Dihua Street

Dihua Street is now a pronoun for purchasing Chinese New Year’s fares in Taiwan. Located in the western part of Taipei City, Dihua Street is about 800 meters long and has been developed since the mid 19th century. Until the Japanese Colonial Era at the end of 19th century, Dihua Street had become an important collection and distribution center for goods such as Chinese herbal medicine, fabrics, rice and tea due to its close location to Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕碼頭).

Because of Dihua Street’s profound history, a medley of architectural styles from Fujianese, western to Baroque can all be found here. The whole area has a nostalgic feel, as if it were still 1950. It is rather a quiet street in ordinary days, while everything changes a few days before the Chinese New Year’s Eve. Thousands of people flood in the incredibly packed street, where vendors’ street cries can be heard all the time. As Chinese New Year is also about visiting relatives in different cities, sweets are of course a must to be prepared so guests have something to nibble on. Therefore, candy shops lined up along Dihua Street are always crowded with people eager to try some free samples. There are also a wide variety of stalls selling handcrafts, snacks, prepared foods, dried items, decorations and anything else related to Chinese New Year. With such an abundance of choices, the only thing you might need to worry about is where to stop and shop. Undoubtedly, Dihua Street is the perfect destination to experience the festive atmosphere during Chinese New Year in Taiwan.

In recent years, the government has strived to save and restore the old buildings in this neighborhood, including the Japanese-style shophouses lining the nostalgic Dihua Street. Many of these old buildings have been turned into design boutiques and funky cafés, drawing in more and more youngsters to this historic part of the city. Of course, Dihua Street also boasts myriads of traditional Taiwanese eateries dishing out the silver needle noodles (米苔目), glutinous squid soup (魷魚羹), savory rice pudding (碗粿), four divinity soup (四神湯), Taiwanese sticky rice (油飯), braised pork rice (滷肉飯) and many more! Ｗhen deities’ birthdays are being celebrated, lively local folk traditions such as ceremonies and parade formations can be expected on Dihua Street. For those who want to pray for luck in finding a suitable partner, make your way to Xia Hai City God Temple (台北霞海城隍廟), where the God of Marriage and Love (Yue Lao) is enshrined and followed by myriads of worshippers.