RaveBlog

It’s also here that Taipei’s answer to New York’s Central Park, the 26-hectare Da’an Forest Park, can be found.

The Xuhui resemblance is reinforced in Taipei by street names such as Guangfu, Dunhua and Renai roads, which are similar to those in Shanghai, and there’s a reason for that.

When Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalists fled mainland China after being beaten by Communist forces in 1949, it’s widely believed that his wife, Soong Mei Ling, who was Shanghainese, was so homesick that she influenced the planning of the city with her hometown – which was also that of many fellow émigrés – in mind.

Da’an drew some of the wealthier newcomers and in the years since has grown into a major commercial, residential and educational district: Zhongxiao East Road Section 4 is one of the city’s busiest shopping streets, while institutes such as National Taiwan University can be found here.

Japanese hot-spring hotel gives Taiwan tourist town a second lease of life

The reputation Da’an has built also owes something to the Wistaria Teahouse, believes Jeffrey Chung, chief concierge at the Shangri-La Far Eastern, Taipei hotel.

Just to the south of Da’an Forest Park, the teahouse was built in 1920 and served as a residence for the governor-general of Taiwan during Japanese rule (1895-1945). After the Japanese lost World War II and left Taiwan, the building was given to David Zhou, an economist in Chiang’s government.

The building became a teahouse in 1981 and Zhou, a liberal, allowed dissidents to meet in his establishment during the rest of the 1980s. It underwent extensive renovations starting in 2007, reopening the following year to much fanfare.

Now managed by his son, Zhou Yu, Wistaria Teahouse, named for the vines that grow on its facade, is behind a small courtyard and koi pond.

The interiors of the Japanese-style house are retro eclectic, the furniture a mix of low-slung dark wood tables standing on tatami flooring, and 1970s rattan tables and chairs. Pottery lines shelves and Chinese ink paintings feature on the whitewashed walls.

Nowadays, it is purely a place in which to appreciate tea, particularly pu’er.

Back at the Shangri-La – a landmark in the district since 1994 and popular for family celebrations, its Michelin-recognised Shang Palace being fully booked most weekends – I ask Chung, who has been with the hotel for 23 years: what draws people to Da’an these days?

“Rongjin Gorgeous Time,” he replies, referring to a row of 15 newly restored Japanese houses to the west of Da’an Forest Park that officially opened in September 2022.

Part of a government-initiated project to restore Taipei’s colonial-era buildings, the shops and cafes that constitute Rongjin Gorgeous Time once housed staff working at Taihoku Prison, which was built in 1905. All that remains of the prison, though, is a single stone wall behind the former staff quarters.

The low-beamed wooded buildings, lattice windows and manicured gardens are reminiscent of the machiya houses found in Kyoto, Japan. Among the businesses found at No. 167 Jinshan Street (Rongjin Gorgeous Time’s official address) are a branch of speciality cafe chain Simple Kaffa and shops that sell pet accessories, mother-and-baby products, and pottery.

Perhaps the Japanese aesthetics and the exclusivity (it is said you need to book two months in advance) are the draw at restaurant Kyomachi Yamamotoya, because the sweet mochi balls drenched in salty sauce I take away are so unremarkable, I eat only half.

However, the dumplings at the Taihu Gyoza Bar, opened by Taihu Brewery, are moreish (although a tad salty, to go with the craft beers) and the staff warm and helpful.

In the late afternoon, banyan trees cast long shadows inside Good Cho’s – a hipster cafe known for its bagels – making the floor-to-ceiling, all-glass structure sparkle in contrast to the other Rongjin Gorgeous Time buildings, all of which are wooden.

At the end of the row is Ad Vitam, the only retail store of a local brand of bath and beauty products made with essential oils produced in Taiwan. It’s appropriate that the space it occupies used to be the communal bathhouse for women prison staff.

The reputation of Da’an for fine dining and as an incubator for food and drink concepts has attracted restaurateurs with big dreams.

One is Seven Yi, the enfant terrible of the Taiwanese food and drink scene, who opened the experimental MAD by Le Kief in the former residence of the governor of Taihoku Prison in March 2022, only to close the establishment in December the same year.

While he looks for alternative premises – definitely in Da’an, he says – for an izakaya or fine-dining restaurant, guests can appreciate his approach to hospitality at Room by Le Kief, a dark, atmospheric bar that specialises in cocktail pairings with brands and restaurants.

Also served are “winetails”: bottled wines blended by Yi and his team to produce novel – if minerally tasting – beverages.

The one-Michelin-starred Mudan in Da’an is owned by the Lin family, who used to run two of Taipei’s best-known Japanese restaurants.

After closing Hachioji and Peony Garden, they decided to open a high-end tempura restaurant, hiring a chef from the Michelin-starred Tempura Hasegawa, in Japan, to teach their cooks the ropes. The resulting tempura is very lightly battered and made with the freshest ingredients fried in premium sesame oil.

Five kilometres (three miles) to the east of Mudan, on a quiet, leafy road, is the Kimpton Da An, which opened in 2019 and is the district’s only other luxury international hotel besides the Shangri-La, though the vibes here are different.

While the latter oozes old-world charm, the Kimpton feels both posh and eclectic – like New York’s Upper East Side and Upper West Side rolled into one.

The history and culture of Taipei are acknowledged in the hotel’s interiors: for example, the lounge is clad with the kind of glossy white tiles found on many facades in Taiwan, and a mini rice cooker of a brand once popular in Taiwan is used as a receptacle for mini bar amenities.

But the property is modern and hip – fashionable millennials use the lounge as a co-working space, their dogs – the hotel is pet-friendly – lying patiently at their feet.

On the western side of Da’an Forest Park is the city’s largest mosque, the Taipei Grand Mosque, and within a 5km radius there are dozens of Chinese temples.

However, most of the patrons that pack vegetarian cafe Little Tree Food Da’an are probably not religious, or even full-time vegetarians.

Little Tree Food Da’an opened its first branch in 2018, following up in 2020 with a second, in Dunhua, also in Da’an.

The original store recently won a Michelin Green Star for its sustainability and zero-waste efforts – the owner insists on using Taiwanese produce for at least 90 per cent of his needs, for instance.

He also minimises waste by flavouring oil with vegetable peel; using ugly vegetables and fruit to make bread and other fermented food; and sending unfinished food to be used as animal feed and compost.

Little Tree Food has inspired a string of imitators in recent years but it remains one of the most popular restaurants in Da’an, so, as with many of the district’s better establishments, reservations are recommended.

The writer was hosted for free by the Shangri-La Far Eastern, Taipei and the Kimpton Da An.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kuaqyxKyrsqSVZMGzrdWeo2aklZ7Atr7EaJirrJmYuaZ7kmtocG5oZ3y4tMCtZJ2nXZa7pXnEmqtmnJGWu27AwKKnnqFdp7K0wMCuqZqmpKh6orrDZqqhp6Cltq%2BzjKGmrZ2cqHqvsdZmo6KelajBurjEZp%2Buml2Zv6LD0maaq6enmcA%3D