用法：
1. 先讓GPT直接根據導覽路線來設計講稿，以及設計一些導覽用圖卡 >>會有點不確定圖卡內容是否完全正確
2. 使用能找到台灣資料的AI來根據導覽路線來提供更專業的學術資料，再把這些學術資料摘要丟給GPT修改講稿>> GPT會一直提醒這些資料太專業不一定要使用
3. 大量聽podcast的相關討論(來自走讀導覽者的介紹、學術研究者的分享、相關書籍的分享)，再把相關資訊綜整成另外的非AI生成圖卡，後用自己的方式從頭用破英文講一遍，語音轉文字給GPT請他改成通順講稿>>
(1)此時會發現GPT還不錯, 除了修正英文, 還會幫忙查證講的內容是否正確、是否誇大，並且直接修改(可能跟自己平常一直要求他要找資料驗證跟避免誇大有關)。另一個好處是GPT會辨識自己的語音輸入英文句型問題, 指出該英文口說該怎麼練習
(2)有點煩人的地方是它會一直回到自己第一版的導覽稿，不會根據新的資訊大幅調整內容，且前面明明建議我不要加入太多歷史年代資訊，現在卻會自己補進來
(3)最不好的壞處就是，有些Podcast內容是網路上沒有的真人經驗分享，GPT就會說這些資料不存在而改掉那段論述.
實際上AI合作產生的講稿還是很難使用，因為偏離自己的口語太多~~
Right now, we are at Daqiaotou.
First, we will walk to the Ten Connected Shophouses.
Then we will go to Cisheng Temple.
Around the temple, we will have some traditional Taiwanese breakfast and local food.
After that, we will walk through different parts of Dadaocheng.
We will see tea shops, dried-food shops, traditional pastry shops, old buildings, and some newer businesses.
Then we will go to a tea house. We can sit down, have tea, and talk more about Taiwanese tea culture and the history of the tea business in Dadaocheng.
After that, we will visit Xia-Hai City God Temple.
Our last main stop will be Yongle Market, where we can see the fabric market.
So you may notice that we have several themes today: temples, tea, food, old buildings, fabric, and the river.
They may seem like different things, but actually they are all connected.
Dadaocheng was once a very important business area.
Goods came here from different parts of Taiwan, and some were also exported overseas.
Trade brought merchants, workers, temples, tea shops, warehouses, and many different businesses to this area.
You will see how these things connect as we go.
Before we continue, can I ask you one question?
How familiar are you with Taiwan’s history?
To understand Dadaocheng, it helps to know just a little about Taiwan’s history.
Taiwan has been home to different peoples and ruled by different governments over time.
First, Indigenous peoples were already living in Taiwan long before large numbers of people came from China.
In the 1600s, Taiwan became part of a busy maritime world.
The Dutch controlled part of southern Taiwan for a period, and the Spanish had settlements in the north.
You may also know the old name Formosa.
This name came from Portuguese sailors. It means something like “beautiful island.”
Later, there was a short period of rule by Zheng Chenggong, or Koxinga, and his family.
Then, from the late seventeenth century, Taiwan came under the Qing dynasty.
The Qing period is especially important for our tour today.
More migrants came to Taiwan from Fujian and Guangdong.
They brought their languages, food, business networks, skills, and also their gods.
That is why religion and migration are so closely connected in Taiwan.
Dadaocheng really began to grow in the middle of the nineteenth century, during the late Qing period.
After Tamsui opened to foreign trade, tea became especially important.
Dadaocheng became a place where tea was processed, traded, and exported.
Later, from 1895 to 1945, Taiwan was under Japanese rule.
During this period, Taipei changed a lot.
Roads were widened. Railways, markets, public buildings, and other modern city systems developed.
So in Dadaocheng, you can see buildings from different periods mixed together.
Some ideas came from traditional Chinese architecture.
Some were influenced by Western styles.
And some changes happened during the Japanese period.
After World War Two, Taiwan came under the Republic of China government, and Taipei continued to grow into the city you see today.
So for now, you only need to remember a few things.
Taiwan has many layers of history.
Dadaocheng grew mainly during the late Qing period.
Trade, especially tea, made this area rich.
Temples grew together with migrant and business communities.
And during the Japanese period, the city became more modern.
Everything else, we can discover step by step as we walk.
Now, let’s look at Taipei Bridge.
We started at Daqiaotou Station.
The name Daqiaotou means something like “the area near the big bridge.”
And the big bridge is Taipei Bridge.
You may have seen photos like this before.
In the morning rush hour, a huge number of scooters come down from the bridge.
People call this the “Scooter Waterfall.”
A photo called “Motorcycle Waterfall” was even entered in the National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year contest.
So today, this bridge is famous for scooters.
But its history is much older.
The first bridge here was built in the late Qing period.
It was completed in 1889.
At that time, it was mainly a wooden railway bridge.
Trains crossed the Tamsui River here.
