The Architectural Culture of Century-old Historic Sites

Itinerary Overview
Taipei Sightseeing Bus —Lungshan Temple—Heritage and Culture Education Center of Taipei (the historic Bopiliao area )—Bangka Old Street (Taipei First Street)—Bangka Qingshan Temple—BangKa Qingshui Temple—Tianhou Temple—Ximending—Mengjia Garment Shopping Area—Bangka Night Market shopping area （Guangzhou Street Tourist Night Market、Huaxi Street Tourist Night Market、Wuzhou Street Tourist Night Market）

▲Double-Decker Sightseeing Bus

The double-decker sightseeing buses operate on two routes, red and blue, and pass through the famous attractions of Taipei City, providing audio guides in Chinese, English, Japanese, Korean, and Thai.
Bangka (former name of Wanhua) is the earliest developed area in Taipei City. Bangka's Longshan Temple is the center of local residents' beliefs, activities and gatherings, with a history of more than 200 years. As a nationally-protected Grade II Heritage Site, it is one of the three major tourist attractions in Taiwan for international visitors, along with the National Palace Museum and the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.

▲Bopiliao Historic Block, Wanhua

The Heritage and Culture Education Center of Taipei is located in the historic Bopiliao area of Wanhua District near Longshan Temple. This area has preserved much of its Qing period roots, with arched brick arcades, carved pattern window lattices, and other traces of the city's early elegance.

Old-style shop-houses (with stores in front and living areas in back) also remain from that period, opening a window to the early development of the Bangka (Wanhua) area, lending a unique historical and architectural flavor to the area.

Visitors can learn more about the history of the area at the Heritage and Culture Education Center. The center has different theme displays and hosts special exhibits on Bopiliao as well as educational activities.
▲ Bangka Old Street

In a narrow sense, Bangka Old Street refers to Guiyang Street in front of Bangka Qingshan Temple, formerly known as "Fanshu (sweet potato) Street." Known as the first street in Taipei, it is the oldest street in Taipei and the starting point of Bangka's prosperity. Some red brick buildings from the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese occupation (colonial) era remain.

▲Bangka Qingshan Temple

Taipei's Bangka Qingshan Temple is one of several Qingshan temples built in honor of Zhang Gun, the Three Kingdoms general serving the Duke Sun Quan. Due to his capable administration of Hui'an in Quanzhou, Fujian, Zhang was deified as "Qingshan Wang" or "Ling'an Zunwang." Since that time, Qingshan Wang has been worshipped as a god with the power to dispel disease and a divine authority of justice, rewarding virtue and punishing evil. He is revered along with the Eight Justice deities, including General Jia and General Suo.

▲Qingshui Zushi Temple

Qingshui Zushi Temple in Bangka is a development center for Wanhua and Datong districts, dedicated to “Qingshui Zushi,” commonly known as Zushi Temple. According to legend, Qingshui Zushi was worshipping at Qingshui Temple when a ghost blackened his face with a great fire, thus earning the god his nickname. As for the "drooping nose," it is said that the god's nose would droop downward when a nearby disaster was impending, warning the residents of impending danger.The temple still houses an ancient plaque with the title “Merit and Rescue” given by Emperor Guangxu.

▲Taipei's Tianhou Temple

Taipei's Tianhou Temple, is also known as "Ximending Mazu Temple" since the principle deity here is Mazu. It is one of the three major temples in Taiwan from Qing period along with Bangka Longshan Temple and Bangka Zushih Temple. The Mazu belief is part of Chinese maritime culture. Mazu is regarded as the guardian deity of the sea. Early Taiwanese people relied on the ocean for their livelihood, forming settlements near docks, with temples often built along river lanes. There were many Mazu temples built in different ports of the country, with their entrances facing the mountains on the other side of the river, hoping to protect the safety of fishermen and immigrants crossing the sea.

▲Mengjia Garment Shopping Area

When visiting Wanhua, you should never miss the famous Dali Street Mengjia Garment Shopping Area. It is an apparel street that wholesales all kinds of clothes.The establishment of the Mengjia Garment Shopping Area is thanks to the early development of Mengjia District and its vicinity to Wanhua train station, which made this area easily accessible and convenient for trade. In the early days, there used to be nearly 2,000 stores selling various kinds of clothing here, and the design, pattern making, production, and marketing were all done in an integrated manner, making the quality and price very competitive.

▲The Bangka Night Market shopping area

The Bangka Night Market shopping area covers the famous Guangzhou Street, Huaxi Street, Wuzhou Street and other sightseeing night markets. Visiting the Bangka Night Market shopping area in the evening will surely bring you new and unexpected culinary discoveries.

The Guangzhou Street Sightseeing Night Market is 150 meters long. Between Xiyuan Road and Huanhe South Road, there are three districts of night market stalls, with many traditional Taiwanese snacks, and many general merchandise stalls on both sides of the street, offering all kinds of goods for shopping, food, and fun, which makes the market very eye-catching and bustling.

▲The Huaxi Street Night Market 

The Huaxi Street Night Market was famous for its snake-slaying performances in the early days, and is known as “Snake Street”, selling all kinds of mountain products, seafood and game snacks, making it one of the most popular attractions for domestic and foreign tourists. The traditional Chinese archway at the entrance and the red lanterns along the way are distinctive features, with many long-established shops over 30 years old, ensuring both reputation and quality.

Wuzhou Street Night Market, Huaxi Street, and Guangzhou Street constitute the best-known night market cluster in Wanhua District. There is a wide variety of delicacies here such as fresh and tasty fried mackerel stew, mutton hot pot with Chinese herbs, the refreshing pickled cabbage duck soup, and frog soup that is good for the skin. Visiting the night market, you will definitely come upon some new discoveries of gourmet food.
 

※Recommended Nearby Attractions:
Wanhua District Shopping Area, Historical Building Complex, Bangka Jiyi Temple, Zhu Chi Li King Temple