Er-Kong Tree House

The sequence from left to right of the panorama was Flame tree,
Indian almond that escaped from the Tree House and bushy Banyan.

Luxuriance Was Not Important for a Tree, People Were

Once Uncle Huang was looking at old picture album and said “the Tree House was finished on 12, Dec, 2007”. Uncle Huang was talking about second floor, the main body of the Tree House. We said that “no, no, no~ we were not talking about that. Every time we came here, we saw new things. They were different”. Now let Ren He Elementary School research team introduced you the construction and arrangement of the Tree House.

Twisted Roots and Intricate Gnarls — Three Brothers

To observe tree category of the Er-Kong Tree House closely,
the sequence from left to right wereFlame tree, Indian almond and Banyan.

Tree House~ Tree House~ certainly to have the tree then have the house. The Er-Kong Tree House seemed like building on a big Banyan but to look it carefully, it was not like that.The main tree category of the Er-Kong Tree House included 50 years old of Banyan, 60 years of Indian almond and 45 years old of Flame tree. Although we called them “Er-Kong Three Brothers”, Uncle Huang said that “actually Banyan tree was very aggressive. The Indian almond was taller when I was a child but the Banyan restrained the growth of Indian almond gradually.

However, the interesting thing was that the Indian almond changed direction to grow where the tree extended to outside.

It was seldom to see a slanting growing Indian almond which always grew upright. Slanting Indian almond like the Er-Kong Tree House was unusual. But eventually they got together peacefully. By now they looked harmoniously. The small leaves Flame tree grew next to them. It became the main support tree for the Air Bridge extending out of the Er-Kong Tree House.

Welcome to Er-Kong—Welcome Point

Stepping onto the small stairs we would see first floor of the Tree House. To look over here carefully you could find many precious cultural relics and calligraphy. The lanterns (left picture) hung on two sides changed the pattern from ordinary red to “Left Kitchen Right Lavatory” creative pendant. It was located in the front side of the entrance that was the place Uncle Huang spent most of his time to take care of and renew.

A Cabin in Second Follow — The Treasure Cabin in the Air

Looked from outside, this part was the main part of the Tree House. It was also the main structure of the Tree House. Stepping onto the stairs from first floor you could enter the real house which hung on the upper Banyan.

There were many artware which Uncle Huang cherished here. You could look at outside through the window that was designed from discard to learned the scene of the Er-Kong Servicemen’s Residential Compounds. The view was wild and joyful. The special wind chime hung on the window was our favorite.

To look it closely you could see papaya, cucumber, discard lampshade, moon shape plastic piece. All of these stuffs would be eliminated originally, but right now they transformed to our favorite artwork which highlight the environmental spirit for the Er-Kong Tree House.

Er-Kong Air Bridge — Flame Tree Tower Observation Area

There was a sky footpath in the Grand Canyon USA. The Er-Kong Tree House also had such sky footpath. It was the main walking path between Flame tree observation area and the Banyan main body which was at second floor.

At the beginning, such design scared interview team member but after tried several time, everyone fell in love with the unusual sky footpath.

We could see full scene of first floor from the Air Bridge. It was so exciting and interesting to have feeling of empty on the sole of the foot. Actually before stepping onto the Tree House, Uncle Huang had promised us that “we once tried to have 5 to 6 adults jumping on the bridge and it pasted the test. There should not be a problem”.

	Wanted to Enjoy Further Perspective — Third Floor Observation area

Here was the highest position in the Er-Kong Tree House. Passed through the narrow Banyan stick small aisle you would arrive at third floor observation area where you could see a wild view. However, what thing attracted team members was the floor boards design. It was a board fixed together by two vertical door boards.

Don’t worry, the door would not be opened again of course, and it had been fixed firmly. Third floor observation area was new built after second floor Flame tree Tower observation area.

Creative Wooden Tablet Area

To look at Er-Kong Tree House from far distance, the showiest place was the huge wooden tablet area. The words on each wooden tablet had unique style. The descendant of “Dragon” of course was the leading actor of this project interview—Uncle Huang Ru Long. What opened our eye was the tablet hung aside “Er-Kong De Juan Ni”.

This was an artwork created by Keelung Maritime Vocational High School teacher Director Wang Guo Zhong. Mr. Wang presented the work to the Er-Kong Tree House. This work made us feel that even you were not in hometown; the profound yearning of hometown was the most precious memory for every Er-Kong people who lived far from home.

The Treasure Area in the Rear Part of First Floor

The area behind the first floor welcome point was the place for main collection. Here was the place stored the most of the Er-Kong Tree House collections, such as a suitcase which brought from China, a marriage certificate which witnessed the eternal love and an exquisite self-portrait etc. endless works. The place was worth to visit for searching treasures.

The Calligraphy Area in the Rear Square

When you enjoyed the calligraphy works here, you did not need to sort out cursive style, regular script, ancient style or other types of scripts. The most important thing was that each work was uniquely the treasured painting which wrote down through Er-Kong spirits. One of them was never educated but wrote very well.

One of them was unlucky in love but finally strived for progress with determination. Even more, there was article which expressed comfortable mood of the old age. Through Uncle Huang’s introduction, each word in each work leaded us into time machine to return to the moment that initially the works were born.

After you saw the rough guiding of the Er-Kong Tree House, if you wanted to know further about what you must see in the Er-Kong Tree House, please went to “Looking for treasures in Tree House” to see the valuable treasures that interview team members dug out.