But wooden bridge supports were difficult to maintain because of floods.
A typhoon also badly damaged the bridge.
Later, during the Japanese period, the railway route was changed.
The bridge was then used more for normal road traffic.
This area also has a strong working-class history.
In the past, many day laborers came here and waited under the bridge for temporary jobs.
So the food around Daqiaotou developed for people who needed something cheap, filling, and high in energy.
That is why you can still find many traditional foods here made with rice, sticky rice, pork, and soup.
These were practical foods for workers.
Not fancy food, but food that could keep you full for a long time.
Do people use many scooters in Switzerland?
Does this look very different from morning traffic in Switzerland?
Now we can see the Ten Connected Shophouses.
But before we talk about the buildings, let’s look at this picture first.
We are now in Dadaocheng.
Do you know what the name Dadaocheng means?
The name is said to come from a large open yard used for drying rice grain.
In the past, after farmers harvested rice, they needed large open spaces to dry the grain in the sun.
You can see something similar in this picture.
Even today, you can sometimes see farmers drying grain outside.
Rice has always been very important in Taiwan.
For many people, it was the main staple food.
Do people eat much rice in Switzerland?
Now let’s look at these buildings.
These are called the Ten Connected Shophouses.
They were completed in 1912, during the Japanese period.
There were ten connected buildings, but they belonged to six businesses.
Five were rice mills, and one was a sewing-thread factory.
This area was close to the river and Taipei Bridge.
Rice could be brought here, processed in the rice mills, and then sold or sent to other places.
So this was not originally a tourist area.
It was a working business district.
Today, the old buildings have been reused for restaurants, shops, and other businesses.
You can see that the bricks, arches, and windows follow a very regular pattern.
From here, we’ll walk slowly along the street.
Please feel free to stop and take photos.
If you want, I can also help you take photos.
As we walk, try to look up.
Don’t only look at the shops on the ground floor.
A lot of interesting details are above us, on the windows, walls, and the top of the buildings.
Sometimes, there are also interesting details under the covered walkway.
So today: look up, look down, and look inside.
As we go south, you will see more decorated buildings.
Some have traditional Chinese features.
Some have Western-style decoration.
And some were changed during the Japanese period.
Remember, this was an important business street.
So the front of a building was also a kind of advertisement.
A merchant could use the building to show, “My business is successful. My company is modern. Look at me.”
So the building was not only a place to live and do business.
The building itself could show wealth and status.
Now let’s look at this card.
Many traditional shophouses were very long and narrow.
Some had two, three, or even more sections.
This card shows an example with three sections, or three jin.
Jin does not mean three floors.
It means different sections going deeper into the building.
At the front was the front hall.
This was often the shop and the most public area.
Behind it was a small open courtyard, or skywell.
Then came another building section.
This could be used by the family for living, working, or other activities.
Then there could be another courtyard and a rear section.
The back could be used for storage, cooking, or other family activities.
The exact use was different from house to house.
Why did they have these open courtyards?
Look at the shape of the house.
It is very long and narrow.
Before electric lights and air conditioning, the middle of the building could be very dark and hot.
So the courtyard brought in sunlight and fresh air.
It also helped with rainwater and ventilation.
It was a simple but clever design.
Does Switzerland have old houses with inner courtyards like this?
Because Dadaocheng was close to the river, goods could arrive by boat.
Workers moved the goods from the river into warehouses and shops in this area.
So the long shophouse was useful for many things: selling in the front, working in the middle, and storing goods deeper inside.
I also want to show you something interesting.
My friend recently traveled to Malacca in Malaysia, and she gave me this magnet.
Look at the buildings.
Do they look a little familiar?
You can also find long, narrow shophouses in many old port cities in Southeast Asia.
Similar ideas about shops, homes, courtyards, and covered walkways developed in southern China and around Southeast Asia.
But every place changed the design in its own way.
In Malacca, for example, you may see more colorful decoration and different European and local influences.
Here in Dadaocheng, you can see another mixture: Chinese traditions, Western-style decoration, and changes from the Japanese period.
So the same basic idea can look very different in different cities.
Architecture travels with people, but it changes when it reaches a new place.
Okay, that’s enough architecture for now.
Let’s walk and see the real buildings.
Now I’ll show you a few traditional shops along the way.
The first one is a fish ball shop.
Fish balls are very common in Taiwan.
Many early migrants to Taiwan came from coastal areas of Fujian and Guangdong.
Fish balls were already part of the food culture there, and people brought this tradition to Taiwan.
Fish is chopped or ground into a paste, shaped into balls, and then cooked.
We usually eat fish balls in soup or with noodles.
Different places in Taiwan have different styles.
Some are made mostly with fish.
Some have a little pork filling inside.
Different areas may also use different kinds of fish.
So even something as simple as a fish ball can taste quite different from place to place.
Have you ever tried fish balls before?
And here you can see another very typical thing in Dadaocheng: dried food.
