What are we to make of a place name that can be read as “West Snail?” Sadly, there’s no evidence that the town to which this beguiling toponym belongs, Siluo (西螺) in Yunlin County (雲林縣), was once overrun by gastropods.
Instead, like many place names in Taiwan, it’s a result of the original inhabitants becoming dominated by outsiders who spoke a very different language, and the latter in turn being replaced by settlers speaking an entirely distinct set of languages. The Dutch East India Company discovered a Babuza indigenous settlement here, and recorded its name as Sorean. The Han migrants who began settling Taiwan’s west coast around the same time had at least two names for this place: Sailepo (the Fujianese pronunciation of 西螺堡) and Tsikleiong (即螺陽).
For much of the 20th century, Siluo prospered thanks to the production of soy sauce. The black stuff is a true evergreen product. Since at least the 12th century, Han people have spoken and written of soy sauce being one of “the seven necessities to begin each day.” The other six are rice, oil, salt, vinegar, tea, and wood for the stove. Even in the 21st century, you can find six of the seven in most Taiwanese kitchens.
Photo: Steven Crook
I spent the first half of my life in countries where soy sauce isn’t an essential condiment, and even now, after 20-plus years in Taiwan, I don’t flavor food with soy sauce more than once a week. Four local soy-sauce companies are represented on Yanping Road Old Street (延平路老街), but the saucy side of Siluo doesn’t interest me half as much as the houses that were built by the town’s elite between World War I and World War II.
I’d read about these places online, and glimpsed a few on my one and only previous visit to the town. When I returned this spring, I was determined to take as much time — and walk as many steps — as I needed to thoroughly explore Yanping Road Old Street (延平路老街) and its surroundings.
Arriving from the north, I stumbled across the first landmark before even reaching Yanping Road. The ruin that faces the corner of Jhongshi (中市路) and Siouwen (修文路) roads is known to locals as the Gao Family Western-Style Residence (高家洋樓).
Photo: Steven Crook
Nothing’s left of the roof of this single-story building, which is probably around 90 years old. There are very serious cracks in the walls, but the ornate semi-circular portico is intact, as are the square gate posts on the edge of the property.
Once I reached Yanping Road, I turned east, passing Fusing Temple (福興宮). Crossing Gongjheng Road (公正路), and very soon came to one of the town’s most distinctive buildings.
Having three floors, what’s called Siluo Clocktower (西螺鐘樓) or Jin Yu-cheng Clocktower (金玉成鐘樓) at 76 Yanping Road is taller than many of the buildings that line the old street. On the left as you look up from the road, there’s a clock that’s a bit too small to be truly useful to passers-by. Its original function when built in 1935 was to advertise the owner’s watch business. On weekends and holidays, the building’s first floor is usually open to the public.
Photo: Steven Crook
On the same side of the road, the three-story former dental clinic at number 66 is worth stopping for. The top-floor balcony is shaded by an asymmetrical concrete semi-curtain, while the wood-and-glass doors that provide access to it are triangular.
The East Market (東市場) is almost opposite. Rather than house butchers and vegetable vendors, it’s now a collection of tourist-focused shops.
Before exploring the western stretch of Yanping Road, I walk south to the concrete shell that used to be Siluo Movie Theater (西螺大戲院). Located on the corner of Guanyin Street (觀音街) and Renhe Street (仁和街), this structure dates from the 1930s, and could hold an audience of up to 500 people.
Photo: Steven Crook
There’s been a half-hearted effort to preserve it as a tourist attraction. The local government has placed an information board outside, but neither trash nor foliage are kept under control. Getting inside doesn’t take any special skills, but I recommend caution. Much of the original seating remains in place, and it’s possible to go up to the mezzanine.
I returned to Yanping Road and walked west to the intersection with Jiansing Road (建興路). At 263 Jiansing Road, cater-corner from a bank, a restaurant operates in an old but well-maintained two-story building that, according to some sources, belonged to the family of Thomas Liao (廖文毅, 1910-1986). Liao was a Tokyo-based Taiwan independence activist forced by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to renounce his views and return to Taiwan in 1965.
If this was a Liao property, the presence of a blue sky/white sun KMT flag (to the left of the apex) and a Republic of China flag (on the right) is especially consequential. Both embossments are very faded.
Photo: Steven Crook
A very short distance away, four shophouses obviously built at the same time stand at 268 Jiansing Road. I’ve not been able to find out how old they are, or if the original owners were local worthies. Clearly, each was customized during construction, the southernmost house having the most elaborate facade. You’ll see a soaring eagle, lion embossments, an enormous pineapple and faux battlements.
A similar but less ornamented development at 276 to 292 Yanping Road appears to have been entirely abandoned. Peering through the windows, some of which have been smashed, I found that all but one had been cleared out.
The exception at number 280 may have been a tailor’s shop or a dry-cleaning business. More than a dozen jackets and dresses floated high above the floor, held by coat-hangers hooked on long bamboos. While not nearly so distressing as stumbling across a suicide, the dangling garments startled me. I’m sure that one of these days, thanks to my habit of peering into every ruin I come across, I’ll get what I deserve.
Steven Crook has been writing about travel, culture, and business in Taiwan since 1996. Having recently co-authored A Culinary History of Taipei: Beyond Pork and Ponlai, he is now updating Taiwan: The Bradt Travel Guide.
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