For the past two centuries, Yingge has been known as the ceramics center of Taiwan. The town’s cobblestone-lined Yingge Old Street (鶯歌陶瓷老街), Japanese colonial-era architecture and world-class ceramics museum are all especially picturesque in the autumn sunshine.
According to local tradition, the seeds of Yingge’s flagship industry were planted when a potter from Guangzhou Province, Wu An
(吳鞍), settled in the area 200 years ago. The abundant forests and ample coal deposits around Yingge provided plenty of fuel for kilns and the city is still known for the manufacture of plumbing fixtures and cable insulators, as well as the abundance of ceramic dishware, fine-art pieces and kitsch available for tourists to purchase.
It takes about 30 minutes to arrive by train from Taipei Main Station, and most attractions are located within a 10-minute walk of Yingge’s train station on Wunhua Road (文化路), including Yingge Old Street, the heart of the town’s tourist district. As you walk westwards down Wunhua Road (sidewalks are in distressingly short supply, even among the busiest of Yingge’s streets, so stay alert, especially at corners), look to your left for the elaborate facades of several brick buildings constructed during Japanese colonial rule. The slightly derelict condition of the old Wang Yang (汪洋居) and Cheng Fa (成發居) residences only add to their ghostly charm.
To get to Yingge Old Street, continue down Wunhua Road until it splits off into Guocing Street (國慶街). Keeping an eye out for vehicles, cross the street and make a right on the footpath under the railway overpass. Hang a left on Jianshanbu Road (尖山埔路, Yingge Old Street’s official name), and follow the cluster of tourists up the hill.
Yingge Old Street is lined with more than 80 shops selling ceramic objects at a wide variety of price points. Teacups can be had for as little as NT$20, but Peter Wang (王淳興), an art supply store and studio owner who has worked in Yingge’s ceramic industry for 30 years, cautions that many of the goods are cheap imports from China.
“Tourists come to Yingge and sometimes they don’t have a positive impression about the quality of the items here. They come just expecting to find cheap bargains,” says Wang. He advises quality-minded shoppers to bypass stores stuffed with a mishmash of knickknacks and dishware and instead look for places that specialize in a particular type or style of ceramics. One such store that we saw as we strolled under the palms shading Yingge Old Street is Tai-Hwa Pottery (臺華窯) at 27 Jianshanbu Rd (尖山埔路27號), tel: (02) 8678-1600. The elegant, modern gallery exclusively carries ceramic pieces by Taiwanese artists.
No trip to Yingge is complete without a visit to the exceedingly photogenic Yingge Ceramics Museum (臺北縣立鶯歌陶瓷博物館) at 200 Wunhua Rd (文化路200號), tel: (02) 8677-2727, a marvel of modern architecture that has done the city proud since it opened in 2000. Admission is NT$100 for adults or NT$70 for students. Start with an informative and surprisingly entertaining exhibit on the history of ceramics in Yingge, and then head upstairs to see the four galleries of the Taiwan Ceramics Biennale, which runs through Dec. 7 and features 114 pieces from artists around the world. The artistic and technical mastery in the sculpture, which range from literal interpretations of the human form to abstract installations, will please ceramic connoisseurs and serves as an eye-opening introduction to the versatility of pottery as a fine art medium for neophytes.
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