You will see a lot of dried seafood, mushrooms, fruit, herbs, and meat around this area.
Before refrigerators, drying was a very useful way to preserve food.
It also made food easier to store and transport.
This was especially important in a trading area like Dadaocheng.
Goods came here from many different places, and some were sent out again to other parts of Taiwan or overseas.
Dihua Street is also very famous for Lunar New Year shopping.
Before the New Year, many families come here to buy dried food, snacks, candy, nuts, and ingredients for family meals.
In the past, people also needed to prepare enough food for the holiday because many shops would close for several days.
So buying food before the New Year became an important tradition.
This is dried meat.
In Taiwan, we usually eat this as a snack.
It can be sweet, salty, or a little smoky.
If you like meat, I think it is worth trying.
Now, here is another interesting shop.
Today it sells lamps, but this kind of traditional shop was also connected with joss paper.
Joss paper is paper used in traditional religious rituals.
You may also hear people call it spirit money.
Different kinds of paper are used for different purposes.
Some are offered to gods.
Some are used when people remember their ancestors or other spirits.
People burn the paper as a symbolic offering.
There are also many folk explanations for this.
One funny way some people explain it is, “Even gods need helpers, and the helpers also need money.”
But this is more of a folk explanation, not a strict religious rule.
For ancestors or people who have died, you may also see paper houses, paper cars, clothes, or other objects.
These are symbolic gifts.
People hope their family members can have a comfortable life in the next world.
Today, you can even find paper phones, computers, or other modern things.
Okay, now we are heading to Cisheng Temple.
On the way, I want to show you a few more things about Taiwanese food.
When we arrive at the temple, we’ll have breakfast first.
Then, after breakfast, I’ll tell you more about traditional religion in Taiwan.
We just passed a famous traditional pastry shop called Li Ting Xiang.
Unfortunately, it is not open yet.
It is an old and well-known pastry shop in Dadaocheng.
One of its famous products is a curry-flavored traditional pastry.
So if you like Taiwanese pastries, you can come back another day and try it.
Traditional pastries are also very important for festivals, weddings, and gift-giving in Taiwan.
I also made some food cards for you.
Of course, one Taiwanese food that many foreigners know is stinky tofu.
Have you tried it yet?
But stinky tofu is not the only food that may look a little challenging to visitors.
Taiwanese food also uses many different parts of an animal.
We eat pork, beef, and chicken offal, for example intestines, liver, kidney, and stomach.
I know this may sound a little scary if you are not used to it.
But good shops clean and prepare these ingredients very carefully.
So the taste is often much milder than you may expect.
For example, this is called Four-Herb Soup.
It is a traditional soup made with Chinese herbs.
It often comes with pork intestine.
Don’t worry. “Four-Herb” means four herbs, not four gods.
You will also see a lot of food made from rice and starch in Taiwan.
Rice, rice noodles, sticky rice, taro, sweet potato, and different kinds of rice cakes are very common.
Remember what we talked about earlier?
Rice was very important in everyday life.
So you can see it in many different forms.
And when we arrive at Cisheng Temple, you’ll see many traditional Taipei breakfast foods.
You can find things like meat congee, pig’s feet with thin noodles, pork rib soup, fried rice, and Four-Herb Soup.
A famous Korean chef and food TV host, Paik Jong-won, also came here for his program Street Food Fighter.
He tried the pig’s feet with thin noodles here.
So if you like pork, that may be something you want to try.
You may wonder: why is there so much good food around a temple?
In Taiwan, a traditional temple was never only a place to pray.
It was also an important meeting place for the community.
People came here to worship, meet friends, talk about local matters, watch performances, and join festivals.
So when many people gathered around a temple, food businesses naturally grew around it.
You can think of a Taiwanese temple as both a religious place and a kind of neighborhood living room.
When we go inside the temple, look at the roof, walls, doors, and carvings.
You will see many stories.
Before television, movies, or the internet, these pictures and carvings were also a way for people to learn traditional stories and ideas about good and bad behavior.
So in a way, a temple is also like a three-dimensional storybook.
Okay, now we are at Cisheng Temple.
So first, let’s do the most important Taiwanese thing.
Let’s eat.
History is easier to understand after breakfast.
Now let me tell you a little about Mazu.
Have you heard of Mazu before?
Mazu is one of the most widely worshipped deities in Taiwan.
She is especially known as a protector of people at sea.
This is very important for Taiwan’s history.
Many early migrants came to Taiwan from the coast of southern China.
To reach Taiwan, they had to cross the Taiwan Strait.
At that time, they traveled on wooden sailing boats.
The journey could be very dangerous because of strong wind, waves, and storms.
So many people prayed to Mazu for a safe journey.
When they arrived in Taiwan, they brought their Mazu belief with them.
Over many centuries, Mazu became more and more important.
Different Chinese rulers gave her official titles.
During the Qing dynasty, she received the title Tianhou, or Empress of Heaven.
