A concert featuring Nanguan music and Kouta Shamisen was held at the Beitou Hot Spring Museum on December 17, marking the fifth edition of the annual cultural tour of Taipei’s Beitou area.
The concert hacked back to the heyday of the entertainment business of the area – famous for its hot spring hotels – in the 1930s, and introduced the audience to characteristics of the two kinds of music.
Associate Professor Jan-Yen Huang, chair of the Graduate Institute of Museum Studies, noted that the event allowed people to refresh their understanding of Beitou, its hot springs and entertainment business, and at the same time enjoyed the beauty of the music that had defined Beitou’s hot spring culture.
The concert also had storyteller Lin Chi-hai explain all the history of Beitou’s hot spring culture. There were performances by Nanguan musicians Wei Mei-huei, Tung Hsu-fang and Lin Chih-rou. There was also Nihon-buyo dance to Kouta Shamisen music.