Taipei Cinema Park sits on the site of the old Taiwan Gas Company works, shut down in the 1980s and left derelict for decades before the city turned it into Ximending's largest patch of green in 2001. The old gasworks chimney and a coking furnace were preserved as relics, now standing incongruously among lawns, skate ramps and outdoor screens — a reminder that this corner of the district was Taipei's main theatre row through the 1960s and 70s.
Wuchang Street, which runs along the park's edge, still carries that cinema heritage in its name even though most of the grand old single-screen houses have closed or been absorbed into multiplexes. The park itself is free, open all day, and doubles as a hangout for skaters and street performers — a quieter pocket to sit down in after the crush of Hanzhong Street.