A Qing general named Shi Lang also said that Mazu had protected his fleet.
After that, the Qing court gave Mazu an even higher official title.
Now, this next part is a traditional story, not something we can prove as history.
According to tradition, Mazu was originally a woman named Lin Mo.
Lin was her family name.
Mo means quiet or silent.
The story says that when she was born, she did not cry for a long time.
So her family gave her the name Mo.
There are many legends about her life.
One famous story says that she had special powers and tried to save members of her family during a storm at sea.
Different versions of the story have slightly different details.
Later, people believed that after her death, she continued to protect sailors.
Over time, she became worshipped as Mazu.
So why is there a Mazu temple here in Dadaocheng?
Remember what we talked about earlier.
Dadaocheng was a trading area beside the river.
Merchants and boats came and went from here.
So Mazu, the protector of sea travel, was very important to people here.
Cisheng Temple was once located closer to the river and the old wharf.
That made a lot of sense because many merchants and boatmen worshipped Mazu.
During the Japanese period, Taipei changed its roads and city plan.
The old temple was removed as part of the city reconstruction.
It was then rebuilt here, and the new temple was completed in 1914.
So even the location of this temple tells us something about how Taipei changed.
Before we go inside, let me show you a few simple temple customs.
Don’t worry. You don’t have to remember everything.
The most important thing is just to be respectful.
Traditional temples often have three doors.
The middle door is traditionally for the gods and for important ceremonies.
So visitors usually use the side doors.
Traditionally, we enter through the Dragon Gate and leave through the Tiger Gate.
When we stand here and face the temple, the Dragon Gate is on our right.
So we go in on the right and come out on the left.
And try not to step on the raised doorway.
Step over it.
You may also know the idea of Yin and Yang.
It is an important idea in traditional Chinese culture.
Yin and Yang are two different but connected forces.
You can see this idea in religion, architecture, medicine, food, and many other parts of traditional culture.
Some temple customs are also explained through ideas about Yin and Yang.
But the rules can be different from temple to temple, so today I’ll just show you the simple version.
If you want, you can just look around.
You do not have to pray.
But if you want to experience it, I can show you a very simple way.
Usually, we first greet Heaven.
Then we greet the main deity of the temple.
Here, that is Mazu.
You can simply put your hands together and bow.
If the temple allows incense, people may use one or three incense sticks.
You don’t need to do everything perfectly.
Being respectful is more important than remembering every rule.
Inside a Taiwanese temple, you may see many different deities.
Different deities are traditionally connected with different parts of life.
Some people pray for health.
Some pray for family, business, study, travel, or children.
You can think of it as a divine team.
Today, we don’t need to pray to every deity.
If you just want a simple experience, we can greet Heaven and Mazu, and then look around the temple.
Every year, especially around the third month of the lunar calendar, there are many Mazu pilgrimages and processions in Taiwan.
We even have a saying: “March goes crazy for Mazu.”
Some of these pilgrimages last for many days.
Thousands of people may walk with Mazu from town to town.
Mazu travels in a sedan chair, and local communities welcome her along the way.
You may also see a tradition called walking under the sedan chair.
People kneel down, and Mazu’s sedan chair passes over them.
They do this to ask for protection and blessings.
But this is not done everywhere, and people need to follow the rules of each procession.
So Mazu is not only a goddess inside a temple.
Her belief is connected with Taiwan’s migration, sea travel, business, local communities, and festivals.
That is why you will see Mazu again and again when you travel around Taiwan.
If you want a deeper temple experience, I can also show you how people traditionally ask a deity a question.
One of the most common ways is to use these.
They are called jiaobei, or divination blocks.
They look a little like two small crescent moons.
Each block has one flat side and one rounded side.
First, you tell the deity who you are.
Traditionally, people may say their name, birthday, where they live, and what they want to ask.
Then you ask one clear question.
Usually, it should be a question that can be answered with something like yes or no.
Then you hold the two blocks together and gently drop them onto the floor.
There are three possible results.
If you get one flat side and one rounded side, it usually means yes, okay, or you have permission.
If both flat sides face up, the answer is not clear.
It may mean the question is unclear, or the deity is not giving you a clear answer yet.
If both rounded sides face up, it usually means no, or that the request is not accepted.
You should not just keep changing the question until you get the answer you want.
It is not like asking the same question until your parents finally say yes.
If your question is more complicated, you may also ask for a fortune stick.
Each stick has a number.
First, you ask whether the deity is willing to give you a fortune stick.
If you receive permission, you draw one stick.
Then you use the divination blocks again to ask, “Is this the right stick for me?”
Different temples have slightly different rules.
When the deity confirms the stick, you look at the number.
Then you find the fortune poem with the same number.
The poem is usually very short.
But it can be difficult to understand because it is written in an old style of Chinese.
Many fortune poems are connected with an old story or historical legend.
So you usually need to understand both the poem and the story behind it.
Later today, when we visit Xia-Hai City God Temple, you will see another very famous deity called Yue Lao.
