A time-travel journey through Dadaocheng’s blend of heritage shops and trendy stores

The movie *Dadaocheng* recreates the splendor of Dihua Street, narrating the tales of Dadaocheng and making everyone wonder what the area looked like in the 1920s. The global hit *Lucy* has also piqued curiosity about Dadaocheng. A traditional Taiwanese breakfast at the temple square of Cisheng Temple, hidden old-time flavors at Dihua Street and Yongle Market, century-old Grandma’s Braised Delicacies at Xiaochunyuan, and street food at Ningxia Night Market all allow us to get to know Dadaocheng more intimately through our taste buds.

 

Dihua Street, a hub for dried goods, features simple and traditional northern architecture on the north side, predominantly Minnan-style buildings that once housed wholesale grocery stores and rice merchants. The southern side, in contrast, boasts ornate styles with a mix of Baroque and modernist architecture, focusing on high-end dried goods, tea, Chinese medicine, and fabrics—industries that helped many wealthy merchants get their start. GuiDe Street, which flourished during the peak of tea exports over 100 years ago, was where tea merchants built their mansions, making it Taipei’s earliest street of Western-style buildings. Today, only the former residence of Chen Tianlai and the buildings along Qianqiu Street retain hints of the grandeur of those early Western structures. These surviving historic buildings offer a glimpse into the glory days of Dadaocheng.

Yongle Market, adjacent to Dadaocheng’s spiritual center, Xiahai City God Temple, was known during the Japanese colonial period as the “Public Yongle Township Food Market.” Both inside and outside the market, traditional snack stalls energize workers and worshippers starting their day. The market’s fragrant, flavorful breakfasts have been wafting through the air since morning for decades, creating the most classic street vibe in Dadaocheng.