New Taipei City Travel

When it comes to walled cities in Taiwan, the first places most people think of are Tainan City, Taipei City, and Hengchun Township. The gates of these cities, which were built by officials, still have their gates and even some of their walls, and some of them have had MRT stops named after them (Beimen [north gate] Station, Ximen [west gate] Station or the Taipei MRT line), and are a shared memory among present-day Taiwanese people. But did you know that there is also a walled city in Banqiao, the prime district of New Taipei City?When going from the MRT Fuzhong Station to the Lin Family Mansion and Garden, perceptive travelers will notice that the streetlights in this area are particularly old fashioned, and that they are labelled “Fangqiao Walled City.” On top of that, when looking down, you can see the words “City Border” on the street tiles. The ancient Fangqiao Walled City had five city gates, just like Taipei; additionally, its history is even better known than that of Taipei, primarily due to two major factors that led to the establishment of the city: the Lin family of Banqiao and the Zhang-Quan fighting.Back in the Qing Dynasty, there were frequent fights between Zhangzhou and Quanzhou immigrants; in order to defend themselves from the Quanzhou immigrants, the Banqiao Lin family, who originally came from Zhangzhou, built the Fangqiao Walled City in 1855, stretching out to present-day Ximen [west gate] Street, Beimen [north gate] Street, Nanmen [south gate] Street, and Guanqian West Road. However, during the Japanese occupation, the city was demolished to make place for traffic. Nevertheless, the temples located in the area still show traces of the old city. Cihui Mazu templeLocated at the east side of the Fangqiao Walled City is the most popular Mazu temple in the Banqiao District. The temple is decorated on both the inside and the outside with fragmented ceramic art, sculptures, and color paintings, and the highly refined temple buildings are richly ornamented. In addition, the temple is a popular place for people to pray for prosperity, and local business magnates such as the Banqiao Lin family are all frequent visitors. If you look carefully, you can even find a dragon pillar bearing the business name of the Lin family.Banqiao Jieyun TempleThe Jieyun Temple and the Xinzhuang Dizang Temple, both located near the west gate of Fangqiao Walled City, are historically related to the Zhang-Quan fights; the Dizang Temple was built by the Banqiao gentry to commemorate the Zhangzhou people who died in the altercations. The Jieyun Temple, which is on the other side, was formerly known as the Zhonghe Ciyunyan Temple, but was destroyed during the armed struggles, and its remains were taken over by the Banqiao Jieyun Temple. Its collection contains many precious ancient plaques and scrolls, and there are many wood carvings of flying immortals wrapped in gold foil on both sides of the roof as well as in the main hall, which are very spectacular. The caisson ceiling has a special long oval design, and is of great historical and religious value.Banqiao Diyi TempleThe only one of the four temples to have been a city-designated temple, the Diyi Temple, was built by the Banqiao Lin family to commemorate the people who died fighting; it is also known as the Yuanshuai Temple. In 2021, after it was restored, the temple opened up for the public by appointment. The paintings of the Door Gods and the Qilin murals inside are all made by master painter Mr. Cai Longjin, the winner of the New Taipei Cultural Award. Next time you are in Banqiao, on your way to the Lin Family Mansion and Garden, slow down and closely follow the inscriptions on the ground to explore the former Walled City, and enter the temples to admire the exquisite paintings and craftmanship, and explore the past life of the city!

The beauty of pottery clay has brought light and heat to Yingge's culture. More than 200 years of pottery-making history have accumulated a deep foundation of craftsmanship. Yingge is now a major center of the ceramic industry and a source of art and culture in New Taipei City after going through the ups and downs of industrial transformation. Come to Yingge Ceramic Old Street, which is listed in the "Taiwan Tourism100 Spotlights" by the Tourism Administration of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, to experience the beauty of handmade pottery. Also, walk to the New Taipei City Art Museum, which will open in April 2025, to spark inspiration between contemporary art and local culture.Yingge and the Ceramic IndustryLocated on the north bank of the Dahan River, Yingge and Sanxia face each other. The Taiwan Railway Yingge Station is the transportation hub of this ceramic capital. In the past, people mainly used this station for coal transportation, and it was responsible for transporting coal mined in the Sanxia mountain area. Yingge has become a tourist destination with ceramics and art as its business cards.We can trace Yingge's pottery-making history back 200 years. Yingge's natural conditions, such as clay, abundant firewood and coal resources, and water transportation on the Dahan River, enabled the development of the ceramic industry. During the whole bloom period of Yingge pottery, the numerous factory chimneys were once the representative scenery of Yingge.Yingge Ceramics Old Street is between Jianshanpu Street, Yuying Street, and Chongqing Street. After being renovated by the New Taipei City Government, the original old kiln factory has been transformed into a ceramic specialty store, art studio, DIY classroom, and exhibition center, pioneering Taiwan's experiential tourism. Walking along the street, parents and children laughing and interacting in the pottery-throwing classroom is the warmest life scene in Yingge.Located south of Ceramic Old Street, the New Taipei City Yingge Ceramics Museum focuses on the development of Taiwan's ceramics industry and presents the ancestors' life traces on this land. The Ceramics Museum actively interacts with Yingge's thriving community, promoting Yingge's cultural tourism construction and international artistic exchanges. It is an excellent choice to explore the charm of Yingge ceramics.DIY Experience in The Shu's PotteryThe Shu's Pottery, which opened in 1926, has witnessed the glory and innovation of Yingge's pottery-making industry in the past century. As the first tourist factory in Yingge to pass the central government's evaluation, The Shu's Pottery has renovated its pottery-making factory to create a spacious and bright DIY experience area, light meal and coffee area, and exhibition and sales space to reshape the "feelings of life" of pottery. Besides its porcelain brand, it also promotes the works of artists from Taiwan and Japan.The Shu's Pottery is like a living pottery time machine. The factory retains antique equipment such as gas kilns and kick-potter's wheel, allowing visitors to return to the early days of pottery. The DIY area in the museum has four major experience spaces: pottery-throwing, pottery-pinching, under-glaze painting, and mosaics collaging. Under the professional and friendly guidance of the pottery teacher, you can create your unique work. What's more fascinating is the railway outside the factory window. When you concentrate on hand-throwing the pottery, the train also accompanies you.New Taipei City Art MuseumThe New Taipei City Art Museum, officially opening in 2025, is a new art landmark in Yingge. Located in the new land where the Yingge River and the Dahan River convergence, the museum's silver-white exterior is inspired by the image of reeds commonly seen on the riverbank, with staggered high and low tubular lines outlining the reeds swaying in the wind. Its transparent and open space allows the museum to blend into the riverside landscape, becoming an aesthetic community that is both open and interactive.The New Taipei City Art Museum covers the main building, the Xinmei rendezvous, the Xinmei gathering place, and the outdoor park, allowing different art forms to shine in the right space. Several public artworks are in the outdoor park, the most eye-catching of which is the 15-meter-high orange-red standing greenware, which pays tribute to Yingge's ceramic culture.The New Taipei City Art Museum's vast outdoor park occasionally holds art fairs, concerts, dance performances, and fireworks shows, injecting endless artistic vitality into Yingge. Yingge has gradually moved from the industrial era of blazing kilns to an art town that integrates pottery and aesthetics. With the opening of the Sanying Line MRT in the future, the excitement will continue to unfold.