Lukang is vividly presented to the world.

Changyuan Hospital – Lukang Historic Image Museum

Trial Operation | June 4, 2025 (Wednesday) – June 5, 2025 (Thursday)
Grand Opening | June 7, 2025 (Saturday)
Opening Hours | 10:00 AM – 5:30 PM (Closed on Mondays; open on weekends and national holidays)
Venue Address | No. 194 , Zhongshan Road, Lukang Township, Changhua County
Facebook Page | Changyuan Hospital – Lukang Historic Image Museum
Instagram | @changyuan_1925