Walking Old Town Taipei:【The Dadaocheng Tour】

March 22, 2015
Guide: Patrick
Recorder: Tina Hsu

        In the west of the hustling Taipei lies a historical old town, which was once “the most important port of northern Taiwan”. Dadaocheng prospered during the late 19^th centuries due to the export of Taiwanese tea. As the economic bloomed, people from different places started immigrating in, creating a diverse way of living. Today, the mixed-culture spirit stills lies in the markets, temples, shops, traditional food stands, notable buildings, tea and coffee shops, and family-run restaurants.

↑Patrick explained the history of the stone lions which guarded the temple. 

We started our tour at the Taipei Xia-Hai City God Temple (aka the Chénghuáng temple)—an extremely small yet famous temple for a good reason. Traditionally, the City God cooperates with the Mayor, who is mainly in charge to look after the people. Nowadays, many people also come to this temple to worship the Matchmaker God, and wish for a good relationship before or after marriage.

        We later followed Patrick to the Lin Liu-Hsin Puppet Theatre Museum. Dadaocheng was known for puppets because originally, the puppets were used to entertain the gods. Being closely related to temples, hundreds of puppet companies gathered, so that whenever a temple nearby wanted to put up a puppet show, it would be easy for them to look for the best performers here. The amount of puppet companies gradually decreased as modern day’s entertainment such as television, and movies became popular. Luckily, this four-floor museum founded by the Lin’s family was committed to preserve the history and making of the puppets—one of Taiwan’s most precious performing arts.

↑There were puppets available for people to play with.

↑The puppet master explained to us the making of a puppet.

        Then Patrick led us for a walk on the most representative street in the Dadaocheng area—the Dihua Street. Many styles of architecture line up the old Dihua Street: southern Chinese, colonial, baroque, and more modern styles, which reflected the architecture style during different ruling eras. Some gave a hint to the influence of the Qing Dynasty, others represented the West's long investment in Dadaocheng, and still others coincided with Japanese occupation of Taiwan.

↑In the streets of Dihua where they sell Chinese medicine and tea.

We sampled dried fruit, and settled down for a good cup of tea from the very first house on Dihua Street—the Lin Wuhu Old House. From the building structure Patrick explained that, despite the diverse building styles of the houses, all of the houses are long and narrow, and can be divided into three sections. The first section is used to run business, showcasing goods from herbs for Chinese medicine, dried foods, bamboowares, to lanterns. The second section behind the court is in its capacity as a living room or warehouse, while the last part is used for living, and is where the bedrooms are situated. A walk through the houses tells their old, ancient story.

↑We stopped for a good cup of tea in the Lin-Wuhu Old House.

With a share of two bottles of lemon-tangerine juice, we walked toward our destination—Ningxia Night Market. Although it was before opening time for night markets, it gave us a perfect opportunity to take a good look at the stores and get to recognize local snacks without the crowded people. Ningxia Night Market is probably one of the oldest night markets in Taipei, which has been closely connected to the local area for more than 100 years. Unlike other tourist night markets, Ningxia Night Market has preserved the street food culture, with each shop specializing in one type of food, sometimes for generations.

↑Patrick explaining the local snacks and stores to us.

Night markets are a must-see sight in Taiwan, with a few coins, you could get a feast from all sorts of famous Taiwanese “xioa-chi” (meaning local snacks). Patrick ended the tour after a guide around the Ningxia Night Market, but we felt free to stay and taste the oyster omlete, braised pork rice, sticky tofu with the snack of lemon and aiyu jelly, sugar coated fruits on sticks… Sitting casually on an outside table enjoying the tastes and aromas of delicious traditional dishes, gave us a chance to experience life as a Taiwanese local!

See this Tour at Taipei Walking Tour: Local Life: Dadaocheng: Taipei Xia-hai City God Temple, Dihua Street and Ninxia Night Market