On a sweltering hot day in August, Shenkeng Old Street in New Taipei City’s rural Shenkeng District was bristling with life. Cooks from many of the street’s storied eateries, as well as seven teams of culinary students from colleges in northern Taiwan, were going head to head in a tofu dish-making competition staged by the local government.
Against the backdrop of historic red-brick buildings and wooden stalls piled with traditional goods, contestants toiled to turn out bean curd creations worthy of the street’s reputation as the capital of tofu in Taiwan. The winning submissions will star at a gourmet festival organized by the Economic Development Department under the New Taipei City Government in October—an event certain to attract a large number of visitors from home and abroad seeking to experience the street’s specialty food within an authentic cultural setting.
But the success of Shenkeng Old Street as a cultural tourism destination cannot be laid solely at the feet of the city government. If not for a campaign by local residents in the 1980s, the 200-meter-long western section of Shenkeng Street would have been bulldozed as part of a proposed thoroughfare widening and redevelopment project.
An illustration featuring some of New Taipei’s well-known landmarks
Preserving the Past
“It’s important to preserve old streets that serve as a cultural link between the past and present as they allow for a better understanding of an area’s development,” said Chang Chi-an (張記恩), deputy chief engineer of the city government’s Urban Redevelopment Office. “They also help people identify with local culture and function as cornerstones for sustainable economic development.”
Chang, who was involved in the large-scale restoration of New Taipei’s popular Shenkeng and Sanxia old streets starting in 2010 and 2004, respectively, believes lively and well-managed old streets offer many benefits for local communities. “They may eventually entice those who left to return to their hometowns and help breathe new life into the area,” he said.
The first old street to undergo restoration in New Taipei was the one in Sanxia District. Upon completion in 2007, it became the flagbearer for other projects citywide. An important part of the process was the establishment of a management committee tasked with ensuring the street is tip-top at all times and dazzles visitors with its cultural glamour.
Huang Chien-chiang (黃建強), director of the Shenkeng Old Street Management Committee since its establishment in 2014, said an old street is only as good as its management committee. “As our members are old street residents and tenants, they can quickly understand and address concerns that might hinder progress.”
According to Huang, an essential part of this process is the collection and allocation of management fees toward the upkeep of the old street’s buildings and environment. This legal privilege was granted in 2013 under the Regulations for the Management of New Taipei City Old Streets, the first legislation of its kind in Taiwan.
Old streets are increasingly recognized as enhancing the cultural appeal of New Taipei. Last year, popular internet trend analysis website Dailyview.tw found that six of the top 10 must-visit old streets around Taiwan are located in New Taipei, including Shenkeng and Sanxia.
The tradition of making Chinese-style drums preserved by Wang Xi-kun is the inspiration for the New Taipei City International Drum Arts Festival.
At the top of the list is the old street in coastal Tamsui District. Its popularity owes much to some of Taiwan’s best-known cultural assets located nearby like Fort San Domingo, a national historic site built in 1628 by the Spanish on a hilltop overlooking the mouth of the Tamsui River. With 27 historic sites, four national and 23 local government-designated ones, Tamsui is home to about one-third of the total 80 in New Taipei.
Fiesta of Festivals
Boasting 4 million residents in its 29 districts, New Taipei is the most populous of Taiwan’s six special municipalities. The city’s momentum lies in its diverse intangible cultural legacies epitomized by various festivals year-round. One notable example is traditional Chinese drum-making, a practice carried on by Hsiang Jen Ho Bell & Drum Store in Xinzhuang District since 1924.
Wang Xi-kun (王錫坤), second-generation owner of the store and master craftsman, has been in charge of the facility since 1973. The 66-year-old artisan is proud to be the leading supplier of high-profile Taiwan temples such as Baoan Temple and Dharma Drum Mountain in Taipei City, and of his efforts in keeping the skill alive on the island.
Since 2007, the city government’s Cultural Affairs Department has been organizing the district’s annual International Drum Arts Festival centered on Wang’s story and cultural legacies. Top Taiwan performance troupes like Ju Percussion Group and U-Theatre, longtime users of Wang’s drums, are regular headline acts at the 10-day event staged in June each year.
Another event offering a different cultural perspective on New Taipei is the Songkran Festival. Staged annually in mid-April since its founding in 1998, the event reflects an emerging cultural aspect of the city shaped by the 80,000 and growing population of new arrivals from Southeast Asia. Also known as the Thai New Year’s Festival, the event was originally for migrants from Thailand and Myanmar, many of whom live on Huaxin Street in Zhonghe District—the main venue for the celebration of Southeast Asian cuisines, costumes and performing arts.
