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Discovering Back Cihu
The crescent shaped Back Cihu originated from a small creek in Mt. Baishi. Previously known as "Long-Guo-Mai-Pi," it was an irrigation pond of the Taoyuan Irrigation Association with a water area of 41,076 hectares of water area, 177,500 m3 of water storage capacity, irrigation area of 117,29 hectares, irrigating the 3 main areas of Dasi.

At one time during the 1950s, Chiang Kai-shek was travelling to Baiji Tunnel and when his motorcade was unable to move forward, Chiang changed cars and rode on a sedan and then arrived in Cihu. This area made a deep impression on him, because it resembled his hometown in Fenghua County, Zhejiang Province. In 1955, the Lin Ben-Yuan family of Banciao donated 19 hectares of the surrounding Cihu area to be built as a hotel. The "Cave Hotel" was completed in June 13, 1959, and was later renamed to "Cihu Hotel" in Oct. 1962.

In 1962, in accordance to the Office of the President's evacuation plan, Chiang Kai-shek instructed to buy land, thus an air-raid shelter was built in the Back Cihu area. Official residences and office premises to the Presidential Secretary-General, the army chief, Deputy Secretary-General, etc. were also constructed. A shrine also built in Cihu for Chiang Kai-shek when he passed away in April 5, 1975, which was renamed the "Cihu Mausoleum." The Cihu Mausoleum Management Office was established, responsible for tasks such as reception services. In November 2007, Taoyuan County Government took over management of said office.

From Intense Military Efforts to the End of Martial Law
1961 coincided with Communist China's failure to implement the Great Leap Forward movement, the Vietnam War, and the threat that came from China's successful nuclear bomb test, Chiang Kai-shek thus felt the need to start a counter-offensive. So in April 1961, the military was instructed to build a "Guoguang Operations Room" in Sanshia, Taipei County, mobilizing 207 elites to secretly develop a military counterattack against the mainland, called the "Guoguang Plans", making Back Cihu a high-level military control zone.

In the 1960s, Communist China were actively developing the atomic bomb (China's first successful atomic bomb test was conducted on Oct. 16, 1964), this made Chiang Kai-shek very uneasy, so he ordered the government to actively carry out air defense exercises. Many large-scale air-raid shelters were also constructed, and the Back Cihu air-raid shelter was used as war-time command post. Construction of the air-raid shelter was completed in August 1963, with a total distance of about 150 meters, assuming an F-shape, with a bathroom, kitchen, generator room, communications equipment, command post and so on. The two main entrances were built with three heavy explosion-proof steel doors, to resist artillery attacks, and in the event of war could be an independent operation and command post.

Back Cihu has a total of 5 official residences. Aside from No. 3, which was finished at 1969 because of a landslide, the remaining four residences were completed in 1963 to 1964. The Bank of Taiwan was responsible for the construction of residences 1 & 3, and the Office of the President was in charge of the others. The residences were respectively used as a guest house, and also as the official premises of the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretary-General, the army chief, and the evacuation office. However, since the war has not yet occurred, with the exception of No. 2 being used as staff quarters for management, and the 3rd used as a Military Police post, the rest has not been used.

Back Cihu has no military use anymore, because of the Taoyuan County government's efforts to open the area to the public. In November 2007, control formally shifted to the Taoyuan County Government, and plans began for the renovation and reopening of the area. Back Cihu, for years, was a military control zone, free from outside interference, thus the original integrity of the forest and the natural ecological environment needs to be retained, giving the public access to another recreational back garden.