Lukang

Lukang (鹿港) is one of the most historic towns in Taiwan. A common saying (一府二鹿三艋舺) ranks the island’s three great Qing dynasty era settlements, placing Lukang second only to Tainan and ahead of Bangka. The town’s natural harbor, the nearest port to Fujian, made it a primary landing point for Hokkien immigrants. Between 1785 and 1850 Lukang was at its commercial peak, its harbor crowded with merchant junks.

Harbor silting from floods of the nearby Zhoushui River (濁水溪) began restricting ship access in the 1840s. When the Japanese colonial rail line bypassed the town entirely, Lukang stagnated, but this economic decline inadvertently preserved its heritage. Today the town retains an exceptional concentration of Qing temples, including the designated national monuments Lungshan Temple and Lukang Tianhou Temple, alongside the Wenkai Academy. The Folk Arts Museum occupies the 1919 mansion of industrialist Koo Hsien-jung, while the narrow Old Street preserves the atmosphere of a traditional commercial district.