Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A Day's Outting in the Town of San-Shia III



After the Li Mei-Shu Memorial Museum, P made the executive decision for us to visit the Old Town. Old Town San-Shia consists of several criss crossing old streets, with Taiwanese style buildings dating 300 years back. The row houses are historical looking yet modernly outfitted on the inside. The shops are nicely displayed. I was really stunned by this unique sight.

P took me to a store which was a furniture and home furnishing store. We went inside and pleasantly discovered further the beauty of the old house. The interior is narrow and long; however the lighting and the cleverly positioned windows make it so that the interior of the house was bright and cheerful looking.

We went up to the second floor and third floor, and I caught a few pictures of the rooftop of the streets at P's suggestion. This was indeed a very memorable sight!

The Old Town of San-Shia has not always been this pleasant to look at. The Taipei County government made a real effort to preserve this area. The entire Old Town area was practically "re-designed" to ensure the authentic look and feel of the old days. This was particularly obvious when one looks at the man hole covers for the sewage and underground electric cables. All the covers bear artistic designs echoing the surroundings. P helped me identify every single different cover and I now have a nice collection of pictures of San-Shia Old Town Man Hole Covers.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so envious of you. I wish I was in Taiwan now to celebrate the Chinese New Year!!
Lynne Ku

Anonymous said...

I'll think of you and have a few drinks for you!