More beautiful color photographs from Ben Hilmes. All were taken in 1962-1963.
Today, a few street scenes from the Ximending area of Taipei.
This is one of the old South Gates - This one is referred to as the "Minor" South Gate.
It sits on West Aiguo Road, 1 short block east of Zhonghua Road, the main north - south road in Ximending.
The same gate today. Courtesy Google Earth.
Looking north, this is basically the same view as the old photo above.
Lots of changes have taken place in 50 years.
We move a block west to Zhonghua Road and turn right.
Looking north, along Zhonghua Road.
Most of us shopped at one of these stores sometime during our tour in Taipei.
This was one of "must see" areas of Taipei.
"Back-in-the-day," I would describe this as the busiest corner in Ximending.
Just to the left of the half-circle, across the street, off the left side of this photo, was a large circular street with small food stalls along the inside of the circle. On the outside of the circle were all of those huge movie advertising posters hanging from the roof tops.
It was the area referred to as the "movie or theater district," by most folks.
Same corner as above, this shot taken from street level.
What do you notice in this photo? I note the small number of cars. We can see a few taxi cabs, and two or three buses.
Traffic was light 50 years ago.
Today, traffic is very congested on Zhonghua Road, filled with buses, taxis and POVs.
Today, the Metro runs under this street and stops at this corner, Ximen Station.
There are at least 6 different street exits from Ximen station.
We're at the end of the old shopping area.
You can see the North Gate in the center of the photo.
If you turn right (east) at the gate, a short distance up the road is Taipei Main Railroad Station.
It's time to grab a pedicab and head to the Linkou Club for a cold drink and a sandwich.
Thanks to Ben Hilmes for sharing his photos.
Many more of Ben's photos coming in future posts to this blog.
Be sure to click or double click on each of these photos, the quality and detail can be seen and appreciated.. These are truly wonderful photos from the 1962-1963 time period!
Today, a few street scenes from the Ximending area of Taipei.
This is one of the old South Gates - This one is referred to as the "Minor" South Gate.
It sits on West Aiguo Road, 1 short block east of Zhonghua Road, the main north - south road in Ximending.
The same gate today. Courtesy Google Earth.
Looking north, this is basically the same view as the old photo above.
Lots of changes have taken place in 50 years.
We move a block west to Zhonghua Road and turn right.
Looking north, along Zhonghua Road.
Most of us shopped at one of these stores sometime during our tour in Taipei.
This was one of "must see" areas of Taipei.
"Back-in-the-day," I would describe this as the busiest corner in Ximending.
Just to the left of the half-circle, across the street, off the left side of this photo, was a large circular street with small food stalls along the inside of the circle. On the outside of the circle were all of those huge movie advertising posters hanging from the roof tops.
It was the area referred to as the "movie or theater district," by most folks.
Same corner as above, this shot taken from street level.
What do you notice in this photo? I note the small number of cars. We can see a few taxi cabs, and two or three buses.
Traffic was light 50 years ago.
Today, traffic is very congested on Zhonghua Road, filled with buses, taxis and POVs.
Today, the Metro runs under this street and stops at this corner, Ximen Station.
There are at least 6 different street exits from Ximen station.
We're at the end of the old shopping area.
You can see the North Gate in the center of the photo.
If you turn right (east) at the gate, a short distance up the road is Taipei Main Railroad Station.
It's time to grab a pedicab and head to the Linkou Club for a cold drink and a sandwich.
Thanks to Ben Hilmes for sharing his photos.
Many more of Ben's photos coming in future posts to this blog.
5 comments:
These photos are great! They bring back so many fond memories. Wow!!!
My goodness...my wife and I just drove down Zhonghua yesterday, an area we rarely go to since we live up near Song Shan airport... Love ur old pics! I'm a History Channel person, but they only show war history or some old European medieval stuff, never anything close to home. Going to take some time to read thru this blog!
Your blog is the best! I'm from Cali and my parents grew up in Ximending (to be exact a 5 minutes walk away from the Red House). My parents and I enjoy your blog so much with all the old photos of Taipei city and around. I appreciate all the work you put into collecting and sharing all these rare photos. Thanks a lot!
Since Haggler's Row opened in 1961 these early pictures are all the more special. Not only is traffic light, but the rolls of barbed wire running the length of it have not yet been unwound.
Hi, Great pictures. I live in Taiwan -1985 .... current
Loved viewing these old pictures of Zhonghua Rd and Ximenting
Thanks for posting
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