Datong District 大同區

Setting and orientation

The district is bounded by the Tamsui metro line and Zhongshan District (中山區) to the east, Zhongzheng (中正區) and Wanhua (萬華區) districts to the south, and the Sun Yat-sen Freeway and Shilin District (士林區) to the north. It lies in the middle of the basin plain and has no mountains or hills; Dalongdong stands where the Keelung River (基隆河) meets the Tamsui. The present district was formed in 1990 by merging the old Datong, Yanping (延平) and Jiancheng (建成) districts, and the office lists it as the smallest of Taipei's twelve districts by area.

History

Dalongdong began as the Ketagalan (凱達格蘭族) settlement of Paronpon, recorded in 1697. Settlers from Tong'an (同安) in Fujian founded Baoan Temple (保安宮) to the medical deity Baosheng Dadi (保生大帝); the district office dates its founding to 1805 and its completion to 1830. Rows of 44 shops built beside it began the quarter's trade, and in the mid-19th century Dalongdong was known for its scholars and examination graduates. Dadaocheng, named after a communal rice-drying ground, grew into a river port. The name Datong, chosen when the city's districts were redrawn in February 1946, recalls the ideal of "great unity" (大同) taught by Confucius and taken up by Sun Yat-sen; the Confucius Temple (孔廟) stands in the district.

What to see

Dihua Street (迪化街) was the cloth, dried-goods and herbal-medicine market of the Qing and Japanese periods, and the district office still lists its section 1 for dried goods, herbal medicine, cloth and tea. Its buildings are ornate Baroque-style, and in 1992 the city's civil affairs bureau designated 77 historic buildings on the street for priority preservation. Guide Street (貴德街) held the Dadaocheng wharf and was a tea street, with Taipei's first Western-style houses raised above flood level. On Hami Street (哈密街), a stone in front of Baoan Temple marks the site of the 44 shops. Ningxia Road (寧夏路) and the Yuanhuan traffic circle (圓環) are known for local snacks, and the Caopuzai market (草埔仔傳統市場) on Dihua Street section 2 is surrounded by Taipei's oldest traditional rice-food wholesale trade.

Highlights

• Dalongdong Baoan Temple 大龍峒保安宮: Temple to Baosheng Dadi founded by settlers from Tong'an; the district office dates it to 1805-1830.
• Dihua Street 迪化街: Old cloth, dried-goods and herb market with Baroque-style shopfronts; 77 buildings listed for preservation in 1992.
• Guide Street 貴德街: Site of the Dadaocheng wharf and an old tea street with Taipei's earliest Western-style houses.
• Ningxia Road night market 寧夏路夜市: Known, with the Yuanhuan circle, for local snacks.