Rainbow village, located in Nantun, Taichung, has been an international tourist attraction over the past years. Millions of visitors came here and it has been the popular photo taking sites reported by British and Japanese websites. But the aged buildings had the problem of roof leak, Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Taichung City Government started the renovation project last November and completed the work by the end of this June. City Mayor of Taichung, Mr. Lin Chia-lun on the 2nd attended the press conference upon the project completion and colored a Leopard cat painting with Grandpa Rainbow, Huang Yongfu, on the wall. According to Mayor Lin, Taichung City Government used original construction engineering method and materials to replace roofs and painting works of Grandpa Rainbow on tiles and walls have been well preserved while Grandpa Rainbow has been invited to promote the Taichung World Flora Expo to market Taichung City with his beautiful and colorful paintings.

At the press conference of “The Rainbow after the Rain” upon completed renovation project of Rainbow Village, a new roof was put on the Rainbow Model by City Mayor Mr. Lin; Grandpa Rainbow, Huang Yongfu; Legislator Chang Liao Wan-chien; City Councilors Chang Yao-chung, He Wen-hai, and Liu Shi-chou; Deputy Director-general, Shi Chun-fu; Director of Nantun District, Chen Tai-yun; Principle of Taichung Home Economics and Commercial High School, Lin Yi-hui; and General Manager of Rainbow Paint, Chen Hong-wei, to symbolize the “house warming” ceremony organized by Taichung City Government for Grandpa Rainbow.

Grandpa Rainbow gave Mayor Lin and his wife, Madam Liao Wan-ru, a piece of his painting works, “the Eternity of Love.” On the site, wonderful performance was presented by the Student Dance Club of Ling Dung University and Department of Fashion Trends of Taichung Home Economics and Commercial High School exhibited five sets of creative fashion apparels combined with colorful elements of Rainbow Village, full of fun creativity and imagination.

“Grandpa Rainbow sees the world from the perspective of children, a world of hope,” said Mayor Lin. Taichung is blessed to have Grandpa Rainbow to paint his colorful works for us; his works are filled with children’s imagination, fun, and fantasy attracting visitors from different countries around the world including Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, and China. Last year, Rainbow Village received more than 1.25 million visits and it created maximum effectiveness for Taichung’s tourism.

Yet, damages of roofs and pillars were done to aged buildings, and in order to continuously promote the historical culture and meaning of Rainbow Village and provide the public a sounder visiting environment, Taichung City Government allocated a budget of 3.73 million to construct the renovation project since November, 2016, and this June, the project was completed.

Mayor Lin pointed out that the City Government followed original engineering method and materials to replace roofs and color painting works of Grandpa Rainbow on tiles and walls have been well preserved. Additionally, internal space of Rainbow Village is now made available for art curation and café. Thanks to the efforts of public representatives, community leaders, and art and cultural workers, the City Government will continuously improve the surrounding environment such as tourism facilities and parking space.

Grandpa Rainbow was informed of the host of the Taichung World Flora Expo by the City Government and he especially painted a lovely leopard cat. Mayor Lin also invited him to promote the Expo with his colorful and beautiful paintings that definitely will attract more visitors. Last week, the City Government announced the launch of Line stickers of the Expo and within four weeks, the number of download reached to one million. In two days, there were 1.66 million downloads indicating the popularity of Expo mascot, the Leopard Cat.

According to the Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Taichung City Government, Grandpa Huang Yongfu has never received any formal art education and since 2008, he began to paint on buildings with cement paints. His artworks have been known for rich colors and cute shapes and he was then nicknamed as Grandpa Rainbow. His creation has been heatedly discussed on the Internet and Rainbow Village has become one of the international tourist destinations.

Rainbow Village was reported by the tour websites including the British “Culture Trip,” and the Japanese H.I. S. respectively as “Top Ten Instagram Site in Taiwan” and “the most desirable photo taking destination in Taiwan” with its lively and interesting figures and colorful elements. Rainbow Village attracts visitors to take photos with its unique charm.

Furthermore, to incorporate with the organization of the 2018 Taichung World Flora Expo, on the top of the leopard cat created newly by Grandpa Rainbow, the City Government also invited Professor Chang Li-shin of College of Architecture, Feng Chia University to build the plant fence by introducing natural elements such as air and sunlight with the aim to improve overall air quality. It is hoped that after replacing new roofs, Rainbow Village will have new “protective umbrella” to be marketed as charming destination of Taichung World Flora Expo and to attract more visitors to come to Taichung to get to know the good living in Taichung.

The Bureau of Cultural Affairs, Rainbow Village was built by nine veterans nearby other military villages including Mazu Village II, Taimou Village V, and Ganjheng Village VI; it was not managed by Ministry of National Defense but due to constant communications, it was regarded mistakenly as part of military villages. Now it has been often referred to as “Rainbow Village.” Regardless of its historical background, Taichung City Government highly values the maintenance of local art creation assets and respects local historical culture and will continuously make its efforts to make the surrounding environment sounder.