A mix of old and new

If we compare today’s Dihua Street with that depicted in Festival on South Street, we can see the character of contemporary Dadaocheng as a mixture of old and new, a place of blending and openness. Trendy brands have moved into old Western-style buildings with Baroque facades, and long-established old shops stand side by side with cafes that appeal to young booklovers. Comparing today with yesteryear, what new changes have there been in Dadaocheng?

“When I first moved in here, there was virtually no foot traffic on Dihua Street, and all the buildings were being used as warehouses.” Vincent Wu, a lecturer in the Department of Communications Design at Shih Chien University, moved his company to Dadaocheng in 2006, a time when one could rent a warehouse on Dihua Street for only a few tens of thousands of NT dollars per month. “People believed that Dihua Street was dead.” However, only a few years later, “today rents here are many times higher.” Wu’s wife is a native of Dadaocheng and is familiar with all the local shops and places of interest, so she acts as our guide to the intriguing stories of Dihua Street.

The Watsons pharmacy beside the Xia-Hai City God Temple was built in 1917.

The Baroque-style facades on Dihua Street recall the affluence of yesteryear.

History in a painting

By nine in the morning, virtually all the shops on Dihua Street have opened for business. It was thanks to the efforts of earlier generations that families here became wealthy. As we talk about the prosperity of Dihua Street, a Maserati sports car passes in front of us, and in fact it is common nowadays to see high-end cars in Dadaocheng. Festival on South Street reflects the affluence of days gone by, with brightly colored shop signs, pennants blowing in the wind, and a throng of people—the area was flourishing. Today, the businesses in the painting have all but disappeared, the only two remaining landmarks being the Taipei Xia-Hai City God Temple and the Qianyuan Traditional Chinese Pharmacy.

Located at 71 Dihua Street, the Qianyuan Pharmacy appears in the painting with a shop sign reading “Qianyuan Yuandan Shop.” Qianyuan was the first business in Taiwan to act as an agent selling Tiger Balm. At that time anyone buying a jar of Tiger Balm would also get a ticket to see a movie at the Yongle ­Theater, which shows that even a century ago businesses under­stood that new commercial opportunities could be created by cooperation between different industries.

The nearby Xia-Hai City God Temple is already full of morning worshipers. The holiday depicted in Festival on South Street is Ghost Festival, and in the painting the City God Temple is shown with incense smoke rising into the air, while the street is crowded with people coming to worship or make purchases for the festival. Shops along both sides of the street have hung out banners declaring “Ghost Festival Sale,” “Ghost Festival Gifts,” and “Ghost Festival Discounts.” This is remarkably similar to what one sees at Ghost Festival today.

In the early 20th century, shops selling rice and other grains were concentrated on Dihua Street, and there was a flourishing trade in goods from places near and far.

A hundred years ago Dihua Street was a trading hub for dried foodstuffs and medicinal herbs, and was a place where citizens loved to shop.

A century ago, selling medicinal herbs was already an important line of business in Dadaocheng.

Surge at Ghost Festival

Jiang Zhiren, the owner of a noodle shop on Dihua Street, recalls that 60 years ago there was always a huge mass of people around at Ghost Festival. “In those days people were very hospitable and laid on free banquets, and the more people attended your banquet the greater your sense of pride and status.” Besides Ghost Festival, local residents most enthusiastically observed the temple activities for the birthday of the City God (Chenghuangye) on the 13th day of the fifth lunar month, which in times past are said to have included the largest temple pilgrimage in Northern Taiwan. Tong Zhenxi, owner of a century-old shop selling religious objects and embroidery, recalls: “Back then there was more activity the night before the City God’s birthday than there is nowadays for the procession of the Baishatun Mazu.”

However, in recent years there has been a shift in the popularity rankings of the deities on Dihua Street. The deity most in vogue today is the Old Man Under the Moon (a.k.a. the God of Marriage or God of Love), whose statue is located in the City God Temple and who helps people find marriage partners. The woman owner of a nearby shop says with a laugh: “Every year on Valentine’s Day or the Qixi Festival [the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, a.k.a. Chinese Valentine’s Day], you can see men lining up all the way to Nanjing West Road, and women lining up all the way to Minsheng West Road.”

Regarding the shifts in relative popularity of the deities, City God Temple information director Titan Wu says solemnly: “The City God doesn’t get jealous, but is happy to see the way things are. Some gay men come here to seek marriage partners and the Old Man Under the Moon helps them to find what they are looking for. We have even brought this deity’s statue to Japan to take part in Taiwan-related activities there.”

Various deities are worshipped in the Xia-Hai City God Temple. The Old Man Under the Moon is especially popular with young people.

The perspective of Kuo Hsueh-hu

Many people have tried to surmise where Kuo Hsueh-hu was standing when he painted Festival on South Street, but there is no consensus on this issue. However, what we can say is that the perspective of this painting is very special. “Festival on South Street seems to give a view of the setting from above, but the foreground is seen from a lower vantage point, looking straight ahead.” Vincent Wu suggests that when Kuo painted the entire street he did so from a variety of perspectives, and he combined together the street scenes with different depths of field that he had in his mind. “Just as people today use Photo­shop to create an image, he was perhaps the first person in Taiwan to directly Photo­shop images in his mind,” jokes Wu.

