An Explosive Time On The Cheap

After writing about the 4th of July in Taipei, I thought about the summer of 1957. Not all cities or villages can afford celebrations with huge fireworks demonstrations.

That was the situation we found ourselves in as firecrackers, cherry bombs and M-80s were being exploded, with some planned fireworks for the evening.

Fortunately, we ran into a visitor our age who was entertaining himself with booming success.

All he had was an old metal Drano can with the metal lid that popped on and off.

Oh, and he had gone to a drugstore and bought calcium carbide which was plentiful and cheap.



This container is similar to the old Drano cans. Just punch a few holes in the bottom with small nails and your cannon is ready.





Here, you see a now hard-to-find bottle with the calcium carbide crystals.





We shook a couple of carbide chunks into the Drano can. Now, calcium carbide reacts to water, so the next steps came very quickly.

First, spit on the chips at the bottom of the can. Wait for fumes to form. Then pop on the metal top. Lay the can on a tree stump or rock and hold a match to the holes at the bottom. 

A giant BOOM blew the top off the can and sent it flying. It was great fun and we repeated the drill several times. Then the kid held the can like a bazooka near his ear and my friend lit it.

The guy's ear went deaf immediately. We stayed around until he could hear, but that was the end of our carbide days.

Today, you can still buy a carbide cannon and ammunition, but to see a less expensive method of explosion with a homemade PVC cannon, click HERE. Or, make your own like THIS.

July 4, 1969 Celebration

You haven't experienced a really great July 4th celebration unless you are in the armed forces and live overseas.

Independence Day has a deeper meaning when you are a minority in a foreign country.

For a considerable length of time, AFNT advertised the terrific fireworks that would be exploded at the Taipei American School on that evening of the 4th.

We showed up along with our friend who brought his camera and a tripod. He was tinkering with f-stops and shutter speeds to get pictures of the fireworks as they exploded.

We've never seen so many rockets explode in one evening. There was a constant thump when the rockets were ignited, followed by the beautiful explosions above. (Ahhhhhh!)

It had to have gone on for at least an hour straight.



Pacific Stars and Stripes covered planned festivities throughout the island.

After awhile, many people just lay on the ground and looked up.

For some fireworks, just click HERE.



Earlier, our neighbor thought it would be a great idea if he spliced a few rolls of firecrackers together.

Then the contraption was hung from the third floor of his apartment building on down to near the ground.

After the top row was lit, the explosions continued down the side of the building.

Black gunpowder stains remained on the building when we left the island.



Image courtesy of Taipics.com

There is a real irony here, of course. After WWII, products made in Japan and sold in the United States were often the butt of jokes.

Something similar in nature could have been said about China. As kids, we suspected that China was great at making firecrackers.

Anything else? Not that we knew. The ignorant bliss of childhood.

Hotels Opening from 1969-1971, Taipei, Taiwan

Toward the end of our tour of duty in August of 1969, several hotels had been built and were just months from opening.

Two others were just breaking ground and would be open for use within the next couple of years.

Photo by R. Lentz; courtesy of Dawgflight.com

Located south of the King's Hotel at the right of this picture, the Central Hotel with the revolving restaurant on the top floor can easily be seen.

When we took pictures from the restaurant in August of 1969, the hotel was not open but was near the end of construction.

We simply climbed to the top and into the restaurant which was shaped like a flying saucer. We were neither stopped nor questioned.

From that angle, we had an excellent view from which to take some photos. 

Looking north and east off Chung Shan North Road are two hotels which were also being completed in this August 1969 photo.

This vantage point of the Central Hotel restaurant had an excellent angle to view the Hotel New Asia and the Olympic Hotel which are side-by-side.

Also, notice the 3 smaller buildings which are contiguous to the left (north) of the Olympic Hotel.

At the southeast corner of the Chung Shan/Min Chuan intersection, you can see the construction of what would be the Majestic Hotel in just its beginning stages. 

From the same angle as before, the camera was tilted up so that the entire intersection and northerly direction of Chung Shan North (ZhongShan) can be shown.

Also, the picture shows the area of Taipei all the way to the north toward Yangmingshan. I'll bet most of us didn't realize how much of a dogleg right the road took.

On the northeast corner of the intersection, the office of Northwest Orient Airlines can be seen.

The final picture taken from the Central Hotel restaurant was the area directly south. Is that the Ambassador Hotel on the far left side?

Photo by M. Wagner; courtesy of Dawgflight.com

This is a great picture as very seldom can you get to see the methods of construction in Taipei during that decade.

Not only was the scaffolding used during the building of the Majestic Hotel fashioned from bamboo, but bamboo was used to cover the edifice during and after work was completed.

I was told that the bamboo cover kept the direct rays of the sun from curing the poured concrete too quickly. The covering might remain for months.

Photo by Don Price; courtesy of LinkouNavy.com

Here is the handsome facade of the Majestic Hotel as it appeared sometime during 1970-71.

Notice the columns as they appear at ground level.

The 3 buildings between the Majestic and the Olympic can be seen easily.