New Taipei’s Songkran Festival spotlights Southeast Asian traditions and boosts the city’s cultural diversity.
Other events highlighting area-based cultures include the Deities Festival in Luzhou District in September and October, the Tie-Dye Festival in Sanxia District mainly in July and the Lion King Festival in Taishan District in October and November. The first plays a role in preserving Taoist traditions, the second contributes to the revival of local indigo dyeing practices and the third promotes the traditional Chinese practice of lion dancing.
Museums of Modernity
“In a diverse city with culturally distinctive urban and rural districts, selecting one representative image is not easy,” said Yu Wen (于玟), deputy commissioner of the city government’s Cultural Affairs Department. “On the other hand, each district in our city, with its unique history or industry, has developed its own culture and provided valuable materials for the cultural creative design sector.”
According to Yu, the department has explored different approaches in recent years to further vitalize New Taipei’s cultural scene. These include introducing new technologies to the five department-managed museums: Gold Museum, Pinglin Tea Museum, Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology, Tamsui Historical Museum and Yingge Ceramics Museum. Around one year ago, it started installing wireless sensors called beacons that can transmit digital content directly to the mobile devices of users when they approach a display.
In March, Yingge Ceramic Museum in Yingge District signed an agreement with U.S. tech giant Google Inc. to include 150 items from its collection in the Google Cultural Institute’s Art Project, an online platform displaying artworks from around the world in 2-D and 3-D formats. All of the pieces are due to be uploaded to the platform by the end of this year. Shihsanhang museum will also launch a virtual reality project in October allowing visitors to explore the underwater environment of the historically significant Tamsui River near the museum.
Shihsanhang museum is located at the Shihsanhang Archaeological Site in Bali District. In 1989, archaeologists commenced excavation projects in the area, uncovering large numbers of artifacts dating back 500 to 1,800 years.
Banqiao 435 Art Zone holds cultural and creative events while providing indoor spaces for emerging artists.
Culture for All
Yu said another accomplishment of the department is the rejuvenation of Banqiao 435 Art Zone. Since assuming responsibility for the 5-hectare former central government-run job training center from Banqiao District Office in 2012, the department has worked to enhance its appeal and vibrancy. Featuring large open spaces and neoclassic buildings, the zone holds art activities organized on a regular basis for parents and children, and has indoor spaces used by emerging artists as studios.
Last year’s launch of the new headquarters of the New Taipei City Library in Banqiao District, the most populous and urbanized in the metropolis, added an extra layer to the city’s cultural landscape. The facility is the only library in Taiwan open 24/7, allowing night owls to read in a quiet, comfortable place free of charge.
Cultivating young artists is also a mission of the department. Since 2011, it has supported cartoonists by organizing competitions and arranging for awarded works to be introduced to the public and representatives from the animation industry. This year, contestants were required to include New Taipei’s cultural legacies in their creations, with the winners showcasing their pieces at Banqiao’s Fuzhong 15, a local government-run facility established in 2012 to screen documentaries and animations usually at a token fee. Similar projects for promoting young filmmakers and musicians started this year, with the winning works announced in June and August, respectively.
At the same time, construction of the New Taipei City Museum of Art in Yingge—the most visible addition to the city’s cultural landscape in the near future—is scheduled for completion in 2019. Created by renowned Taiwan architect Kris Yao (姚仁喜), winner of the department’s international design competition announced in February 2015, the much-anticipated 44,000-square-meter structure is set to become an attraction in its own right. Yao’s vision of the building rising from the riverbank like a thicket of reeds is certain to appeal to residents and visitors alike.
Through its restored old streets, many historic sites, artisans, cultural festivals, high-tech museums, artistic talents and under-construction museum of art, New Taipei is on track to becoming a city of splendid culture. Progressive policymaking on the part of the local government is key in this process, as is the involvement of residents and the private sector. “The foundation of a city’s development lies in its history and culture,” Yu said. “So, we’ll continue protecting and promoting cultural legacies in New Taipei, and making them more accessible to the average citizen.”
Write to Oscar Chung at mhchung@mofa.gov.tw
PHOTOS BY CHANG SU-CHING, CHIN HUNG-HAO, CHUANG KUNG-JU, HUANG CHUNG-HSIN AND JIMMY LIN AND COURTESY OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT OF NEW TAIPEI CITY GOVERNMENT
ILLUSTRATION BY KAO SHUN-HUI