Dihua Street and Dadaocheng

Dihua Street is often described as Taipei's oldest street, and a walk along it is one of the best ways to see how the city looked before the age of high-rises and MRT lines. It was laid out in the 1850s as Centre Street, when merchants with roots in Quanzhou moved here from Bangka, the area now called Wanhua. It sits in Dadaocheng, which in the nineteenth century became a commercial centre for Taiwanese produce and for processing the island's tea for export. The street received its present name in 1947, after Urumqi in Xinjiang.

Today the street still trades. Shops along its length sell Chinese medicinal herbs, tea, incense materials and festive supplies, and some stores sell cloth wholesale, a reminder of the district's long connection with the fabric trade. Many buildings have been preserved and restored under city conservation efforts, so a walk here still feels like a visit to a working merchant quarter rather than a museum piece. Locals divide the street into a north section and a south section at Minsheng West Road.

The busiest time of year is the run-up to Lunar New Year, when Dihua Street becomes Taipei's main New Year shopping market. Crowds fill the street in the days before Lunar New Year's Eve as families stock up on snacks, decorations and gifts, and in 2008 the city extended the market area to link it with nearby streets and markets. It is an exciting time to visit if you enjoy crowds, sampling and haggling; at other times of year the street is calmer and easier to explore at your own pace.

The street is open to walk at any hour, but it is at its best in the daytime when the shops are trading. Allow one to two hours for a stroll with stops for tea tasting, and longer if you want to explore the surrounding lanes of Dadaocheng. It suits travellers interested in history, food and shopping, and photographers who enjoy old street fronts. Wear comfortable shoes, carry some cash for small purchases, and ask before photographing inside family-run shops.

The tourism office lists Daqiaotou on the Zhonghe-Xinlu Line and Beimen on the Songshan-Xindian Line as the nearest MRT stations. The street runs north from Nanjing West Road, so it combines well with the Dalongdong Baoan Temple and the Confucius Temple a short ride to the north.