Yue Lao is the matchmaking god.
You can think of him as a little like Cupid, but not exactly the same.
Cupid uses arrows.
Yue Lao uses a red string.
The red string represents the connection between two people who are meant to meet.
If someone asks Yue Lao for help and later finds a partner and gets married, the couple may come back to the temple to say thank you.
This is called huan yuan.
Okay, let’s move on.
Now let’s walk to Long Yue Tang, or MoonDragon.
It is another old and well-known pastry shop in Dadaocheng.
It was founded in 1932.
The third-generation owner later went to Japan to study Western-style pastry making.
But the shop still keeps many traditional Taiwanese pastries and old methods.
Actually, one of my friends recommended this shop to me.
So I bought some pastries here before and brought them home.
My mother really liked them.
She said, “Yes, this tastes like the traditional flavor I remember.”
So even though the shop is a little away from Dihua Street, I wanted to bring you here.
Most of the pastries here are quite small.
So I suggest buying just one or two first and sharing them.
Then, if you like the flavor, you can buy more.
Taiwanese pastries can be sweet, but sometimes we mix sweet and salty flavors together.
For example, an egg-yolk pastry may have sweet red-bean paste and a salty egg yolk inside.
Some traditional pastries also use ingredients like mung bean, meat, or pork floss.
So the flavor may be a little surprising if you are used to completely sweet desserts.
There is an old saying in Taiwan: “Sugar in the south, tea in the north.”
It is a very simple way to remember two important industries in Taiwan’s history.
Northern Taiwan became famous for tea.
Southern Taiwan had a very important sugar industry.
So tea and sugar were both major products that connected Taiwan with the outside world.
As we walk, you can also see many shops selling dried food.
You may see dried scallops, dried shrimp, dried squid, dried mushrooms, dried fruit, and many other things.
Why were dried foods so important?
Before refrigerators, drying was a useful way to preserve food.
And in a trading area like Dadaocheng, dried food was easier to store and transport.
But drying is not only for preservation.
It also changes and concentrates the flavor.
For example, dried shrimp or dried scallops can give a dish a much stronger taste than fresh seafood.
They add a lot of umami.
These dried ingredients are especially important before Lunar New Year.
Families prepare many special dishes for the New Year dinner.
In Chinese, we call these dishes nian cai, New Year dishes.
So people traditionally came to places like Dihua Street to buy ingredients, snacks, dried food, and gifts.
Today, Dihua Street is famous for the Taipei Lunar New Year Market.
People had already been coming to this area to buy New Year goods for a very long time before the modern event began.
Now we are walking through Dadaocheng Park.
There is someone here I want to introduce to you.
His name is Li Linqiu.
He was one of the most important lyric writers in early Taiwanese popular music.
His most famous song is Wang Chun Feng, or Longing for the Spring Breeze.
This is one of the best-known old Taiwanese songs.
If you like, I can play a short part for you.
The song is about a young woman thinking about love.
She sees a handsome young man.
She likes him, but she is too shy to talk to him.
So most of the story happens inside her mind.
She wonders about love and who she may marry one day.
So basically, it is a love song about having a crush but being too shy to do anything about it.
Li Linqiu had a strong connection with Dadaocheng.
His family was once quite comfortable because they were in the grain business.
But later, the family lost much of its money.
After elementary school, he had to start working.
He did different small jobs, and later he worked at the Yongle Theater here in Dadaocheng.
Working around the theater brought him close to movies, performances, and popular entertainment.
Later, he became a very successful lyric writer.
His old home is also nearby.
I pinned it on the Google Map I gave you.
Unfortunately, it is closed on Mondays, so we cannot visit it today.
Dadaocheng is also a popular place for movies and TV shows.
Why?
Because within a very small area, you can find buildings from many different periods.
Old shophouses, temples, markets, traditional businesses, and newer shops are all mixed together.
So filmmakers can use this area to create many different kinds of scenes.
Even the film Lucy, directed by Luc Besson and starring Scarlett Johansson, filmed part of the movie here.
Some scenes were filmed at Yongle Market.
We will visit Yongle Market later today.
Now let’s go inside the tea house.
This tea house is called Nanjie Deyi.
Nanjie means South Street.
South Street was the old name for this part of Dihua Street.
Now I want to show you a very famous painting.
It is called Festival on South Street.
The artist was Kuo Hsueh-hu.
He grew up in Dadaocheng and became one of the famous young artists of the Taiwan Art Exhibition.
This painting was made in 1930, during the Japanese period.
The original painting is now in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
Look at the street in this painting.
This is Dadaocheng during the Ghost Festival season, or Zhongyuan Festival.
Many people came here to buy things for worship and family rituals.
So the street was very busy and crowded.
You can see shops, signs, people, goods, and the temple.
And here, at the lower right, is Xia-Hai City God Temple.
Does this street look like the Dihua Street we just walked through?
