Manneken Pis of Taiwan

Many have heard of the Manneken Pis, the famous peeing boy statue in Brussels. He's not the only one, though—a replica has stood in Taiwan’s Chiayi City, 6,000 miles away from Brussels, for almost a century. 

The Child Peeing of Chiayi (Manneken Pis Chiayi) has long been a legend in Chiayi Park—a central park where locals enjoy leisure activities alongside monuments from various historical periods. The Manneken Pis is located near the playground by the park entrance and is adorned with a delicate garden pond in front of the statue.

Before the statue was renovated in 2022, Manneken had been copper green for a long time. The restoration team shaved off seven layers of paint and almost two kilograms of metals to recover Manneken’s original bronze color. 

While a Belgian scholar has verified that Chiayi Park's sculpture is indeed a replica of the boy in Brussels, nobody really knows why the statue is there. The sign says it was erected in 1934 during Taiwan’s Japanese colonial era but no documentation has been found to confirm whether the statue was a gift or local project.  

Manneken fans may note that he's not the only peeing boy statue in town. In Chiayi’s Dongmen (East Gate) Roundabout, at the intersection of Heping and Gongming Roads, stand four white Manneken Pis statues on top of a water fountain.