Yaolin Street
Red brick and old merchant houses.
Aa940325 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · 林高志 — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Foxy Who \(^∀^)/ — CC BY-SA 3.0 · lienyuan lee — CC BY 3.0 · Foxy Who \(^∀^)/ — CC BY-SA 3.0
Lukang Old Street is a historic quarter on the west coast of Taiwan, made up mainly of Yaolin and Putou streets. It runs for over 500 metres, with red-brick paving and old merchant houses. In 1986 it became the first district in Taiwan protected as an old street. The name Lukang means Deer Port, after the deerskin trade of the Dutch period. At its height from 1785 to 1845 it was Taiwan's second largest city after Tainan, with about 20,000 people, enriched by the rice trade. The harbour then silted up and the town refused the railway, so it declined. That decline saved its buildings from demolition, leaving them as they were. The houses are long and narrow in the southern style, 40 to 70 metres deep, with a shop in front, then a home and a back court. Side lanes have red lanterns and the Half-Sided Well, half in the street and half inside a house. The town has more than 200 temples, the best known being Longshan and Matsu. Close by are the Ai Gate and No Heaven Street. The quarter is 27.4 km in a straight line south-west of Taichung and 11.1 km west of Changhua. It is best visited on a weekday morning. The town is known for ox tongue cakes, while oyster pancakes may contain pork, so ask before eating. The temples are places of worship, so dress modestly, keep quiet and do not stand in the way of worshippers.
Red brick and old merchant houses.
Half in the street, half indoors.
Red lanterns and old walls.
Yaolin and Putou streets, Lukang, Changhua County
The town declined after the harbour silted and it refused the railway, so modernisation passed it by.
Half a day covers the street, lanes and a temple.