Photo by Jim Valkwitch; courtesy of LinkouNavy.com

Another photo of the Majestic Hotel is shown here.

Perhaps a branch of the First Commercial Bank was always part of the building.

Here is the former Majestic Hotel building as it appears today. The entire edifice is now The Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank Limited.

With the 1990 purchase of the Majestic Hotel, the second largest privately owned bank in Taiwan had its Taipei headquarters on Min Chun (MinQuan) East Road.

The ground level columns can be seen as well as the 3 adjacent buildings proceeding south.

The fronts of the old Olympic and New Asia Hotels can also be viewed. 

A night view of the bank and surroundings

A Google Earth Street View is looking northeast on ZhongShan North Road.

The Hotel New Asia is now the K Hotel. The old Olympic Hotel is vacant in this 2006 picture.

The 3 buildings south of the Shanghai Bank building are still standing as well.

Photo by Les Duffin; courtesy of USTDC.blogspot.com 02/06/2010

As the Majestic Hotel was being built further south on Chung Shan North Road, construction on the Roma Hotel shown here was concurrent.

It stood at the northeast corner of Chung Shan North Road and Min Tsu (Minzu) East Road. This might be a 1972 photo.

The above building which once was the Roma Hotel still stands at the location described.

Taken in 2006, the building's facade shown here is much different than it is today.

It was remodeled for the 2011 floral exhibit and the facade changed as did the interior.

Taipei Hotels In The Late 1960s

Of the hotels listed on the 2 pages you'll see, almost all have been demolished. Most were adequate for that time. A few could even considered outstanding back then.

Many military families stayed at one of the downtown hotels until their housing was ready.

These two pages come from a small booklet that was first printed in 1966 and updated a year later.

All that could be found for some of the hotels mentioned are luggage tags or stickers.



This is the cover of the booklet from which many pages have been scanned.



Page One



Still standing at its original location is the Ambassador Hotel.

Photo courtest of Taipics.com



The Ambassador Hotel today

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com


Hotel China





Bag Tag image courtesy of Taipics.com

The Diamond Hotel has been demolished. This is the present-day picture of the NongAn Street entrance as it appears from across Chung Shan (Zhongshan) North Road.

Notice the Florida Bakery on the right. There is a stoplight here as well.

The blue blob is the former location of the Diamond Hotel.

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

The First Hotel on Nanking East Road is still operational.

A 3-Star hotel at best, most reviews are negative.

Luggage Tag Image courtesy of Taipics.com





Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

There is no certainty as to when this picture of the Grand Hotel was taken. It was, and still is, quite the show place.

Click on this picture to get a great angle of the Grand Hotel today.

The entrance today is shown using Google Earth Street View.



Luggage Tag Image courtesy of Taipics.com



If there was one hotel whose location was known to almost everyone who lived or visited Taipei, it was the King's.

On the southwest corner of the Chung Shan/Min Chuan intersection, it was a place where many folks would meet to begin an evening of entertainment.

This shows you how few of us at that time strayed much from the Chung Shan (Zhongshan) North Road and its intersection with Min Chuan (MinQuan.)

The Mandarin was a luxury hotel for those times. Many formal events were held there. As for many of us at the Grass Mountain outpost, the Mandarin was unknown. 

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

Located just south of Taipei International, the Mandarin was a conveniently located hotel.

Page Two



Luggage Tag Image courtesy of Taipics.com

Photo by Les Duffin; Courtesy of Dawgflight.com

The Oasis Hotel was located on the east side of Chung Shan North Road.

It was so close to the Min Chuan intersection, that it was designated as being on Section 2 of Chung Shan.

Everything to the north of this area and south of the Keelung bridge near USTDC was described as located on Section 3 of the road. 

Luggage Tag Image courtesy of Taipics.com

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

The President Hotel was unique. Built in the middle of a commercial area, it was a luxury hotel and very easy to find as it towered over everything near it.

Located near the East Compound, it looked brand new to us arriving in 1968.

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

As the years went by, the hotel purchased more land around it and the street was widened.

A friend of mine stayed there on a 1986 business trip. Does anyone know when it was demolished?

This is DeHui Street as it looks today. There was no stoplight back then.

You just turned onto DeHui from Chung Shan North Road and hoped for the best.

Finally, this was the exact street and number of the President Hotel.

A large office building stands today at its former location. 

Luggage Tag Image courtesy of Taipics.com

This nightclub page is pictured since four of the eight listed were inside hotels shown here.

Obviously, the author never visited the 77 Club!

Photo courtesy of Taipics.com

Standing at the time, but not included on the hotel page is the Imperial Hotel. It was also off-limits to servicemen on R and R.

At its same location as back then, The Imperial Hotel is rated a 4-star and still stands on the west side of LinSen North Road.

 1973 Taiwan Report; courtesy of Don Wiggins, USTDC.blogspot.com

This update shows the new hotels that had opened by 1973, but include the most popular ones still in use.

Strangely, the Majestic Mansion Hotel is not mentioned.