Prior to my trip to Taiwan, I had no idea that Hakka is one of Taiwan’s largest ethnic minorities. Hakka is the other Chinese dialect I am comfortable with, besides Cantonese.
I had thought that Taiwan is out of bounds for me due to my perceived language barrier, as I can’t speak Mandarin or its primary dialect, Hokkien. Can you imagine how excited I was to learn that there is a large Hakka community in Taiwan, and most of them live in Beipu Township in Hsinchu County?
Hakka village in Beipu Township
As I have mentioned in an earlier blog post, Beipu is exceedingly Instagrammable with its quaint houses in the Hakka village, with faded red lanterns by the doorway to greet visitors.
sakura blooms
During my visit in mid-January, still wintertime, buds of cherry blossoms were beginning to bloom unexpectedly. I was very excited as I had thought that I had missed the season, since Sakura season in this part of Taiwan is around late January to early February.
map of Beipu Old Street
Beipu has an old “section” to the town, known as Beipu Old Street (北埔老街) which makes it worth the time to a walking tour, with Fu-De Temple as starting point.
Fu-De Temple, Beipu Township
I was informed many visitors come to Beipu over the weekend, when people from other parts of Taiwan come to enjoy its architecture, culture and food… sort of like Ipoh Old Town that’s teeming with day trippers or overnighters during the weekends.
shopkeeper is conversant in Hakka dialect in Beipu Township
It fascinated me that for shopkeepers who are conversant in Hakka, there is a sticker at their storefront to indicate so, which makes it easy for Hakka tourists to shop.
Taiwan is a dog-friendly country. This is available in Beipu Township.
Walking around Beipu during my short stopover, I noted how dog-friendly Beipu is. I later learnt that in general, Taiwanese people are accepting of dogs as part of their everyday life, judging by how they can take their pet dogs into many business premises, including eateries.
map of Beipu temples and monuments
Beipu is essentially an old village. I was there not even two hours in total and I already came across an 阿婆 (grandmother) peeing in the street. Sorry, no photographic proof out of respect!
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