Sanshia Old Street (三峽老街)

A recent visit to Sanshia Old Street (三峽老街) in Sanshia, Taipei County (about an hour southwest of Taipei Main Station by MRT and bus) proved more than a tad surprising! I'd expected the area to be small and touristy, similar to Jinbaoli Old Street in Jinshan, Taipei County (about an hour north of Danshui). How wrong I was!
The main entrance to Sanshia Old Street immediately impresses with a historic temple to the right, across from the police station, which bears a unique brick wall with arches that have been in existence for over half a century. As you can see, the town has done a wonderful job of preserving the architecture of a bygone era.
There are two main streets in the Old Street area, the main one of which, Minquan Road, is around two-hundred and fifty meters and boasts a towering temple as well as plenty of interesting food and trinket shops; another street that runs perpendicular to Minquan Road at the entrance is around fifty meters long and boasts another historic temple, Sanshia Zushih Temple (三峽清水祖師廟), at the end.

Many of the souveniers and shops on Sanshia Old Street, however, have a distinctness that is unlike those found on other Old Streets. Here you can purchase homemade soap, sweet grass juice, red bean or peanut-filled mwaji as well as croissants filled with, of all things, ice cream! There are also ample sausage vendors and a handful of noodle stands for light snacking. Here you can see how vendors once looked on Taiwan, selling their wares on the street, the man pictured above is a homemade soap vendor.
A visit here by MRT and bus shouldn't disappoint, after departing Yongning Station board bus 706, the bus ride (NT $15) takes around thirty minutes. Sanshia is only around twenty minutes by bus from Yingge Ceramics Museum (鶯歌陶瓷博物館) in Yingge, Taipei County, so if you're headed to Sanshia Old Street you may want to consider visiting both in the same day.

A temple God watches over all who enter Sanshia Old Street. Have fun and enjoy your time on Taiwan, and if you need a personal Taiwan guide, I provide custom "Taipei in a Day" (台北一日遊), tours based on my best-selling Taiwan tour guide!  Feel free to contact me via www.taipeiinaday.com for details.  --Scott