A Walk Through Old Wanhua District: Heritage Sugar Refinery, Nature Park, Iconic Night Market

TEXT　Rick Charette

PHOTOS　Chen Cheng-Kuo

Come with us now to the proud and vibrant community where it all started in Taipei – heritage-rich, timeless Wanhua, founded as a riverport in the 1700s and the first settlement in today's big city. Located where the Xindian River flows into the Tamsui, the Taipei Metro whisks you to its Longshan Temple Station, from whence you can start this walk.

Taipei Sugar Refinery Cultural Park

In recent decades the Taipei City Government has been systematically saving and rejuvenating the priceless surviving trove of heritage assets found in Wanhua District and across the city, preserving important architectural works while giving them new tourism-oriented missions. A popular example is the Taipei Sugar Refinery Cultural Park, a 10-minute walk southwest from MRT Longshan Temple Station.

Established during the Japanese era (1895~1945) as the northernmost sugar-production facility on the island, the former Taihoku (Taipei) Sugar Refinery complex was in operation from 1911 to 1943, and was thereafter utilized for warehousing and food processing by the Taiwan Sugar Corporation (Taisugar) and again for warehousing by the China Times, which has its headquarters building next door. The site was designated a municipal monument for its cultural heritage in 2003.

At its heart are three former plant/warehouse buildings featuring concrete or exposed-red-brick façades and exposed trapezoid framework pillars, archways, and traditional-style ceramic-tile roofing. Warehouse A houses a permanent exhibition space dedicated to the history and culture of the sugar industry during the long period when Taiwan was a major global sugar exporter. Warehouse B is home to the Shinehouse Theatre troupe (shinehousetheatre.com), which presents a regular schedule of stage productions at the site's Wan Theater. Outside the warehouse, you can see parts of the original sugar railway unloading platform, which was 50 meters long and 20 meters wide. Warehouse C is available for use by cultural groups and local organizations. Other attractions include one of the narrow-gauge mini trains once used to transport sugarcane, along with a "living" sugar plantation mock-up – a compact five-row plot of 6m-high sugarcane.

Taipei Sugar Refinery Cultural Park 台北製糖所文化園區

🚩132-10, Dali St., Wanhua Dist.

📞(02) 2306-7975

🕝Tue-Sun 10:00am-5:00pm

Perhaps a wee bit hungry now? You won't be surprised that in a community of deep history such as this, the dense grid of streets and alleys teems with sellers of snack delicacies both traditional and contemporary, local and international. Let's head over to Starway Cake (SW Cake), immediately north of the sugar refinery complex.

Located on a quiet alley corner, concentrate your gaze on the elegant wraparound façade of this ground-floor French-style patisserie, and you may feel you've been transported to a Paris quartier. Founded in 2019 by a group of local "passionate baking enthusiasts," the emphasis here is on the use of high-quality local produce, with seasonal rotations.

Starway specializes in French dacquoise cakes and gives them a distinctive Taiwanese visual & gustatory flair with iconic seasonal island ingredients. The lineup stars in summer are mango dacquoise cakes, in autumn lavender chestnut, and in winter strawberry. High-demand choices available year-round are the Irish coffee and ganache creations.

A second signature line is the sablés bretons. The Taiwan-ized inventions in this section provide a more adventurous excursion for the non-local palate, with incorporation of such beloved Taiwan-brand flavorings as salted duck egg yolk, mullet roe, Sakura shrimp, may chang (called "mountain pepper" in Chinese), and Sichuan peppercorn.

Starway Cake 唯星蛋糕

🚩144, Dali St., Wanhua Dist.

📞(02) 2308-8789

🔗www.starwaycake.com

🕝Mon-Thu 11:00am-6:30pm, Fri-Sat 11:00am-7:30pm

Huajiang Housing Complex

It's not at all common to have a public housing complex on a day-tour itinerary, but the Huajiang Housing Complex, five minutes northwest of the sugar factory and 10 minutes directly west of MRT Longshan Temple Station, provides an impossible-in-a-museum look into the rapidly developing Taipei of the 1960s and 70s. Though looking distinctly weathered today, this complex of several buildings connected by an iconic circular pedestrian overpass was cutting-edge when built by a team of leading architects to replace illegal housing and address local flooding.

Within the complex, beyond the street-facing ground-floor shops, is a range of complex-dedicated facilities, including a police station, market, community center, water tower, sewage-treatment system, and third-floor communal gardens equipped with tables and chairs. The distinctive architecture and retro vibe of this fascinating self-contained world have strongly resonated with the recent "Taiwan Sensibility" aesthetic, which has taken social media in Korea by storm, celebrated for its nostalgic charm. Proven irresistible to TV/film/video producers in recent decades, it was chosen as shooting location for numerous productions – including music videos featuring K-pop sensation NewJeans and Japanese singer-pianist Fujii Kaze.

Huajiang Wild Duck Nature Park

Just west of the Huajiang Housing Complex, between riverside and high dike walls, this quiet park is a world apart from urban Wanhua's constant hubbub. The birdwatching is a hoot here – this is a protection zone for migratory birds, notably geese and ducks, many of which call Siberia their northernmost roost. Cycling is another key attraction, with Taipei's celebrated riverside bikeway system running through.

Huaxi Street Tourist Night Market

Huaxi Street Tourist Market is a long-renowned cultural magnet, a quick walk directly west of Wanhua's famed Lungshan Temple and its namesake metro station – tourists and locals commonly combine temple and night-market visits in a single outing.

Historic Huaxi Street was Taiwan's first tourist night market, established in 1951. A two-block-long covered artery, it's announced with dramatically eye-catching Chinese-style red entrance arches at either end, and radiant red lanterns hang in rows down the sides of the narrow pedestrian-only street. Last century "snake-gutting shows" brought many sightseers – the alternate name "Snake Alley" was infamous – but today the nest of snake shops is history due to growing awareness of animal welfare, as is the obviousness of the local red-light element (outlawed decades back). Consider the snake's shape and you'll understand why snake meat, blood, and bile have traditionally been considered virility-enhancing by some. Asia Turtle and Snake Specialty Shop (Stall No. 53-55) is the sole remaining peddler of snake specialties; you'll see "Snake Soup" and "Stir-Fried Snake" posted in English.

On display is a bustling entertainment of old-style shop signs, sellers of medicinal herbs and health tonics, Chinese-massage parlors, fortune-telling bookstores, gift boutiques, nail salons, and eating options, both brick-and-mortar eateries and vendor stands – a number Michelin-laureled.

Wang's Broth (Stall No. 153) is the food vendor with Huaxi Street's biggest reputation. Its focus is on pork specialties, soups, and tofu dishes. Adding to its luster is Michelin Guide cachet – it first hit the international big time as a Bib Gourmand selection in 2019 and has proudly retained the honor ever since. The old-timey house creation that most excites customer palates is the steamed minced pork with pickles in broth, followed by the red-braised pork rice and the red-braised pork belly.

Zhen Guo The Yummy Fruit (Stall No. 113), on the job for over half a century, is Huaxi Street's sole remaining ice treats provider today. Featuring a rainbow-palette shopfront loaded high with fresh Taiwan fruits of different pastels, fans of Taiwanese TV dramas will recognize it as a frequently used location in the hit 2021 murder-mystery series Light the Night, set in the 1980s.

The long-established shop whips up shaved-ice desserts, fruit juices, and fruit platters. Among the hottest of its cooling treats are its papaya milk and ginger tomato fruit platter, perfect as a sweet finale to a day exploring vintage Wanhua.