This is a new landmark in the timber industrial zone of Chiayi City and the work of artist Wang Wen-Chih. He used the wood, railway sleepers, rattan, and rocks provided by the Forestry Bureau to re-create the prosperous "timber capital" of Chiayi.
The design concept behind the Song of the Forest is a divine tree which stands tall and upright and the Alishan train rail. The designer created a tower for the peace and quiet of the mind where you are surrounded by strips and twigs of wood. It resembles a divine tree entrenched in high and steep mountains, embracing thee clouds in the sky. Many sections of wood are bound together, piling up to form a high tower, summoning the glorious forest industry of Chiayi. The dome, which is made out of copper, is exposed amidst the clouds and against the horizon, for people to look up at, as if they were looking at the sun and the moon. The walking paths are made with rattan, entering and exiting the divine tree, as if one were passing through an otherworldly cave. The bottom frame is made of steel which envelopes the whole structure as a stone cage: the whole design becomes one with the surrounding natural habitat, setting off a natural environment in which a forest seems to appear on flat
ground.
