Old street · West Central
Zhengxing Street
正興街
A short street of young shops and old family businesses between Guohua Street and Hai'an Road, a few minutes from Snail Alley.
History
Around 2010 young shop owners began opening on what was then a quiet street, and from 2012 they ran their own events and published a magazine about the street alone, 正興聞. Its street barriers are shaped as cats, the 正興貓, and residents and customers voted in favour of making it a pedestrian street on holidays. Next to it, Hai'an Road, torn up for years for an underground mall project, was turned into an outdoor art street by residents, the city and artists.
Eat nearby
博仁堂Po Jen Tang
A century-old Chinese herbal pharmacy turned tonic-soup restaurant, run by the family's sixth generation. The old medicine cabinets and a bronze acupuncture figure remain, and old shop plaques now serve as tables.
添厚Eat to Fat
Home-style Taiwanese cooking in a lane by the Grand Mazu Temple. The owners are Mazu devotees, the decor follows the goddess, and the restaurant closes during temple festivities.
小公園擔仔麵Small Park Danzai Noodles
This noodle shop has run for over 70 years and takes its name from the small park it first stood beside. The owner still cooks the noodles sitting at a low table, the old way.
一味品Yi Wei Pin
A Yongle Market stall that sells only two things, wa gui and milkfish thick soup. The owner opened it in 2013 to carry on his grandfather's cooking, and mornings and lunchtimes are busy.
江水號Chiang Shui Hao
Dessert shop on Guohua Street that Huang Jiangshui (黃江水) started as a stall behind the West Market in the Japanese era. His son and grandson still make the toppings by hand.
泰成水果冰店Tai Cheng Fruit Ice
A fruit shop on Zhengxing Street where the owner hand-picks the fruit for juices, platters and ice. Mango ice leads in summer, and Hami melon ice served in the melon takes over in winter.