日昭和元年(西元1926 年)在開鑿竹東圳隧道時，突然爆炸，因而發現此地蘊藏豐富的瓦斯，因此在日昭和9年3月時，台灣礦業株式會社開鑽竹東1號油井，同年五月鑽進300公尺油氣地層時，探得油氣並引發大火，經36天才將大火熄滅，竹東礦區因此世界聞名，直至台灣光復，這之間共鑽井23口井，完成採氣的共有八口，而台灣光復後，國民政府成立台灣油礦探勘處(即為現今的中國石油公司)接收竹東礦區。 而資源莊是日據時代就興建的，依據竹東鎮誌第127頁，及林鎮烈所著的竹東鑽機保養工廠簡介中的說明，資源莊主要是做為員工宿舍，最多可容納285戶，日據時期的資源莊就是一個設施非常完善的獨立住宅社區，內有禮堂一座、醫務室一間、供應社、冰店、兒童育樂所、餐廳各一棟、公差宿舍一棟、員工單身宿舍2棟、員工眷舍200多戶、並有圖書室、網球場、籃球場、溜冰場等。 早期中油公司為了體恤員工採買的便利性，特在冰店附近的空地，規劃臨時攤販區，讓附近的小農進來販售自家的農作物。 依據97年訪問湯達正先生時得知，戰後除了少數因技術需求而留下的日本工作人員外，其餘皆返回日本了，而資源莊的日本房舍拆除後，有昔日的日本工作人員回來探望故居，尋找年輕時栽種的樹木，但一切已成回憶，只能流淚感嘆。 現今的資源莊，最為大家所喜愛的、老少咸宜的就是資源莊冰店，冰店每年只有4/15~10/15 約半年的時間經營，早年是以一台使用阿摩尼亞的製冰機器，現已汰換為冷煤的壓縮冷凍機，製冰過程如下： 1. 煮水 使用員崠淨水廠的水，過濾後煮開放涼，第1 天煮水、第二天放涼、第三天放原料。 2. 製冰 以純糖、純果汁、純開水、檸檬精配料成型，放入零下20度的冰箱，30分鐘後即可包裝，整個製冰階段過程共需1個小時。此外，到資源莊吃清冰，有一特殊吃法，就是一定要加鹽，據說是昔日中油籃球隊選手練球時，為了補充流失的養分之故。 現今的資源莊，日本宿舍皆已拆除，僅冰店、餐廳、理髮院、宿舍還有在運作。
In 1926, during the excavation of the Zhudong Canal Tunnel, an explosion occurred, revealing rich gas reserves in the area. In March of 1928, Taiwan Mining Corporation began drilling the Zhudong No. 1 oil well. In May of the same year, after drilling to a depth of 300 meters, they discovered oil and gas, which triggered a fire that took 36 days to extinguish. The Zhudong mining area thus became world-famous. Until Taiwan's retrocession, a total of 23 wells were drilled, eight of which were successfully used for gas extraction. After Taiwan's retrocession, the Nationalist government established the Taiwan Oilfield Exploration Office (now China Petroleum Corporation) to take over the Zhudong mining area. Ziyuanzhuang was built during the Japanese occupation. According to page 127 of the Zhudong Township Gazetteer and the introduction to the Zhudong Drilling Rig Maintenance Factory by Lin Zhenlie, Ziyuanzhuang was mainly used as employee dormitories, accommodating up to 285 households. During the Japanese occupation, Ziyuanzhuang was a well-equipped independent residential community, with an auditorium, a clinic, a supply store, an ice cream shop, a children's playground, a restaurant, a staff dormitory, two single employee dormitories, more than 200 employee family quarters, a library, tennis courts, basketball courts, and an ice rink. In the early days, to facilitate employees' purchasing, CPC Corporation specially planned a temporary stall area on the open space near the ice cream shop, allowing nearby small farmers to sell their crops. According to a visit to Mr. Tang Dazheng in 1997, after the war, except for a few Japanese staff who stayed due to technical needs, the rest returned to Japan. After the Japanese houses in Ziyuanzhuang were demolished, some former Japanese staff returned to visit their old homes and look for the trees they planted in their youth, but everything was now just a memory, and they could only sigh with tears. Today, the most popular and beloved place in Ziyuanzhuang is the Ziyuanzhuang Ice Shop, which operates for only about half a year, from April 15th to October 15th. In the early days, it used an ammonia-powered ice-making machine, which has now been replaced by a refrigerant-powered compressor. The ice-making process is as follows: 1. Boiling water: Water from the Yuandong Water Purification Plant is used. After filtration, it is boiled and cooled. The process is repeated on the first day of boiling, the second day of cooling, and the third day of adding the raw materials. 2. Ice making: The mixture is made with pure sugar, pure fruit juice, pure boiled water, and lemon extract. It is then placed in a freezer at -20 degrees Celsius and packaged after 30 minutes. The entire ice-making process takes about one hour. In addition, there's a special way to eat shaved ice in Ziyuanzhuang: you must add salt. It's said that this was done by former CPC basketball players to replenish lost nutrients during practice. Today, the Japanese dormitories in Ziyuanzhuang have all been demolished; only the shaved ice shop, restaurant, barbershop, and dormitories remain in operation.
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