Houli, Taiwan's Home of the Saxophone, Still Embraces High-End Craft
A corner of central Taiwan is famous for an unexpected specialty: handcrafted high-end saxophones. Local makers combine precision craftsmanship and musical expertise to produce instruments sought after around the world.
The Saxophone Legacy of Houli, Taiwan
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There’s a corner of Taiwan that’s become tightly linked with the sound of the saxophone. For decades, family-run workshops in Houli, Taichung have been creating handmade instruments.
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And while the heyday of the industry may be in the past, there is still a future, as even younger family members carry on the old business.
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The saxophone was, of course, a foreign import to Houli—made popular in the 1940s when a group of locals formed a band. Among them was Doctor Chang Ting-hui, who played saxophone when not practicing medicine. And that may have been where things ended, had it not been for a fire that destroyed Chang’s instrument—a disaster that would become the birth of a business the Chang family is still in today.
Chang Wan-fu (TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR):
He picked up the parts [of the saxophone] and asked my great-uncle who was a draftsman, [to recreate it]. [My great-uncle] taught my uncles how to do it So I started [too] because I thought, why not learn a skill?
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The success of that project started a whole local industry, as imitators joined in and exports, chiefly of beginner instruments, flowed out. At the industry’s peak in the 1980s, there were around 30 saxophone factories in Houli.
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But times changed. Big producers shifted manufacturing to Southeast Asia, and Chinese-made instruments took over market share. Orders dried up—and today only four saxophone factories remain. The survivors’ secret: a shift away from cheap instruments for beginners and a continued commitment to crafting by hand.
Lin Mei-yun (GENERAL MANAGER):
I saw someone selling clothes in the market, taking cash. I thought, why don’t I sell clothes too. I told my husband, you focus on high-end instruments. We’ll have a basic income to meet the household expenses. That way we didn’t need to worry and our family got through a hard time.
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Today, that hand-crafted, high-end ethos continues to provide factory workers with a sense of pride, accomplishment and responsibility.
Su Wan-ting (SAXOPHONE MAKER):
At the start, it’s just parts and then you see it gradually become an instrument. If you aren’t careful there might be flaws that go unnoticed and it could affect the beauty of the instrument.
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And, importantly, that same spirit has won high praise for Houli saxophones from around the world.
Chang Wan-fu (TECHNICAL SUPERVISOR):
We have to make our Taiwanese products world-class. That’s what gives them value not following someone else’s lead. I once brought our creations to Germany someone helped me exhibit them. They said, how are these Taiwanese products so good? I tell my children, you have to stick to quality and reliability in every aspect.
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The insistence on craftsmanship doesn’t mean resistance to modern technology, though. The original Chang family factory has embraced AI, adding a multilingual chatbot function to its website—making it easier for customers from around the world to find an instrument that meets their budget and needs.
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These factories may not have the same name recognition as the big global brands. But saxophone players in the know associate this part of Taiwan with quality.
