Hearing Old Houses Tell Their Stories (Part 4): MinYiCheng %s A Century-Old Street House Recounts the Past
Last updated 2026-11-08 — In the 1860s, after the signing of the Beijing Treaty and the opening of the Tamsui Port, Dadaocheng rose to become Taiwan’s most bustling trade hub. Here, Baroque-style Western-style buildings stood in great numbers, with tea merchants, traditional Chinese medicine shops, and dried goods stores everywhere...
In the 1860s, after the signing of the Beijing Treaty and the opening of the Tamsui Port, Dadaocheng rose to become Taiwan’s most bustling trade hub. Here, Baroque-style Western-style buildings stood in great numbers, with tea merchants, traditional Chinese medicine shops, and dried goods stores everywhere. Although Dadaocheng has long lost its former glory as a trade hub due to silt buildup, the streets still retain their century-old charm. In recent years, some have embraced the concept of cultural street houses, hoping to breathe new life into this century-old commercial district and allow new generations to showcase and sell their art here.
The bar counter follows the slope of the roof in a stepped design, and one corner of the shop offers a clear view of the Baroque building opposite. (Photo provided by TRAVELER Luxe Traveler Magazine)
As early as 1930, in Guo Xuehu’s painting "Prosperity on South Street," the predecessor of MinYiCheng, "Mao Yuan Pharmacy," was already neighbors with the century-old Chinese medicine shop "Qian Yuan Herbal Medicine Store." Among the common Baroque-style buildings on Dihua Street, these two pharmacies feature facades designed in a minimalist modernist style. Built in 1923, Mao Yuan Chinese Medicine Store later also served as the Taipei office for Hou Yuli and Wu Zunxian, prominent figures in Tainan’s textile industry. It was only 50 years ago that the current owner, the Su family, purchased the building and renovated its facade and internal wooden structures.
Renovating an Old House
Due to the building’s long history, this long, narrow street house, which retains its original three-courtyard layout intact, is protected under the Cultural Heritage Preservation Act as a historic structure. The owner spent five years restoring, anti-corrosion treating, and renovating the building, repeatedly consulting with designers, contractors, and government agencies to replace badly decayed wood, reinforce certain areas with H-shaped steel, and repolish the floors.
The roof with red brick tiles. (Photo provided by TRAVELER Luxe Traveler Magazine)
The Vitality of Time Passing
Lin Xiaowen said that if a house is just old and nostalgic, with everything being old, it lacks new vitality. So the management team used furniture from various periods, spanning from the 1920s to the 1980s. “Mixing old and new gives the whole house a flowing sense of life.”
In addition to rearranging and purchasing indoor furniture, the management team followed the principle of highlighting the features of the century-old building, planting a whole wall of greenery in the atrium to let greenery flow throughout the space. The bar counter at TeaDongXi also follows the structure of the sloped roof, using a stepped design to integrate the bar seamlessly into the house.
The tea and tea snacks offered have strong local connections. Lin Xiaowen explained that the name TeaDongXi came from a poem written by the founder: “Walk and view dried goods from north and south, sit and drink tea from east and west.” Since Dadaocheng has long been a bustling port of trade, at its peak there were 256 tea shops. Therefore, the shop offers Oriental Beauty Tea, named after a compliment by Britain’s Queen Victoria, as well as Western-style organic herbal teas and black teas. The Chinese teas come from two century-old shops in Dadaocheng that are still standing: Lin Huatai Tea Shop and Wang Youji Tea Shop; the tea snacks include locally baked lavender cookies, walnut cakes, and longan dried bean jelly — delightful without being overly sweet.
As Zhou Yicheng wrote: “In Dadaocheng, you can’t help but encounter Taiwan’s history. At every street corner, Taiwan’s history awaits you, calls to you, and you can’t avoid facing it head-on.” The establishment of MinYiCheng adds yet another arts and culture venue to Dadaocheng, staying true to Dadaocheng’s traditional cultural elements: tea, fabrics, Chinese medicine, opera, and architecture, connecting traditional cultural and creative industry workers settled here, merging them into Dadaocheng’s industrial and cultural communities.
[Info]
Address: No. 67, Dihua Street, Taipei City
Tel: 02-2552-1367
Hours: Monday–Sunday: 9:00–19:00
Website: www.artyard.tw
● Read More: Hearing Old Houses Tell Their Stories (Part 3): Huwei Residence %s An Arts Salon Drifting with Tea Aroma
http://goo.gl/7nn26
Locally baked lavender cookies with a Western-style floral tea. (Photo provided by TRAVELER Luxe Traveler Magazine)
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