Not exactly, right?
This is not like a photograph.
The artist changed some parts of the street to make it look more crowded and lively.
He wanted to show the feeling of Dadaocheng, not only the exact buildings.
Kuo Hsueh-hu was also one of the “Three Young Artists of the Taiwan Art Exhibition.”
The other two were Chen Chin and Lin Yu-shan.
They were very young when they became well known.
Around this area, you can also see the old Watsons building.
It was connected with the Hong Kong A. S. Watson business and was used for Western medicine and imported medical products in Taiwan.
But it was very different from the modern Watsons stores you see today.
Okay, now let’s talk about tea.
I also prepared a small gift for you.
This is a red envelope.
In Taiwan, we often use red envelopes during Lunar New Year and other happy occasions.
Usually there is money inside.
But today, I put tea inside instead.
These are some teas from my home, and I wanted to share them with you.
I brought three kinds of Taiwanese tea.
Sun Moon Lake black tea.
Wenshan Baozhong.
And Alishan Oolong.
When we describe tea, we can look at several things: where it comes from, what tea plant is used, how it is processed, and of course, how it smells and tastes.
This one is Alishan Oolong.
Alishan is a mountain area in central-southern Taiwan.
This kind of high-mountain oolong is usually fresh, smooth, and fragrant.
You may notice floral notes and a clean, sweet aftertaste.
This one is Wenshan Baozhong.
Baozhong is also a type of partially oxidized tea, so it is close to oolong.
It is usually lighter and very famous for its floral aroma.
If I make it very simple, Alishan Oolong is fresh and smooth.
Baozhong is light and floral.
And this is Sun Moon Lake black tea.
Black tea is more fully oxidized, so the flavor is usually deeper and stronger.
Some famous Taiwanese black teas can have notes like mint, cinnamon, fruit, or malt.
You can choose one to take with you.
Which one sounds more interesting to you: floral, fresh, or stronger?
Tea picking is also very hard work.
In many tea gardens, workers start early in the morning because the weather is cooler.
High-quality tea is often still picked by hand.
Pickers need to choose the right young leaves and buds carefully.
They repeat the same movement many times.
They also work outside in the sun, so you often see big hats, long sleeves, and protective clothing.
For good tea, they do not just pick any leaf.
They choose young shoots with the right number of leaves.
Different teas need slightly different picking standards.
After picking, the real tea-making work begins.
The leaves may be withered, sometimes under the sun and sometimes indoors.
Then they are moved, rolled, heated, dried, and sometimes roasted.
The exact process depends on the type of tea.
So when we drink one small cup of tea, there is actually a lot behind it: the place, the plant, the weather, the farmer, and the tea maker.
Now that we understand a little about how tea is made, let me tell you the history of tea in Dadaocheng.
This story is very important because tea was one of the main reasons Dadaocheng became successful.
During the Qing dynasty, a British businessman named John Dodd came to northern Taiwan.
At first, he was interested in camphor, which was an important export product at that time.
But while he was here, he also saw that northern Taiwan was a good place for growing tea.
He believed Taiwanese tea could be sold overseas.
But he needed local help.
So he worked with a Taiwanese businessman named Li Chunsheng.
Li helped him communicate with local farmers and organize the tea business.
They brought in tea plants from Anxi in Fujian.
They also gave money to farmers to encourage them to grow tea.
Then they bought the tea leaves, processed them, and prepared them for export.
They tried to build the whole tea business here, from growing tea to processing and exporting it.
Then, in 1869, John Dodd sent Taiwanese oolong tea directly to New York.
He sold it under the name Formosa Oolong Tea.
It was very successful.
After that, more foreign companies and local businessmen came into the tea business.
Dadaocheng quickly became an important tea-trading center.
This is why I said earlier that tea changed Dadaocheng.
By the way, Formosa Oolong is not the same thing as Oriental Beauty.
Formosa Oolong was a general name used for Taiwanese oolong tea in the export market.
Oriental Beauty is one special kind of Taiwanese oolong.
Oriental Beauty is very special because the tea leaves are bitten by a small leafhopper.
This helps create its honey and fruity aroma.
Tea was grown in the hills of northern Taiwan.
After picking, the tea was brought down from the mountains.
Rivers were very important for transportation.
Tea came to Dadaocheng for processing, sorting, packing, and trading.
Then it could be sent through Tamsui and exported overseas.
And remember what we talked about before: tea making is not only about the tea plant.
The skill of the tea maker is also very important.
The tea maker watches the leaves, smells them, touches them, and decides when to move to the next step.
Small changes in timing can change the aroma and taste.
So two people can use similar leaves and still make different tea.
Tea making is part science, part experience.
If you have time later, you can also visit Lin Hua Tai Tea Company.
It was founded in 1883, during the Qing dynasty.
It is one of the old tea businesses in Dadaocheng.
It still feels more like a working tea shop than a modern tea café.
You can see big tea containers and buy tea there.
