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COMPASS MAGAZINE, DECEMBER 2000. VOL. 7 ISSUE 12

SPECIAL ADVERTISING FEATURE:

The History of how San Min Rd. became the "Wedding Street"

In 1895, near what is today the Taichung train station, when this area was just fields and farmhouses, a fourteen year-old boy named Lin Zao, made daily trips to the main street (what is now the alley across from the City Council), where there were crowds of Japanese, to gather food compost to feed his family¡¦s pigs. Among the Japanese was a reporter, Mr. Senben, who came to Taiwan with the army and opened a photo shop near Chung-Shan Road. After meeting Lin Zao, he was impressed by the boy¡¦s diligence and intelligence, and decided to teach him photography. In 1901, Mr. Senben urgently needed to return to his own country.  So, Lin Zao bought Mr. Senben¡¦s photo shop, and changed the name to ¡§ Lin¡¦s Photo Shop¡¨, the first such shop to be run by a Taiwanese on this island.

    In 1953, Lin Zao was killed in a car accident. His fourth son, Lin Quan Zhu (former Central Daily News reporter ) inherited the business. However, Lin Quan-Zhu was burdened with a large amount of debt he incurred as a guarantor for his friend. In order to help, his wife Wu Mei-Zhu went to Japan to learn hairdressing and cosmetology. Upon returning, she helped her husband to reopen the business and created the precedent of combining photography, hairdressing, cosmetology and a selection of formal clothing. In the 70s, such combination photo shops started to appear in the Taichung downtown area close to the train station. About eight or nine years ago, due to the high rental rates along Chung-Cheng Road, some proprietors moved to cheaper locations around San-Min Road and Kong-Yuan Road. This was the beginning of the ¡§ Wedding Street¡¨ on San-Min Road. After moving to San-Min Road, business boomed and wedding photo shops evolved. About seven years ago, the rapid development on San-Min Road reached its climax with more than 50 wedding photo shops.  However, four years ago, there was a 180-degree turn in the development of the San-Min Wedding Street. Big full-service ¡§wedding plazas¡¨ rose abruptly and the number of wedding photo shops decreased to 30. During the past few years, another new type of shop called ¡§ Exquisite Wedding Articles Photo Shops¡¨ has become popular in this area, providing wedding-related articles and services.

    All of the photo shops on San-Min Road compete with each other, and therefore, must find ways to make themselves unique, which has added to the variety of styles seen on ¡§Wedding Street.¡¨  But, not all are able to compete successfully, and in October of this year, two photo shops went out of business. In fact, for about two hundred and fifty years, since the establishment of Ta-Tun (Taichung¡¦s original name), businesses in this area have been unable to avoid constant changes. In the beginning, Ta-Tun was an agricultural area. The first merchants in the area sold farm tools and agricultural products on the street. During Ta-Tun¡¦s most prosperous period, Wan Chun Ma-zu Temple was built, and bakeries, Buddhist accessory stores, rice shops and groceries thrived in the area. When Japanese occupied Taiwan, they made changes to the roads and streets. By that time, many hospitals and clinics were opening. After Taiwan¡¦s retrocession, stores selling daily-use items gradually appeared along with wholesale fruit, fish and meat businesses. Food stalls selling a variety of snacks became popular.  Some of these snacks can still be found today and are considered specialty foods of Taichung. 

    Strictly speaking, San-Min Road has had at least a two hundred and seventy year history. It started with two thousand Han people establishing the first Chinese settlement in this area. The Ching emperor, Yuan Zun , sent a general to build up military armaments on Ta-Tun.  Under this protection, Ta-Tun started to grow. During the past nearly 300 years, residents of this area have worked hard and have run different kinds of businesses. Due to those great efforts, the city has inherited various cultural legacies, such as the cannon in Taichung Park, the Taichung North Gate, Wu Luan-Qi¡¦s home, Guo-Xing Temple, old streets and alleys and the Second Market. Many temples and churches were built to satisfy people¡¦s spiritual needs, and some still remain as historical and religious icons, such as Wan Chun Ma-zu Temple, Tan Wen Church, Liu Yuan Church, Da Jue Temple, Gao Xing Temple and Wu Den Palace, etc. In addition, along some of the older streets and alleys, Ching style, Japanese style and Western style old buildings can be seen.  They have been the witnesses of the many changes over time.

    From those historic relics, it is not hard to imagine how prosperous Ta-Tun used to be. Now, the roles in the central business area have changed. Therefore, the Taichung Culture Bureau is holding activities, such as ¡§ the San-Min International Wedding Arts Festival ¡¨ and ¡§the San-Min Culture & History Research Programs ¡¨. These activities will help residents around the San-Min neighborhood understand the local history.  Meanwhile, the valuable cultural foundation will help continue the future of the business area in order to reach the goal of combining culture and business. We believe that with the efforts of cultural awareness groups and business groups, we will have ¡§ an eternal Ta-Tun and a perpetual San-Min Wedding Street¡¨!