August 10, 2025
Jenny is coming to Taipei.
I met Jenny 35 years ago, when we were both undergraduates at Sydney University. She is the sister of Danny, of the Pathologically Polymathic website.
She will be staying in Datong, just north of the terminus of the Airport Line (above), beyond the northern edge of the old city walls. I’ve never explored that area, so I wanted to check it out.
Above is a Google Maps plan of the area. Starting from the Airport Line gates, I planned to walk north to find Jenny’s hotel, “CHECK inn Express – Taipei Station” (雀客快捷 – 台北車站). I was interested to find a market, Jiancheng Market (建成市場) just near the hotel, so I planned to check that out. Google Maps recommended a vegetarian restaurant, 珍巧麻辣臭豆腐(素食 (no English name) which serves stinky tofu, so I wanted to eat that as well.
On Sunday I heard there was a typhoon approaching, but there’s no evidence of it. This morning there were blue skies turning cloudy, temperature in the high 20s Celsuis, increasing to low 30’s as the morning progressed, and quite humid; there would be a shower in the late afternoon.
Eating my breakfast from the 7-11 in a bus shelter outside the Qizhang MRT station (above). I ate strong Americano coffee (the closest I could come to a long black) in my reusable plastic bottle, a minced fish sandwich, and a mixed salad with nuts.
I took the MRT from Qizhang to Beimen MRT stations. Beimen means “north gate”, and nearby there’s the original North Gate still standing in a traffic circle.
From the Beimen MRT station I walked eastwards around 500 meters underground, paralleling the Taipei City Mall. I came to some check-in desks for some of the airlines at Taoyuan Airport (above). The airlines let you check in here rather than the airport.
There was a large screen showing the departure and arrival times of the aircraft.
Across the concourse there was a taxi rank, convenient for anyone emerging from the Airport Line.
Passengers arriving on the Airport Line in the basement can come up the lift or the escalators (upper far left in the photo above), pass the gates (lower far left) leading out of the Airport Line, and turn left into the Taipei City Mall (far right).
They then walk down this long corridor above, and turn left where the “Y16” arrow is.
They then walk down another passage and exit through Y16.
They cross a long corridor with shops to the Y13 exit with escalators.
Riding the escalators brings them to the Y13 exit above. The street through the windows is Taiyuan Road (太原路）.
They walk down the stairs, or in the case of someone with luggage, the sloped path.
Taiyuan Road (太原路）- the hotel is a few hundred meters away, on the left.
They walk through the colonnaded shops, cross a large intersection…
… and the hotel (above) is only a few meters along. There is a reception area by the front door. The total distance is 530 meters.
Another view of the Check-inn Express hotel, by Google Maps. The rooms look very small and there’s no attached restaurant, but it’s got good reviews, and it’s cheap – about 1350元 / $AUD68 / GPB34.
I wanted to check out Jiancheng Market (建成市場) close by. I walked the short distance to the cross-street and turned right. The market is in the centre of the photo, almost hidden.
This is the market. It’s in the narrow lane running parallel to Taiyuan Road, but the market goes quite a long way back.
A different photo showing the narrow path. Only a few shops were open. Where is everybody? I expected the market to be bustling. Google says it’s a morning market, and these photos were taken around 10:30am on a Sunday, but it’s very quiet.
The few shops that were open looked appetising, like this one…
…and this one.
I went to YouTube to find a clip of Jiancheng Market, but I found only this clip above. It’s all in Chinese. It looks like a segment of a TV show, primarily concerned with dish after dish of delicious food. Maybe readers could enlighten us further.
From the Jiancheng Market I walked along Chang’an West Road to the intersection of Chengde Road. I was looking forward to stinky tofu.
“Legend has it that a failed scholar from Anhui province invented stinky tofu by accident in Beijing. One day, the tofu vendor had some leftovers. After storing the pieces of tofu in an earthen jar, he found that they had gone bad but tasted strangely delicious. The dish caught on and even made its way into the Qing dynasty court. Over time, it spread to different corners of China. Eventually, migrants from Fujian province brought stinky tofu to Taiwan, where it remains very popular to this day. … [One version] is the deep-fried variety. …After being fried to perfection, they’ll typically be served in a paper bowl with a splash of sauce and topped with Taiwanese pickled vegetables (mostly cabbage and a bit of carrot).”
I walked up Chengde Road, looking for Lane 77. The restaurant was number 23 in the narrow lane above, amid bars and other restaurants. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed – what a pity.
There was one interesting old building, Rixin Elementary School (in Chinese):
“Over a hundred years ago, the current site of Rixin Elementary School in Dadaocheng, Taipei, was a low-lying swampland. During the rainy season, the pond often overflowed. In 1917, the Japanese colonial government reclaimed the paddy fields and part of the swampland to create a school, named ‘Dadaocheng Second Public School.’ … In 1945, it was renamed ‘Taipei Rixin Elementary School.'” … The Red Building, the founding commemorative building of Rissin Elementary School, is constructed primarily of red brick. At the time, the school enrolled Taiwanese students. While its scale and grandeur are not as impressive as those of Jiancheng Elementary School, which primarily enrolled Japanese students, the rustic red bricks and arched corridors, set against the elegant lines of the building, imbue the school with a humanistic and classical atmosphere. … The Red Building is an irreplaceable cultural asset and historical building for [Rixin] Elementary School. Constructed of lime, sandstone, and red brick, it has been meticulously maintained, making it a rare sight among Taipei school buildings. In 1999, during the devastating 921 earthquake in Taiwan, the Red Building, a major concern for everyone, remained unscathed, a testament to its structural strength.”
By this time I was starving, so I found a Louisa cafe near Zhongshan MRT station and had lunch there, before going home.
Wandering Richard 