Every year before the Lunar New Year, everyone in Taipei talks about going to the New Year’s market. In Taipei, that means Dihua Street Section One. Every year until New Year’s Eve, the 880m along Dihua Street is crammed with hundreds of stands, and at every stand you can taste treats like dried squid strips, pistachio nuts, and candy for free. If you want to get an idea of what new flavors there are going to be this year, then Dihua Street should be at the top of your must-see list.
In recent years, the Taipei City Government has expanded the New Year Market to the neighboring business district, including Huayin Street and the Ningxia Night Market. More than a million people visit the New Year’s market every year, and businesses turn over tens of millions of Taiwan dollars.
However, apart from buying goods from many different places, it is also worth paying attention to the old buildings along Dihua Street. Taipei City’s Department of Culture says most of the buildings have been deliberately maintained, making it the best preserved old Taipei street. During the Japanese era, business here was focused on miscellaneous goods and teahouses. Later on, rice, cloth and Chinese medicine businesses gradually moved in.
There are more than 70 old traditional buildings along Dihua Street to look at. Four different types have been kept to show the characteristic styles of buildings from different periods.
According to the Department of Culture, the first type is Minnan style buildings. The main characteristics of these buildings are that they are mainly one-story buildings with tile covered inclined roofs and wooden doors and windows.
The second type is the foreign style building which usually have two floors, a low wall in front, arched windows and stone balustrades.
The third type is the baroque-style building with three-dimensional reliefs and floral patterns on the fascia.
The fourth type is the modern building with a clear and simple exterior that emphasizes the balance between lines and proportions. These are distributed along the whole street, and this is the most common of the four types.
When you are finished looking at the buildings, you can go to pray at the Hsiahai City God Temple at Dadaocheng. This temple has been appointed a third class historical site. It is enveloped in incense smoke throughout the year, and in recent years the most popular part for visitors has been the matchmaker god in the temple who tries to spin the yarn between single men and women. This has given the Hsiahai City God Temple a reputation as a place where the matchmaker god makes his matches. As a result, the temple attracts many people from near and far who come here to make their wishes or redeem their promises.
(LIBERTY TIMES, TRANSLATED BY PERRY SVENSSON)
每年農曆新春前，台北市最夯的話題就是逛年貨大街，年貨大街泛指迪化街一段，每到年節前夕，迪化街短短八百公尺內擠滿數百攤位，滿坑滿谷都是免費試吃的魷魚絲、開心果、糖果等，要知道年貨最新的口味，就得到迪化街一趟。
近幾年除了迪化街一段，台北市政府將年貨大街擴充至周邊的商圈，包括華陰街、寧夏夜市等，每年的年貨大街參訪民眾都超過一百萬人次，交易金額也超過數千萬元。
不過，除了採買南北貨外，還可以留意迪化老街的建築。台北市政府文化局表示，迪化街大部分建築經刻意留存，因而成為台北市保留最完整的老街，日治時期以南北雜貨、茶行為主，之後米業和布匹、中藥等也逐漸佔有一席之地。
迪化老街有高達七十棟以上的老式傳統建築可供欣賞，而且保留了四種形式，見證了不同時期建築的特色風格。
文化局解釋，第一種是閩南式建築，以單層樓為主，瓦片覆蓋的斜屋頂及木板組成的門窗是其特色。
第二種是洋樓式樣，以兩層樓房為主，門面有女兒牆、拱形窗洞、花瓶狀欄杆等。
第三種是仿巴洛克建築，以立體的外觀浮雕及花草紋飾著稱。
第四種現代主義式建築，外觀簡潔明朗，注重線條的表現與比例的均衡，街上各段都有分佈，是四種風格中數量最多者。
欣賞完建築，還可以到大稻埕的霞海城隍廟拜拜，尤其該廟被列為國家三級古蹟，終年香火鼎盛，近年最為人樂道的是城隍廟裡供奉的月下老人為未婚男女覓得姻緣，因此，霞海城隍廟有月下老人牽姻緣之名，吸引大批海內外香客前往許願、還願。
（自由時報記者林秀姿）
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