But it is not really a place for sitting down and having a tea ceremony.
During the Japanese period, Taiwan’s tea industry became more organized and more industrial.
The government started tea research.
Machines were also used more in tea production.
Taiwan also faced strong competition from tea produced in other parts of Asia.
So producers tried to develop different kinds of tea and improve quality.
In the 1920s, Assam tea plants were brought from India.
They grew well around Sun Moon Lake.
This became the beginning of the famous Sun Moon Lake black tea industry.
So the black tea I gave you also has a story connected with the Japanese period.
After World War Two, Taiwan’s tea market changed again.
Taiwan could not always compete with cheaper mass-produced tea from other countries.
So the industry gradually focused more on quality, local character, and specialty tea.
Tea competitions also became an important way to improve quality and build local brands.
Today, many Taiwanese consumers are willing to pay more for good high-mountain oolong, competition tea, or tea from a famous area.
So the story of Taiwanese tea changed many times.
First, tea helped Dadaocheng connect with the world.
Later, Taiwan had to compete with cheaper tea from other countries.
And today, Taiwanese tea is more focused on quality, place, and special flavors.
Before semiconductors, tea connected Taiwan to the world.
That is why one small cup of tea can tell us a lot about Taiwan’s history.
Now let’s taste the tea and see what you can smell.
Don’t worry about finding the correct flavor.
Just tell me what it reminds you of.
Okay, now let’s move to Xia-Hai City God Temple.
We already talked about Taiwanese temple customs at Cisheng Temple, so here I only want to tell you a few special stories.
First, what is a City God?
How is a City God different from Mazu?
Mazu is especially connected with the sea and safe travel.
A City God is more like the protector of a local community.
He also watches over people’s behavior and justice.
A very simple way to imagine him is a spiritual mayor and judge.
It is not an exact translation, but it helps explain the idea.
The history of this temple is closely connected with the beginning of Dadaocheng.
In 1853, there was a serious conflict in Monga, today’s Wanhua.
At that time, migrants from different parts of Fujian formed different communities.
Sometimes they competed for business, land, and local power.
One group, people from Tong’an, lost the conflict.
So many of them left Monga and moved north to Dadaocheng.
And they did not come alone.
They brought their City God with them.
The Xia-Hai City God was the guardian deity of their hometown.
So when they rebuilt their community here, they also built a temple for him.
The present temple was completed in 1859.
So when people migrated, they brought not only their food and language, but also their gods.
Every year, on the thirteenth day of the fifth lunar month, there is an important City God festival.
It used to attract huge crowds.
There is even an old saying: “On May thirteenth, all you can see is people.”
It means the street was so crowded that you could hardly see anything except people.
The festival is still held today.
But now you may have a question.
If this is the City God Temple, why is it now so famous for the matchmaking god, Yue Lao?
Actually, Yue Lao came much later.
In 1971, a woman came here to pray to the City God because her children were having difficulty finding marriage partners.
Later, her wish came true.
So she came back to say thank you and donated a statue of Yue Lao to the temple.
After that, more and more people came here to pray for love and marriage.
Yue Lao is a little like Cupid.
But Cupid uses arrows.
Yue Lao uses a red string.
Of course, I don’t think you two need his matchmaking service anymore.
This temple also has the City God’s Wife.
Yue Lao is mainly connected with finding a partner.
The City God’s Wife is more connected with marriage and family harmony.
Married couples may come here and pray for a happy relationship.
One special item here is a tiny pair of shoes called Happiness Shoes.
People keep them at home and hope for a happy and peaceful marriage.
So maybe Yue Lao is the matchmaking service, and the City God’s Wife is the after-sales service.
If you want, you can also get a red string here.
It represents the connection between two people.
There are also small amulets, so they can be interesting souvenirs.
And there is something else I want you to try: the peace tea.
It is called Ping’an Cha.
It is sweet and warm.
The temple uses ingredients such as red dates, goji berries, and sugar.
The ingredients may change a little, but the idea is to share blessings and good luck.
And actually, I think it tastes quite good.
This tea also reminds me of another interesting part of old Taiwanese temple culture.
In the past, some temples also had something called a medicine fortune slip.
People could ask a deity for help when they were sick.
The slip listed different herbs.
Then they could take the prescription to a herbal shop nearby.
A famous example was Longshan Temple in Wanhua.
There is still a small street next to the temple called Herb Alley.
In the past, people could get a medicine slip from the temple and then buy the herbs in that street.
Traditional herbal tea and Chinese medicine can use some of the same plants, but they are not exactly the same thing.
Chinese medicine has a more formal system of diagnosis, prescriptions, and preparation.
Herbal tea is often part of everyday folk tradition.
Different shops may use different local plants and recipes.
In traditional Chinese culture, people often say that some herbal drinks can “cool the body” or reduce “internal heat.”
This is a traditional idea, not the same as a modern medical diagnosis.
Because Taiwan is hot and humid, cooling herbal drinks became very popular.
