The 800m long Dihua Street (迪化街) is one of the oldest thoroughfares in Taipei. Built in the 1850s, the street is lined with a mix of buildings in diverse architectural styles, from southern Chinese to Baroque and contemporary.
The Dihua Street market, also known as Dadaocheng (大稻埕), has been the city’s major trading hub for herbal medicines, textiles and fabrics, tea, food specialties and many other goods since the late 19th century.
The street, which in recent years has undergone extensive renovation and refurbishment, has emerged as an attractive site for those wishing to experience the Lunar New Year atmosphere, and the area tends to draw huge crowds seeking special holiday treats in the run-up to the holidays.
Over the past few years, some “cool” stores have sprung up in the area thanks to the efforts of a new generation of creative entrepreneurs.
These new shops, including cafes, tea houses, art galleries, studios and bookstores, aim at making Dihua Street market a more interesting and inspirational place by imbuing it with a touch of modernity, culture and creativity.
“The old stores and their stories remain the heart and soul of the Dihua community. We are just supporting actors. We aim to silhouette the glamor of century-old shops, historic buildings and culture in the community,” said the project’s mastermind, Jou Yih-cheng (周奕成).
“We want to be charming supporting actors, because sometimes people will go to see a film specifically to see the supporting cast,” Jou added.
Jou, a former political activist who founded the Sedai Group two years ago to pursue his dream of turning Dadaocheng into the nation’s new cultural center, said the area was home to the Taiwan Cultural Association in the 1920s.
Noting that the creation of the cultural association symbolized the birth of Taiwan’s process of modernization, Jou said he looks forward to contributing to the resurrection and expansion of Dadaocheng’s innovative heritage.
According to Jou, the district boasts Taipei’s largest concentration of historic buildings.
Now that the city government has spent a large amount of money to renovate lanes and buildings, including the Yongle Market, Jou said his group aims to inject new life into the region.
“We want to set-up new ventures based on the region’s unique commercial and cultural resources, such as tea and fabrics,” Jou said.
Jou first rented a renowned old building near the Yongle Market as the first step in implementing his plan to open new stores that complement existing ones in the area and also offer new perspectives.
“I love the building and have invited like-minded young people to develop it into a new space that houses creative and cultural ventures,” Jou said.
Dubbed the “Art Yard,” the refurbished space now houses a 5m high performing arts center known as the Thinkers’ Theater; a bookstore that specializes in selling books on history, culture, fashion and life in the 1920s; a fabric studio and a cafe.
Jou has also rented another historic building near the well-known Xia Hai City God Temple (霞海城隍廟). The southern Chinese-style building has been divided into six areas that house different ventures, including a tea house, a pub, an art gallery and a pottery studio.
Jou said that within two years, all the stores have managed to establish themselves in the area.
Unlike their predecessors who came to Dadaocheng in the hope of “reforming” it, Jou and his partners have kept a low profile.
“We have told our neighbors, many of whom are wealthy businesspeople, that we have come to do business and want to make friends with them,” Jou said, adding that many local residents have become his group’s most important clients and customers.
Meanwhile, a fusion store called Fleisch that combines culture, creativity, food and beverages also recently opened in the area.
Fleisch is also housed in a century-old building. The owner of the business, which includes a private club on the building’s third floor, said he hopes his store will help enrich the food culture of the old community he says he has loved since his student years.
A magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck off the coast of Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 7pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter of the temblor was at sea, about 69.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 30.9km, it said. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was highest in Taitung County’s Changbin Township (長濱), where it measured 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 4 in Hualien, Nantou, Chiayi, Yunlin, Changhua and Miaoli counties, as well as
Taiwan is to have nine extended holidays next year, led by a nine-day Lunar New Year break, the Cabinet announced yesterday. The nine-day Lunar New Year holiday next year matches the length of this year’s holiday, which featured six extended holidays. The increase in extended holidays is due to the Act on the Implementation of Commemorative and Festival Holidays (紀念日及節日實施條例), which was passed early last month with support from the opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party. Under the new act, the day before Lunar New Year’s Eve is also a national holiday, and Labor Day would no longer be limited
COMMITMENTS: The company had a relatively low renewable ratio at 56 percent and did not have any goal to achieve 100 percent renewable energy, the report said Pegatron Corp ranked the lowest among five major final assembly suppliers in progressing toward Apple Inc’s commitment to be 100 percent carbon neutral by 2030, a Greenpeace East Asia report said yesterday. While Apple has set the goal of using 100 percent renewable energy across its entire business, supply chain and product lifecycle by 2030, carbon emissions from electronics manufacturing are rising globally due to increased energy consumption, it said. Given that carbon emissions from its supply chain accounted for more than half of its total emissions last year, Greenpeace East Asia evaluated the green transition performance of Apple’s five largest final
Taiwan is to extend its visa-waiver program for Philippine passport holders for another year, starting on Aug. 1, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said on Friday. Lin made the announcement during a reception in Taipei marking the 127th anniversary of Philippine independence and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) in Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The decision reflected Taiwan’s commitment to deepening exchanges with the Philippines, the statement cited Lin as saying, adding that it was a key partner under the New Southbound Policy launched in 2016. Lin also expressed hope
RSS