Yancheng District

"Yancheng" means "salt fields" in Mandarin. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, salt fields were built in this seafront area, and nearby residents make their living by crystallizing salts and fishing. That’s why the area got its name "Yancheng." In addition, because the Kaohsiung City Government was in this area, business as well as imports and exports brought prosperity to the area, making it the most populated place in Kaohsiung in the 1960s. However, just like the scenario happened to the western area in Taipei (the area along Ximending and Longshan Temple), as more land was developed, and the society shifted its focus to commercial activities, business began to move eastwards. As a result, Yancheng District was regressed to the least populated area in the city center.

Nevertheless, since the district attracts little attention of real estate tycoons, on the street you can see stores and houses that can be traced back to more than 50 years ago. Delicately carved signboards, obsolete broadcasting equipment still hanging on buildings, vine-covered houses, and even stone-built low houses welcome your eyes. Walk on the main road, you can see old bookstores, suit tailors, watchmaker's shops as well as gold and jewelry stores still providing services. Yet all the clerks are the elderly, which reflects the gradual decline of the old business district. Because the district is in the vicinity of the Port of Kaohsiung, in the early days many sailors would cheaply sell smuggled foreign products as soon as they came ashore. After the sailors doing so for a while, a tshat-a-tshi (a market for stolen goods, 賊仔市) gradually took form in the alley. But as the standard of living has risen, products with potential legal issues are no longer sold on the street. Instead, legally-imported biscuits, candies, and instant noodles have taken their places. Although the street looks dark and old, there are indeed a host of tasty snacks that you cannot find in department stores.

Sharing the same development story with Taipei's Ximending, Kaohsiung's Yancheng has drawn quite a few hotel operators to renovate old buildings here because its housing prices are relatively lower than those in surrounding areas. So now you can see many tour buses transporting groups of Mainland Chinese tourists to this district. As crowds of people appear in the area, business has gradually returned. Bloggers filling their pages with photos also start to notice the snacks served in old eateries hidden in the alleys. The bloggers' travel notes have attracted numerous people to follow their steps. They come to the district to sample the delicacies that have made their presence since fifty years ago. Recommended list includes the rich and creamy almond drink which has been served for 50 years; Shuangfei Milk Tea (双妃奶茶)—offered by a swaggering shopowner; Jinwenzhou Wonton King (金溫州餛飩大王), an eatery always with long queues; Popo Bing (婆婆冰), an ice shop known throughout the whole Taiwan. Little by little, these traditional local delicacies have brought back the former prosperity to the area. It is expected that Yancheng will develop into a must-go in Kaohsiung for foreign travelers, just as Taipei's Ximending.