Dihua Street Shophouses (Dadaocheng)

Many Dihua Street merchants grew very rich through trade, and the houses they built were especially fine. To suit Taiwan's rainy weather the houses all have arcades, but their outer walls are mostly decorated in imitation of Western buildings, creating a distinctive mix of Chinese and Western architecture. The main feature of these old shophouses is that they are very deep and narrow, with a shop at the front and a workshop or warehouse behind, typical of early clustered street houses. Dihua Street is the best-known street in Dadaocheng. Its shops sell all kinds of dried goods, Chinese medicinal herbs and woven goods, and it is an important street for Lunar New Year shopping. There are also many municipal monuments, such as the Taipei Xiahai City God Temple, Cisheng Temple, the Gu Residence and 新芳春茶行, which keep traces of history. The container market at Dadaocheng Wharf has a range of food, where you can eat while watching the view and the sunset, and events and performances are held from time to time. Dadaocheng still has traditional buildings, red-brick tiled houses and old-style streets, which mix old and new with the newer buildings around them.

Translated and shortened by DealTaipei from Taiwan's national tourism database. Sources are on the terms page.