And y’know, it’s really quite an amazing place!  A massive sculpture park set in the hills above Jinshan, just above Dharma Drum Mountain, the famous international Buddhist Centre, and just below all the huge graveyards that are higher up.  Beautiful views down over Jinshan to the sea.  Do check it out!

Ju Ming Museum houses all the incredible art work of Ju Ming 朱銘, the world famous Taiwanese sculptor, born in Miaoli, Taiwan in 1938.

You must go there once in your life, and that once must be on a sunny day, because all Ju Ming’s most famous art works are large sculptures, and they are all outside in that huge sculpture park.  A sunny day means you’ll have blue skies for nice photos, but also high temps, and after 2 hours walking around, you’ll be exhausted!  But hey, that’s what sculpture parks are.  Exhausting but beautiful.  Stamina is the name of the game, helped along by a coffee or two on the way.   Last year I went to Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the UK and it’s similar, a vast expanse of green parkland with beautiful sculptures set around, some miles apart.  Ah well, it’s all great exercise!

This is outside the main entrance to Ju Ming Museum….

Although I live only 20 km, 35 minutes drive, from Ju Ming Museum, I’d never been in there before today.  Sorry about that.  Kind of disgraceful, I know.  Well, we once went as far as the entrance, but only to collect information.  And I once passed through on a bus. So after at least 7 years of living so close, and at last with a free and sunny and not-too-hot Saturday, today was THE day!  Actually it was very hot, temps were in the top 20’s, but hey, there was blue sky, and it’s November after all, so it’s not the height of summer.  Quite quite pleasant in fact!

There’s a free shuttle bus from Jinshan Town to the museum, and the shuttle buses are timed so you can get a good 2½ hours at the museum, and then go back.  It takes that long to walk all around.  There are plenty of other art exhibitions inside the museum, and lots of educational activities going on, but the important things that I wanted to see are the sculptures outside.  And there are many.  Very many.  And many are huge.  They’re made of all sorts of stuff, and they’re arranged in different groups.  There’s a whole section of military people sculptures, some hanging by parachutes, some on a huge metal scaffolding kind of ship, another series of Taichi sculptures, and Ju Ming’s famous Living World series, including all sorts of quirky characters – a group of scientists (spot Einstein, Marie Curie, Michael Faraday, plus the Chinese inventors of paper and gunpowder), families, commuters, and Tin Men characters sitting on nearly every bench.  Impossible to be bored, there’s so much to see!

The museum was set up by Mr. Ju Ming himself, which means it’s privately run, so it’s NT$ 280 for admission.  Not too expensive, and y’know, it’s worth it!  You just must go at least once in your life. I met people on the shuttle bus who’d come all the way from Taitung, in the far S. E. corner of Taiwan, more or less especially to see this museum!

So check out these sculptures!

Fun eh?!  The weather clouded over by early afternoon – which was a relief to get some shade, and also because that big metal ship that looks kind of like scaffolding is right in the sun, so not easy to get a decent photo.  But it was still fun!

Great place on a sunny day, and suitable for families, children, couples, singles, anybody in fact – as long as you walk, or get pushed along – so go go go!