Festival on South Street projects Kuo’s impression of Dihua Street’s prosperity, and to enhance the celebratory mood of the painting he added height to the buildings along the street, making them look imposingly tall when in fact the structures there were at most two or three stories high at the time. In the lower left corner of the painting there is a sign reading “Xian Gong Gua,” which was a fortune-teller’s shop specializing in selecting auspicious dates for events. This kind of establishment still exists on Dihua Street. “The fortune-teller’s shop is very important to business owners in Dadaocheng. From marriage and childbirth to selecting dates for worship to determining the day when a new shop should open for business, the owners rely heavily on the fortune-tellers. In fact, some people even ask fortune-tellers to figure out optimal mobile phone numbers for them,” says Wu.

Strolling along Dihua Street, one gets a sense of vitality from the combination of old and new.

An early version of the Avengers

In the painting one can also see a sign advertising films from the 18-part series The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple, showing at the Yongle Theater. The Yongle ­Theater was Dihua Street’s biggest movie palace, with 1,505 luxurious seats. “You could say that The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple was the Avengers movie series of its day,” explains Wu, “with each film in the series doing great at the box office, and three of the films being shown back to back.” In those days the movie industry was flourishing as never before, and newspapers reported on films in detail: “This film is so popular that every night the theater is sold out.” “There is discord between the Kunlun and Kongtong schools of martial arts, and numbers of swordsmen weave their magic with dazzling swordplay in this thrilling film.” In those days before computer-generated imagery, The Burning of the Red Lotus Temple had special effects including people changing in size, special sword fighting techniques, and actors shooting thunderbolts from their palms or spitting flying swords out of their mouths. It created a real sensation.

From Festival on South Street one can get a glimpse of popular products and Taiwanese niche products from back in the day, including souvenir and gift items that Japanese visitors would bring back to Japan with them such as bananas, woven rush hats, and indigenous crafts. The painting shows a dazzling array of different shop signs, with shops selling items such as watches, snack foods, pharmaceuticals, cloth, petroleum products, and baked goods, all symbolizing new lifestyles and a flourishing economy. Also visible in the work are rickshaws, bicycles, automobiles, traffic signals, and even covered drainage ditches, indicating how advanced the urban infrastructure was becoming.

Dihua Street’s many shaved ice shops attract an endless stream of clientele.

Traditional businesses still exist on Dihua Street, but now they have altered their appearance and style to incorporate more cultural and creative elements.

A literary atmosphere

Even after a century, Dadaocheng has not gone out of fashion. At the end of 2022, Kuo’s Astral Bookshop appeared on Dihua Street. Combining old buildings with coffee and more than 10,000 books, it immediately became a new check-in spot for Internet celebrities.

Kuo’s Astral Bookshop comprises two buildings front and back, with a small courtyard between them. The courtyard is spanned by a staircase linking the third floor of the main building with the second floor of the rear building; the result is a unique space with its own special feel. Inside, the owners have opted for soft, warm lighting along with simple building materials to create a secluded, retro atmosphere. It is an endearing place where people can sit down and find peace of mind.

Kuo’s Astral Bookshop lends a literary air to Dadaocheng and has become a favorite check-in location for young booklovers.

Transforming Dadaocheng

Vincent Wu recommends the Fukohiyokan cafe. Located on Guisui Street, this is a coffee shop in the style of the 1930s. When you walk up to the second floor you can see a large collection of antiques, while the lighting at dusk immediately makes one nostalgic for the past; it feels like one is returning to the warmth and positivity of that era. The retro ambience featuring tastefully arranged furniture, Art Deco table lamps, and gentle yellow light lends itself to enjoying a coffee or tea or chatting with friends.

The Dihua Street shop of DoGa Xiang Crispy Chili is another popular check-in spot. Inside the store one can find the Crispy Chili snacks that are selling like hot cakes on the Internet and overseas. Amid the historical atmosphere of Dadaocheng, DoGa is more like a fashionable boutique. Meanwhile, the cultural and creative brand inBloom provides shoppers with screen-printed craft products and handicraft classes, and those who come here can enjoy the authentic aesthetic of Taiwanese-­style printed fabrics.

Kuo Hsueh-hu’s Festival on South Street freezes Da­dao­cheng in time, but today, a century later, the area is no less flourishing and prosperous than in those days. There are countless stories waiting for you to discover them. You can shop in fashionable stores, admire grand old homes in the tranquil back streets, or sit down in a coffee shop to enjoy a cup while you put yourself in a nostalgic mood, then pick up some of the dazzling array of spices and medicinal herbs on sale to take home and make a tonic soup, as you savor Dadaocheng’s harmonious combination of old and new.

The second floor of Fukohiyokan cafe has a rich 1930s atmosphere.

The Dihua Street branch of DoGa captures the mood preferred by young people and the store’s Crispy Chili snacks sell like hot cakes.