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| Sunset in Dadaucheng Wharf - by JHLu |
Dadaucheng (it pronounces 'Da-Dau-Cheng' in Mandarin), the origin of Taipei. It was the economical and cultural center in the second half of 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century.
If you are looking for places in Taipei to visit, I'll say this is the one that you must put into your check-list. In Taipei, most of the time we can barely find pieces of the history. But there are still some special architectures and remains here in Dadaucheng that make you taste a little bit of century-ago Taipei.
How to Get There
I made a rough instruction based on Google Maps for you to have a clearer picture of the place. Geographically, Dadaucheng refers to the yellow area between the two MRT stations - Daqiaotou and Beimen. Most of the fabulous buildings, cafes, restaurants, snack stands are located in Di-Hua Street (the blue line on the left of B point). That's the place we went and must me yours too. :) You can take MRT to either of the two stations mentioned above to get there. Daqiaotou station is on the Orange Line ; and Beimen is on the Green one. It depends on where you stay. Once you get there, you can take a walk along with the red arrows (it's not too far) or borrow a YouBike at point A or D, and return it back at point B (There is also a YouBike stop at point C, but it's not in service when I'm writing this article).
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| Map of Dadaucheng - by JHLu |
Pleasant Dadaucheng Wharf
There are plenty of great shops and cafe out there on Di-Hua street. I've been living in Taipei for 26 years since I was born. I would say the quality of cafe and restaurants here won't disappoint you. They are not normal chain stores you see everywhere in Taipei. Most of them are independent small shops with their own distinguishing features. One thing I like the most is that they are in buildings with unique style that you can barely find in other regions in Taipei. I'll go deeper with that later.
Besides these stores on the street, you can't miss the awesome view on the river side. The Dadaucheng Wharf is only minutes away by walk. If you are walking south on Di-Hua street, turn right when you see Min-Sheng W. Road. Within minutes, you will see the gate of the river bank.
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| Dadaucheng Wharf - by JHLu |
The wharf has its historical meaning in the history of Dadaucheng. Back in the 19th century, Dadaucheng is the center Taipei. Actually, it's the origin of Taipei. One of the main reason is the wharf, which makes this newly born settlement a node for maritime
trading of all kinds of goods - mainly tea leaves in its initial period. Outside this bank is the Tamsui River, the most important river to Taipei, which leads the way directly to the sea and Mainland China, or even other countries much farther. At that time, the biggest city/harbor was An-Ping, it's now Tainan in the southern Taiwan. It was the prosperous development of Dadaucheng that made the development focus of Taiwan shifted from the south to the north, or the capital of Taiwan would be Tainan now, not Taipei. So you can see how meaningful this wharf is to Taipei. Take a walk on the river-side
with some imagination of how it was like a hundred years ago.
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| Sunset in Dadaucheng Wharf - by JHLu |
The Architecture
This is the most surprising part during our visit. I was so ignorant that I didn't know it before my visit. Taiwan has its history being governed by different regimes in the history. The houses on Di-Hua street faithfully reflect its architectural trending and the diversity. Some houses blend the european mansion style with Baroque-like elements; and others are traditional Taiwanese style or moderism style.
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| Architecture Style on Di-Hua Street - by JHLu |
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| Interesting Watson's Building - by JHLu |
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| The court in front of Yon-Le market. - by JHLu |
Households here are narrow and long, which implies and keep whispering the splendid old times of prosperous commercial trades century ago. The long house is divided into three sections with two patios among each section. People take the first section beside the street as store to run their business and showcasing the goods; the second section is warehouse, and the third one is their private living space. The design you see in below photos is specially maintained by the owner. It's quite modern and I like it. There are still others with traditional style. One thing that impresses me is that almost every house on the street pocesses the same architectural layout like this - 2 patios in 3 sections, which is really interesting to see so much trace of the past that still exist and hidden inside thses houses in the western Taipei.
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| The Patio Between Sections - by JHLu |
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| The Patio Between Sections - by JHLu |
Oh, and if you are looking for a cafe or restaurant but just can't find it, be sure you have searched all the 3 sections. Sometimes, if in the evening, you may need to walk through a cafe that is already closed to find the restaurant that is still open. It's so interesting, isn't it? I found more information about Dadaucheng
here. Check it out if you want. (It's in English)
I hope this article is helpful and gives you a sip of the atmosphere in Dadaucheng. The real taste is still here waiting for you to explore by yourself.
