Built in 1901 during the Japanese colonial period, Chiaotou Sugar Mill was the first sugar factory to use modern machinery. Its buildings have a baroque style typical of colonial structures in the tropics. The Mill has nineteen historical monuments that include a life-size Guanyin bronze statue. An important sugar factory in Taiwan's early years, it ceased production in 1999. In 2002, the Kaohsiung City Government announced that it was listed among the city's historical structures. It has been transformed into a park where visitors could relish the rich history behind its many traditional buildings, Japanese style garden, an air-raid shelter, ammunition depots, and red-brick water tower and warehouse.