Lukang

Lukang was the second city of Taiwan in the eighteenth century, the port through which the central plain traded with Fujian, and it declined when the harbour silted up and the railway went elsewhere. That failure preserved it. The town still has the plan of a trading port: lanes running back from a vanished waterfront, shophouses with long dark interiors, and two outstanding temples. The Longshan Temple here is the finer, a large timber compound with an octagonal coffered ceiling over the theatre pavilion, while the Mazu temple down the road is the busier. Craft trades survived as well, and lantern painting, tinsmithing, incense, folding fans and furniture are still made in shops along the old streets.

What you actually see

• Lukang Longshan Temple - a large timber compound with an octagonal coffered ceiling.
• The Mazu temple - the crowded working temple at the other end of the old town.
• Nine Turns Lane - a deliberately kinked alley built to break the winter wind.
• Breast Touching Lane - a passage so narrow two people cannot pass without turning.

When to go

October to April, when the coastal wind that the lanes were built against is at least dry. Weekdays are much better; at weekends the old market street becomes a slow-moving queue. Temple festivals follow the lunar calendar, and the Mazu observances in the third month fill the town completely, which is worth timing for if you can tolerate crowds.

Honest expectations

The main old street has been given over almost entirely to snack stalls and souvenir shops and can feel like a food corridor rather than a historic town; the quieter parallel lanes are where the buildings actually are. There is no railway station, so every arrival involves a bus. Summer is hot and shadeless. The famous narrow lane is a two-minute novelty.

Nearby

Changhua's great banyan and the Baguashan Buddha are half an hour inland.