Tamsui Old Street

First built by the Spanish in 1629 and rebuilt by the Dutch, Fort San Domingo has witnessed three centuries of coastal defense and foreign affairs in Taiwan.

The customs wharf opened to trade in the Xianfeng reign keeps its red-brick warehouses, while the Red Castle blends Chinese and Western styles above the river mouth at sunset.

Tamsui's earliest Mazu temple dates from the Qianlong reign, and the busy old wharf before it gave rise to the shopping street of Zhongzheng Road.

Running along the Tamsui River, this lively street offers iron eggs, stuffed tofu agei, fish crisps and the bustle of the ferry pier.

Part of Tamsui Old Street's history: Second Opium War. Qing prince, sixth son of the Daoguang emperor, who negotiated with Britain and France in 1860 and headed the new foreign affairs office, the Zongli Yamen, for over twenty years

Part of Tamsui Old Street's history: Second Opium War. Qing emperor of the Xianfeng reign, who faced the Taiping war and the Second Opium War and died at Chengde after fleeing the Anglo-French advance on Beijing

Spain built Fort San Domingo at Tamsui in 1629; after expelling Spain in 1642, the Dutch rebuilt the fort in 1644.

Second Opium War

From 1856 to 1860, Britain and France fought Qing China in a conflict rooted in post–First Opium War treaty disputes, ending in another Qing defeat.

In 1860, the Qing opened Tamsui as a treaty port under the Treaty of Peking, beginning its modern treaty-port history.