A Soon-to-Be-Knocked-Down Village in Taiwan Saved by a Retired Soldier and His Colorful Visions

A village in Taiwan was on the verge of disappearance as the government had been planning to build a housing estate there. All the plans were shattered by an OAP with a brush in his hand!

Several years ago the Taiwan’s government decided to knock down a village inhabited by veterans (today it is a part of the Taizhong city) to build a complex of apartment buildings there

The citizens were promised financial compensation,. However, one of them did not agree. Huang Yung-Fu was 86 years old back then

As he points out, ‘When I came here, there were about 1,200 households here and we all lived like a one big family.’

So the moment he was told the news, he grabbed his paintbrush and… started creating his stunning pictures on a variety of buildings

While he was working on it, a bunch of students came to the village. When they saw the works of Mr. Yung-Fu, they immediately took actions to save the place

They took several photographs and filed a petition to save the village. Very soon it was called the Rainbow Village and became a tourist destination

Many people who had left their homes there came back

Interestingly, Huang Yung-Fu is not a professional artist. It was his dad who passed on the love for drawing and painting

The man started painting at the age of 5. His first picture was a bird and it decorated the wall in his bedroom

Today the village is visited by millions of tourists every year. The place offers a lot of visual sensations

The author of the paintings is 97 years old today. However, he promises that he will continue to create until he dies!

Would you like to visit this place?