Once a thriving river port for camphor and tea, Daxi is famous for the ornate baroque shophouse façades its merchants built in the early 1900s under Japanese rule. Heping Old Street is the heart of it, lined with carved storefronts, woodcraft workshops, and the town’s celebrated braised dried tofu — a relaxed, photogenic Taoyuan day trip.
Once a thriving river port for camphor and tea, Daxi is famous for the ornate baroque shophouse façades its merchants built in the early 1900s under Japanese rule. Heping Old Street is the heart of it, lined with carved storefronts, woodcraft workshops, and the town’s celebrated braised dried tofu — a relaxed, photogenic Taoyuan day trip.
Updated June 20, 2026
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Highlights亮點Daxi was one of Taoyuan’s earliest developed towns, growing rich as a river port that shipped camphor and tea down the Dahan and Tamsui rivers. When road-widening came around the 1910s under Japanese rule, prosperous merchants poured money into rebuilding their storefronts.
The result is the old street’s signature look: elaborate baroque façades that fuse Western elements — Greek-style pediments and Roman columns — with Chinese ornament, including carvings of fish and bats symbolising good fortune. Heping Road (Heping Old Street) and Zhongshan Road preserve the best of these shophouses. Look up as you walk: the most lavish detail is concentrated in the parapets above the shops, where merchants often had their family or shop name worked into the moulding as a kind of permanent advertisement.
The pleasure here is slow browsing: admire the carved gable-tops, duck into woodcraft and furniture shops the town is known for, and graze your way down the street. Daxi’s braised dried tofu (doufu gan) is the local star — firm, soy-braised, and sold both as a sit-down snack and vacuum-packed to take home — alongside snacks like peanut candies and tofu pudding.
Daxi’s woodcraft tradition is no afterthought. The town has long been a centre for furniture-making and religious carving, and several workshops still produce altars, cabinetry, and intricately worked pieces; even if you’re not buying, watching a craftsman at work is part of the experience. The town also has deep ties to Chiang Kai-shek, whose resting place at nearby Cihu draws a steady stream of visitors, which helps explain the abundance of memorabilia and the area’s tourist infrastructure.
Daxi has no train station, so most visitors come by bus. From Taoyuan Train Station, take a Taoyuan Bus on the Daxi route; from Zhongli Station, Taoyuan Bus 5096 also runs to Daxi. A hop-on-hop-off tourist bus (route 501) stops at the old street as well, which is handy for linking nearby sights.
Choose just one extra stop — Taoyuan day trips are better when you keep them spacious and unhurried.
Quick answers to common planning questions.
Official pages and references for planning details.
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Tip: hours, prices, and seasonal schedules can change. When something matters (like a museum ticket or a special exhibition), check the official listing before you go.