Shiding

Shídìng (石碇) is a mountainous district southeast of Taipei that once served as a waypoint on the Tamsui-Kavalan Trails linking Taipei to Yilan. During the Qing dynasty the area developed as a tea trading hub, earning the nickname “Little Dihua Street” for its commercial activity. The district remains associated with Baozhong tea, sharing production traditions with neighboring Pinglin.

Coal mining later shifted development from the western old street to the eastern section, where merchants built distinctive stilt houses (吊腳樓) over the narrow creek bed. The covered arcade that remains is said to be Taiwan’s last surviving “street without sky” (不見天街). Like much of mountainous New Taipei, Shiding’s population has declined steadily since the post-war coal boom, from a 1968 peak of over 13,000 to around 7,000 today.