Envy of the neighborhood

The bottom might have fallen out of the property market, but this doesn't appear to have halted construction of plush modern apartment complexes. It's now almost impossible to avoid any of the large number of television commercials that make newly completed apartment buildings seem almost Utopian.

While faux-European catch phrases, ubiquitous pictures of happy functional families, string ensembles and semi-nude models lounging poolside may leave certain segments of society pining for the latest in 21st Century abodes, they certainly don't have the residents of Huko Old Street (湖口老街) in Laohuko Township (老湖口村), Hsinchu County, itching to move into modern apartments.

Instead the folks of Huko Old Street are happy to live in renovated buildings that have stood on the same spot for over a hundred years. Even before renovation began in 1993, residents of the then rundown buildings had no desire to relocate.

Aware of the street's historical noteworthiness, local residents asked the local town council and the Hsinchu County Government to petition the Council for Cultural Affairs for funds to help restore the street to its former self.

The government agency was forthcoming and footed the bill for a large percentage of the NT$72-million that has been spent on the street since renovation began eight years ago.

The colorful and ornate carvings that once adorned the exteriors of the traditional buildings in days of yore have been painstakingly reproduced down to the smallest detail. The surnames of some the street's historical residents adorn the facades of several of the buildings. Broken columns have been replaced in all of the street's countless archways. And new red brick facades have left the century-old buildings glowing.

While renovators added steel beams for strength, they did ensure that much of the building material used in the restoration was traditional. Measuring roughly 4m in width by 30m in length and with a floor-space of 50 ping, the terraced structures' dividing walls are still made of mud-bricks.

Take away the modern motorcars parked on the archaic sidewalk and the street's handful of neon signs and the thoroughfare would look much the same as it did when the ancestors of many of the street's present residents lived there.

"Sure it's got a lot better, but even before the renovations we were happy to live here," explains local butcher Chan Yi-yuan (詹益源). "After all, my family has lived here for nearly 100 years. This is my family home. We certainly never had any intention of moving away."

Located 7km northeast of Hsinchu City, Huku Old Street is the main thoroughfare of a settlement that has been home to Hakka, Taiwanese and mainlander families for more than 200 years.

And while residents will readily admit that Huko Old Street's immediate surroundings are nowadays far from picturesque -- the Sun Yat-sen Freeway streaks past less than a stone's throw from their backyards -- it's impossible to find anyone who wants to live somewhere else.

"My brother brought an apartment in Yangmei some years ago and found he couldn't live there," continues the local butcher. "He found it so impersonal that he kept coming back here every weekend just to relax."

Originally known as Tawoko (大窩口), or Big Cave Mouth due to numerous caves to be found in the surrounding hillsides, the township hasn't always been such a popular place to live. In 1788 the area was used as a burial ground for soldiers who died fighting in the numerous uprisings that took place during the early part of the Qianlong (乾隆) period.