The Lalu, Sun Moon Lake

If a name can carry weight in our hearts, then even a hundred million per character would not be too dear. For a century, those who passed through The Lalu were emperors, generals and dignitaries, and strict access controls long shrouded this storied building in mystery. But where did the name come from? Turn back to the early twentieth century, when the Japanese were actively developing hydroelectric power at Sun Moon Lake: a Japanese man named Ito built a wooden house on what is now the Hanbi Peninsula as a retreat and named it 'Hanbi Lou'—that was 1901. In 1923, Japanese Crown Prince Hirohito visited Taiwan and designated it as his lodging, expanding it into a two-story building with eight additional rooms.