Su'ao Crayon Factory 蜡藝蠟筆城堡

Su'ao's Crayon Castle (officially Luck Arts Crayon Factory) is a crayon factory castle in Su'Ao township in Yilan County, that has been specifically designed as a DIY experience center for kids where they can make their own arts and crafts, as well as their own set of markers, and crayon in the shape of Taiwan! The DIY activities include making markers and crayons, face painting, painting porcelain, making chalk, and water coloring. Basically, it is a paradise for young children. 

Background:
The Lucky Art corporation started in Yilan in 1990, and has four factories worldwide, two in Taiwan, and one in Shanghai and Vietnam. 
The factory in Yilan produces over 1.5 million crayons per day.
In 2008, the Lucky Art corporation opened its tourist crayon factory, which now sees more than 200,000 visitors per year. 
In 2017, the crayon castle was expanded to double its size, and added a parking lot that can accommodate over 200 cars. 

Price:
General DIY (4 activities and 100 NT coupon): 250 NT per person
Chalk DIY: 150 NT per person
Watercolor DIY: 350 NT per person
Paint Porcelain: 160 NT per person
Price for children under 90 CM: free
Parking: Free

Hours:
8:30 AM to 6PM
(Tickets not sold after 4 PM. Sessions every half hour.)

How to get there:
By Car: Take National Freeway 5 south until it ends. You will see the Crayon Factory on your right as the road becomes the Haishan West Road. 
By Train: Take the TRA to Xinma Station (新馬站) and then walk or take a taxi the remaining 500 meters to the crayon factory. 

Map:
Please see below:

​Our Journey:

We have been to the Crayon factory once. I took my then 2 year old daughter. She was a bit small for the activities and mostly just made a mess, but we still had a fun time. I would recommend at least 3 years or older to get the most out of this factory. 

Check out our drone footage of the Crayon Factory above. 

Ticket price information. 

We did the general DIY which involves 4 DIY activities. But because there were like a million people there during the Tomb Sweeping Day festival, we had to wait an hour for our tour. During that time we toured the local 7-11 in the parking lot that was also crayon themed. 

Introduction of the facility and activities. 

Things you can buy at the factory. 

Free mini crayons as part of our tickets. 

The crayon museum that you can visit while you are waiting for your tour to start. 

Crayon making machine on display. 

Miniature model of the crayon factory. 

DIY 1: Pinwheel

We finally got to take the elevator upstairs to start our first DIY, which was making a pinwheel. They let us into a classroom with some tables, and there was an instructor there telling us what to do. Much like art class in elementary school. 

The introduction was all in Chinese. I do not think they offer English services. 

Coloring our pinwheels. 

We used markers and water based paints. Obviously we are not that good at art. 

DIY 2: Making Markers

Our next DIY was making our own set of six markers. 

We had to assemble the whole things ourselves.

We had to stick the cotton wad in the dye and wait for it to soak.

Then we had to hammer the marker end to the plastic body.

And then we put in the colored cotton, and hammered on a plastic cap at the end. 

Soon we had six cute little markers. It was fun making them. 

DIY 3: Face Painting

The next DIY was face painting. We had some fun painting our daughter's face with washable paint. 

I painted a sun on her hand and a tree on her cheek. 

DIY 4: Making a Crayon

In this DIY, there was a lot of standing in line. 

We had to scoop some crayon wax bits into a cup. But, because these are three year old's doing the work, all the colored bits get mixed together, so your crayon will end up looking like crap.

Our multicolored crayon and a mostly blue crayon. 

Then you press the colored pieces into a mold and begin the crayon pressing process. 

It takes some effort to press it down. We waited for like 30 minutes for everyone else to finish before we got the finished product.

Two crayons the shape of Taiwan!

There is also a cafeteria and gift shop in the building. 

Because they give you a 100 NT coupon with your DIY fee, you can use it to buy food or other stuff at their gift shop. We ended up buying some coloring books. 

There is also some creative photo-taking playground/model stuff near the gift shop. 

Even the outside fence is crayon themed. 

View of the castle via drone. 

View of the castle from above. 

View from behind. 

Su'Ao is also home to the famous Nanfangao Harbor and Neipi Beach. It is known for its romantic atmosphere and large waves, which attract surfers from all around. Popular activities here include surfing, kite surfing, kayaking, scuba diving, hiking, and watching the sunrise. 
For our full blog on Neipi Beach, click here.

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