For tourists on their first trips to Taipei, some destinations are simply must-see, such as the National Palace Museum and Taipei 101. But those interested in gaining an in-depth understanding of the city should also consider visiting a few lesser-known and decidedly less glamorous locations. Taipei is home to numerous unique sites that, though they may not appear on typical tourist maps, highlight intriguing aspects of the city’s history and culture.
Take Guling Street, for example. From the mid-1960s to mid-1970s, the street was packed with stores selling secondhand books. Although most of these shops have since disappeared, a few remain. Their often elderly owners persist not for profit, but for the opportunity to interact with their book-loving customers.
Another worthwhile destination is the Yangmingshan American Military Housing, a complex of around 150 Western-style buildings in the mountains north of the capital. Dating from 1950, the site contains the largest remaining collection of residences built for U.S. military officers, advisers and their dependents. Although most of the houses were abandoned when the U.S. severed official diplomatic ties with the Republic of China (ROC) in 1979, a few have been preserved as homes or restaurants.
While the Yangmingshan American Military Housing highlights a unique chapter in ROC-U.S. relations, the Japanese-style houses around the city’s Qingtian Street are a remnant of Japan’s colonial rule of Taiwan (1895-1945). Constructed in the 1930s, they served as residences for Japanese professors teaching in the city. While many of the traditional wooden houses that once filled the area have been replaced with concrete structures, some of them have been preserved and now function as residences or cafes.
In this photo essay, Taiwan Review photographers turn their lenses on places that do not appear on typical tourist maps.
Write to Jim Hwang at cyhuang03@mofa.gov.tw
Street vendors in a traditional market in Wanhua
Wanhua District, formerly known as Bangka, in western Taipei is one of the oldest areas of the city.
Early worshippers at Lungshan Temple in Wanhua
A popular squid soup vendor in the Gongguan area of southern Taipei
The roof of a Japanese-style house on Qingtian Street
One of the few remaining secondhand book shops on Guling Street
Cherry blossoms in a residential area of northern Taipei’s Beitou District
A Shanghai-style barbershop on Guling Street
Treasure Hill Artist Village in southern Taipei
A small neighborhood park on Fujin Street in central Taipei
A public artwork in a small park on Nanjing East Road in central Taipei
The interior of a small bookstore and gallery on Longquan Street in southern Taipei
A Taiwanese opera troupe performs in a central Taipei community.
Patrons enjoy their meals on the back deck of an American-style restaurant in the Yangmingshan American Military Housing complex.
Shoe repair stalls and accessories vendors in Ximending, a popular shopping area in western Taipei
Shida Night Market in southern Taipei
A graffiti wall in an alley in Ximending
A street performer in Ximending
A store occupies the first floor of an apartment building on Fujin Street. The first floors of many residential buildings in the city are used for commercial purposes.
Taipei 101 in the evening
PHOTO CREDITS: Chang Su-ching, Chen Mei-ling, Chin Hung-hao, Chuang Kung-ju, Richard Chung, Huang Chung-hsin, Kuo Han-chen, Jimmy Lin, Appier Inc., Bocheng Long-term Care Services, Carbon-Based Technology Inc., Central News Agency, CommonWealth Magazine, Democratic Progressive Party, Executive Yuan, International Cooperation and Development Fund, Kaohsiung City Government, Kavalan Distillery, Legislative Yuan, Linking Publishing, Ministry of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, New Power Party, Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, Taoyuan City Government, United Daily News
ILLUSTRATIONS AND INFOGRAPHICS: Cho Yi-ju, Yui Han, Kao Shun-hui