Penghu Old Street

Located beside the center of Penghu Kaitai Tianhou Temple, the street is an old street of Penghu, and is also known as the First Street of Penghu. Under the county government’s planning, there accumulates many special businesses, so it is worth visiting no matter for its accommodation, food, or ancient relics.

Here, you could first notice that at the bottom of the each store gate, there is a piece of stone carved sign, which inscribes what this store engaged in during the Japanese Colonial Period, and what it changed to after the retrocession of Taiwan. This is of historic meaning although we can not actually see the past appearance of the store from the description, we can imagine its flourish during the Japanese Colonial Period. It is a historic relic worth of visiting. 

Then, don’t just focus on buying souvenirs in the old street! There are a few very special historical sites for visitors.

First, you can see a very new temple on the left. If you do not look carefully, you can not imagine that this Shihgong Temple has a 327-years history. Originally called as "General Shi Temple" and located at the East of Penghu Hospital today, this Shihgong Temple was established during the reign of Qing Emperor Kangxi (AD 1684) when Shi Lang was given the title of Jinghai Marquis. After the 12th year of the reign of Qing Emperor Daoguang (1832), because it was used to worship soldiers who died in the line of duty, it was renamed as "Shigong Temple" in the 23rd year of the reign of Qing Emperor Daoguang (1843), the soldier of Haitanyou Battalion in Qing Dynasty donated their salary to rebuild the temple. Till 26th year of the Japanese Colonial Period (1896), it was requisitioned as hospital sickroom by Japanese In Taisho 3rd year (1914), it was demolished by the Japanese and was reconstructed into "Penghu Hospital," and Shi Gong Temple and Hai Tan Temple were together moved to the originally Hai Tan Soldier’s kitchen for worship, that is, the address of Shi Gong Temple we see now.

Shi Gong Temple is composed of the towering walls, two rooms respectively on the left and right, and the main hall. There is an atrium in the courtyard, with two rooms respectively on the left and right In front of the main hall, there is an open court for worship, and the roof of the main hall has ridge tail like dovetail. The rooms on both sides have ridges like horseback in hard style. The overall architectural format is the standard Penghu courtyard, and is now a Class C heritage.

In the opposite of Shi Gong Temple, there is another legendary story, is the "Ten Thousand Soldier Well". In June, the 22nd year of the reign of Qing Emperor Kangxi (AD 1683), the admiral Fujian navy attacked Penghu, beat the stick to beat the Governor of Penghu Liu Kuo-Hsuan, and occupied Penghu. At that time when the Fujian navy came to Penghu, the weather is dry with no water, so the army morale was depressed. So, Shi Lang prayed to the god as a result, the sweet well water gushed from the well, which was inexhaustible for the ten thousand navy! To express gratitude to the blessings of God, named Shi Lang named this well "Then Thousand Well". However, now it seems that this Then Thousand Well takes the tourists’ safety into consideration, so now a reinforced transparent acrylic cover is used. Frankly, it is unable to see the scenery of that time.

Leave the Ten Thousand Well and Shi Gong Temple, and go down along, you can enjoy the old-style buildings of Penghu along the way and buy souvenirs, gifts, and etc. This old street is not long and only takes about 30 minute walk. In addition to selling gifts and snacks, you can encounter the first hotel of Penghu “Central Hotel”, which was opened since 1923 and is currently a legal residence. When visiting Penghu, you can lodge here to experience the amorous feeling of the old hostel! The next door of the Central Hotel is to the West River Printing Field, which is also preserved from the Japanese Colonial Period and is currently selling postcards and etc. souvenirs.