aeeble

The Danshui River was once a deep and wide river, but later, as people began to live and cultivate the upper areas, the downstream gradually silted up. In this history of rise and fall, Muzha was once the earliest port of Taipei. After the "Zhongxia Jiao Bing" in 1853, the people from the Minnan three counties drove out the people from Tong'an in Muzha. These Tong'an people then settled in Dadaocheng. However, as the port of Muzha silted up, Dadaocheng took its place as the main trading port. At this time, it coincided with the peak period of trade with the mainland and the West, so the area of Dadaocheng became a very prosperous commercial district. At that time, there were no riverbanks, and Guide Street directly faced the river. After landing from across the sea, the northern and southern goods from the mainland were displayed and sold behind Guide Street at Dihua Street. Many merchants in Dihua Street became wealthy due to trade, and the houses they built were especially beautiful. In order to adapt to Taiwan's rainy weather, these houses had arcades. However, the exterior walls of the buildings were mostly decorated in the style of Western architecture, creating a unique blend of Chinese and Western styles. The most distinctive feature of these old shop houses was their extremely deep and narrow structure, with the front part used as a shop and the back part as a factory or warehouse, presenting a unique scene of clustered street houses from the early period.