Bopiliao Historic Block Audio Guide

Bopiliao: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Bopiliao Historic Block

   Welcome to Bopiliao Historic Block, a preserved street in Wanhua, one of the oldest districts in Taipei. Step in from the modern city and you find yourself among low red-brick buildings, mostly one or two stories, with a few reaching three. Many of them are more than 200 years old. This was one of the earliest commercial districts in northern Taiwan. Its story runs from the early Qing Dynasty through the Japanese period and into the Republic of China era, and the buildings still carry traces of each. Today the block is a place for art exhibitions, film promotion and heritage education, so the past here is something you can walk through. If you are coming by metro, Longshan Temple Station on the Bannan line is the stop to use. Over the next few stops on this guide, we will look at how the street began, how a school plan accidentally saved it, and how it was rescued and reinvented. Take your time. This is a street that rewards slow walking.

2. 02

   A Street Born of Trade

   Bopiliao took shape in the early Qing Dynasty, in a settlement that carried the same name. Its buildings date from around the 1760s. The street was once the main road linking the area around Longshan Temple with the Guting area, near where the Shida Night Market stands today. That location made it valuable. The district around Longshan Temple, known then as Bangka, was one of the first commercial centers in northern Taiwan, helped by its closeness to the Tamsui River and by this road running east toward the rest of Taipei. In the late 1800s, at its peak, Bopiliao was among the busiest and most prosperous commercial areas in Taipei. It was home to many merchants and was one of the major areas for the coal trade. So as you look at these modest brick shophouses, picture them as working premises on a bustling thoroughfare, with goods and people constantly moving between the riverside and the city's eastern parts.

3. 03

   Two Eras, Side by Side

   Here is a detail that makes the block easy to read. During the Japanese period, a new, wider road, Guangzhou Street, was laid out. The narrow Qing-built street and its shops became a back alley to it. Because of that, the eras divide themselves neatly: Qing buildings lie to the north, and Japanese-era buildings lie to the south. The Japanese-period buildings are known for their pailou fronts, a decorative facade style, and the block's mix of Hokkien and Western architectural styles is part of its character. Red-brick facades, arched verandas and courtyards make up the streetscape. The new planning also hurt the old district. Urban development under Japanese rule altered the area's layout and weakened its commercial life. Yet that same decline helped set the stage for what you see now, because the old street was left standing rather than rebuilt.

4. 04

   Saved by a School Plan, Revived by a City

   The most surprising twist is this one. In 1941, during Japanese rule, the land was zoned under urban planning as a future site for Laosong Elementary School. That zoning made it impossible to build new buildings here, and so, quite by coincidence, the unusual mix of architecture was preserved. Decades later the space was nearly abandoned. In 1999, the Taipei City Government formed a task force to restore and re-plan it. The Heritage and Culture Education Center was established in 2006, and restoration work was completed in 2009. On the twenty-ninth of March, 2010, the city registered Bopiliao as a historic site, with Laosong Elementary School to the north, Guangzhou Street to the south, Kunming Street to the east and Kangding Road to the west. Film played a part too. Many scenes of the Taiwanese gangster film Monga were shot here, and its box office success drew fresh attention to Wanhua and its old community.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   The block is divided into an east side and a west side, with Lane 127 of Guangzhou Street as the dividing line. The east side focuses mainly on local and outdoor education. The west side concentrates on cultural and art exhibitions and on assisting film and television shoots. As you wander, you might notice how each half has its own rhythm. Keep an eye on the facades as you move between the northern and southern parts. Can you spot where the older Qing shophouses give way to the Japanese-era fronts? Notice, too, how the street feels like a narrow lane tucked behind a wider road, which is exactly what it became. There is more to explore. Longshan Temple and the wider Wanhua district, where this commercial story began, are worth a look to see how the old neighborhood still lives alongside modern Taipei.