Dihua Street

迪化街一段（大稻埕）

Dried mango, tea and the matchmaker god on a century-old trading street

Hours

Street always open; shops mostly daytime, hours vary

Tickets

Free

Address

Dihua St Sec. 1, Datong District; Xia-Hai City God Temple midway along is the landmark

Merchants who got rich on 19th-century river trade built the shophouses that line this street for over a kilometre. The fronts are baroque plaster, the insides run so far back through warehouses that you can't see the end from the door. The air smells of dried mango and mushrooms, herbal medicine and tea leaves, and restored buildings now hold cafés and ceramics shops. Midway, the tiny Xia-Hai City God Temple houses Yue Lao, the matchmaker god, and people leave sweets and biscuits as they pray. Finish with a ten-minute walk to Dadaocheng Wharf for sunset over the river.