Hong Tong’s Former Residence and Painted Village(洪通故居彩繪村)

Kunjiang Ward of Beimen District (北門區鯤江里) is a small village near the Nankunshen Dai Tian Temple (南鯤鯓代天府). Hong Tong (洪通), who started painting when he was 50 years old, was called "Uncle Red Bean" by local residents. In the 1970s, his name was well-known across Taiwan and he sparked a fashion for amateur painting, making this place famous for being the home of the "Picasso of the Orient".
Many of Hong Tong's paintings still adorn the village, and there is a boat shaped memorial museum (Fu Hui No.1). Not far from the museum is the building where Hong Tong lived and worked in his later years, with several photographs of him hanging on its crumbling red brick wall.
Kunjiang's rather desolate atmosphere, with its quiet fishing village setting, was perhaps the source of Hong Tong's inspiration. If you are visiting the Beimen area, it would be a pity to miss this place, the home of Taiwan’s Picasso is absolutely worth a visit.