Some herbal tea is very bitter.
Some is light and easy to drink.
So if we see a herbal tea shop later, you can decide how brave you are.
This very small temple actually tells us a very big story: migration, business, community, love, marriage, and everyday life.
Now we are at our final main stop: Yongle Market.
Let’s go upstairs and look at the fabric market.
Yongle Market is one of the most famous places in Taipei for fabric.
In the early days, Taiwan did not produce enough cotton or silk for the local market.
So many fabrics had to be imported.
Dadaocheng was a very important trading area, so imported cloth came here through the port.
In 1908, during the Japanese period, a public market was established here.
Over time, this area became a major center for fabric wholesale and retail.
After World War Two, Taiwan’s textile industry grew quickly.
More textile companies and factories were established in Taiwan.
But Dadaocheng was still an important place for fabric trading.
So the whole area developed a complete business network: fabric, buttons, lace, zippers, tailoring, and clothing materials.
It was not just one market.
It became a whole textile neighborhood.
In the past, people often came here to choose fabric first, and then took it to a tailor to make clothes.
So buying clothes was very different from today.
You did not simply choose a finished shirt from a shop.
You chose the fabric, the pattern, and sometimes the style first.
Experienced shopkeepers knew a lot about fabric.
They could ask what you wanted to make, look at the material, and suggest something suitable.
Some were also very good at understanding what kind of color or pattern a customer might like.
So selling fabric was not only about selling cloth.
You needed to understand both people and materials.
In the past, sewing was also a much more common skill.
Many girls learned sewing at school or at home.
Making, repairing, and changing clothes was part of everyday life.
In my generation, this is much less common.
Today, many people come here because they enjoy sewing, costume making, crafts, or performance design.
You may also see people buying fabric for theater, dance, cosplay, or traditional performances.
There is also a traditional performing arts center in this same building.
It is called Dadaocheng Theater.
It is on the eighth and ninth floors.
Unfortunately, it is closed on Mondays, so we cannot go inside today.
The theater focuses on traditional Taiwanese performing arts.
One of the most important is Taiwanese opera, or Gua-a-hi.
Taiwanese opera developed in Yilan.
It grew from local songs and small folk performances.
Later, it also borrowed music, costumes, movements, and stories from other kinds of Chinese opera.
So it came from older traditions, but it became a new local form in Taiwan.
If I use a modern comparison, Taiwanese opera was once a little like popular TV drama or K-pop.
Famous performers became real stars.
People followed their favorite actors and songs.
Later, Taiwanese opera also moved from outdoor stages into theaters, radio, movies, and television.
My grandmother loved watching Taiwanese opera on TV.
When I was a child, I often saw her watching it at home.
But Taiwanese opera is not only performed inside a theater.
You can also see outdoor performances.
A temporary stage may be built in front of a temple.
This often happens during religious festivals, a deity’s birthday, or when someone wants to thank a deity.
Another important traditional art is glove puppetry.
The puppets are controlled by hand, like this.
This tradition came from southern China, but it developed many new styles in Taiwan.
One famous modern example is Pili glove puppetry.
Pili turned traditional puppetry into TV series, movies, games, and modern entertainment.
And there is one interesting thing about traditional performances in Taiwan.
Sometimes the most important audience is not the people.
It is the deity.
During a temple festival, people may invite an opera troupe or a puppet troupe to perform for the god.
The performance can be a way to celebrate the deity’s birthday or to say thank you after a wish comes true.
So people do not only give food, incense, or paper offerings to a god.
They can also offer a performance.
So today we started with rice, then temples, tea, dried food, pastries, fabric, music, and traditional theater.
They may seem like many different topics.
But they are all connected by one thing.
Dadaocheng was a trading city beside the river.
And that brings us back to the river.
Dadaocheng became successful because of the Tamsui River.
The river brought people here.
It brought goods here.
And it carried goods away again.
Tea, rice, dried food, medicine, fabric, and many other products moved through this area.
This morning, we have actually been following the history of the river, even when we could not see it.
Without the river, Dadaocheng would have developed very differently.
So now, if the weather is good, it is time to actually see the river.
We can go to Dadaocheng Wharf and ride bicycles along the riverside.
On the way to the wharf, you may also notice a very beautiful old house called the Chen Tianlai Residence.
Chen Tianlai was a very successful tea merchant.
He founded the Jinji Tea Company.
His house was completed in 1924.
It was one of the most impressive merchant houses in Dadaocheng.
The building used expensive materials and beautiful decoration to show the family’s wealth and taste.
Remember what I said earlier?
A building could also be an advertisement.
This house is a very good example.
I hope you can see how the river, trade, temples, food, tea, buildings, and people are all connected.
And I hope this gives you a small window into Taiwan’s history and everyday life.
I hope you enjoy the rest of your trip around Taiwan.
And if you remember only one thing from today, Dadaocheng is a story about migration, trade, religion, and the river.
