Taipei's history is layered like sediment: Ketagalan villages, 1709 Han farming settlements, Qing walled city, 50 years of Japanese rule, then Chiang Kai-shek's Republic in exile. Three days of temples, city gates, colonial ministries and White Terror sites.
Qing-dynasty shophouse street preserved with original 1850s brick arcades and Japanese-era facade grafts. The Heritage and Culture Education Centre inside covers Bangka's camphor and hide trade. Open 09:00-18:00, closed Mondays.
Founded 1787 by Anxi immigrants, burned in the 1853 Ding-Jiao Lin feud between rival Fujianese clans and rebuilt 1867 — the missing rear hall was never restored. Open 06:00-22:00, free entry.
The only Qing city gate of 1884 surviving in original form — the other three were rebuilt in northern Chinese style in 1966. Its fortress-like Fujian roof once faced the Danshui River wharf. Elevated freeway removed in 2016.
Dadaocheng's 1850s trading street, built after refugees fled the Bangka clan wars. Baroque-revival facades date to the 1910s tea-export boom. The 1859 City God Temple is open 06:16-19:47 daily.
Taiwan's oldest museum, opened 1908 to mark completion of the island's trunk railway; the 1915 Greek-revival hall stands on the razed Qing Tianhou Temple. Open 09:30-17:00, closed Mondays.
Completed 1919 as the Japanese Governor-General's Office, its red-brick tower was deliberately built taller than any Taiwanese temple. Bombed by US aircraft in 1945, rebuilt by 1948. Weekday morning tours with passport.
The 1996 memorial to the 28 February 1947 uprising and the killings that followed. The museum occupies the radio station whose broadcast spread the revolt. Open 10:00-17:00, closed Mondays.
Below the Grand Hotel lie the stone lanterns, bronze bull and steps of the 1901 Taiwan Grand Shrine, demolished after 1945. The hotel itself was Chiang Kai-shek's state guesthouse, complete with escape tunnels.
The military court and detention centre where dissidents were tried during Martial Law (1949-1987), including the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident defendants. Cells, courtroom and solitary block preserved. Open 09:00-17:00, closed Mondays.
The 1913 public bathhouse built by the Japanese for soldiers, with Roman-style granite pools and tatami rest hall. Nearby Puji Temple of 1916 is one of Taiwan's few surviving Japanese Buddhist halls. Closed Mondays.
A 1783 Fujian-style courtyard mansion built by the Lin family from Anxi, dismantled in 1978 for road widening and rebuilt here in 1987. Original swallowtail ridges and Guanyin-stone floors. Open 09:00-17:00, closed Mondays.
Baoan Temple was begun in 1804 by Tong'an settlers who carried their Baosheng Dadi god across the strait; its 1917 murals won a UNESCO conservation award. The Confucius Temple of 1930 replaced one razed by the Japanese.