Wufenpu (;

Taiwanese Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese people, ...

: Gō͘-hun-po͘) is an area, best known for wholesale garment market, located in the Xinyi District of

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It is located at the foothill of Sishou Mountain (四獸山; ''lit.'' "Mountains of the four beasts") and includes all five neighborhoods in Section 5 of

Zhongxiao East Road Zhongxiao Road (, also called 4th Blvd. or Chunghsiao Road) is a major arterial boulevard that is part of Provincial Highway 5 (Taiwan), provincial highway 5 in Taipei, Taiwan, connecting the Zhongzheng district in the west with the Da'an Distri ...

, east to Songren Road, and Zhongpo North Road. It is the largest clothing market in Taipei. The area is nearby both the TRA

Songshan Station Songshan () is a railway and metro station in Taipei, Taiwan, served by Taiwan Railways and Taipei Metro. This station connects to the shopping centre at basement 1 and level 1. The station is a planned transfer for the Circular line, where, ...

and the

Taipei Metro Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), branded as Metro Taipei, is a rapid transit system serving the areas of Taipei and New Taipei City, New Taipei in Taiwan, operated by the State-owned enterprise, government-owned Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation ...

Houshanpi Station.

History

During the Chinese

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, this was the land of the “Malysyakkaw” (a

Ketagalan Ketagalan or Ketangalan () are a Taiwanese aborigines, Taiwanese aboriginal people originating in what is now the Taipei Basin. Their Ketagalan language, language has now become extinct. On 21 March 1996, the road in front of the Presidential O ...

Taiwanese aboriginal tribe). In 1769, five families from

Fujian Province Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its cap ...

, China bought this place from the Malysyakkaw, and that was how it got its name, (“Wu-fen-pu” means "land with five divisions"). Most soil in this area was too poor to farm; in addition, there were

mental hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociati ...

s and pig farms built in this place and therefore it was thought to be the wasteland of the ignobility.

Development

Wufenpu was mainly in the countryside until 13 years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. In 1958, there was a

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

that caused a major

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

in Taiwan, called “the Flood of August 7.” Taipei was almost underwater. To settle those

veteran A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

s who were living in the neighborhood behind

Taipei Station Taipei Main Station () is a railway and metro station in Taipei, Taiwan. It is served by Taiwan High Speed Rail, the Taiwan Railways Administration, and the Taipei Metro. It is also connected through underground passageways to the terminal sta ...

, the

Taiwan Provincial Government The Taiwan Provincial Government was the government that governed Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. Its functions have been transferred to the National Development Council and other ministries of the Executive Yuan. History At the ...

donated an area in Wufenpu, and the Ministry of National Defense helped to construct 1,200 one-and-a-half-story temporary homes for the veterans. In the 1960s, many people from

Fangyuan Fangyuan Township () is a rural township in Changhua County, Taiwan. History People have been immigrated from Fujian to the area since around 1640 CE, where they practiced fishing and traded with people in Fujian. The area was then known as Fa ...

(芳苑, a town in

Changhua County Changhua County (Mandarin Pinyin: ''Zhānghuà Xiàn''; Wade-Giles: ''Chang¹-hua⁴ Hsien⁴''; Hokkien POJ: ''Chiang-hòa-koān'' or ''Chiong-hòa-koān'') is the smallest county on the main island of Taiwan by area, and the fourth smallest ...

, central Taiwan) noticed that it was easier to make a living in Taipei and came to rent houses from the veterans. They used the first floor as a

pret-a-porter Ready-to-wear (or ''prêt-à-porter''; abbreviated RTW; "off-the-rack" or "off-the-peg" in casual use) is the term for ready-made garments, sold in finished condition in standardized sizes, as distinct from made-to-measure or bespoke clothing ...

(ready-made clothes) shop and the second story as their houses and the tailoring place. After a few years, the veterans all sold their houses to these inhabitants from Fangyuan and many newcomers, and as of today Wufenpu is still a special pret-a-porter

wholesale Wholesaling or distributing is the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers; to industrial, commercial, institutional or other professional business users; or to other wholesalers (wholesale businesses) and related subordinated services. In ...

hub for clothes retailers in Taipei.

References

{{Commons, Wufenpu Shopping in Taipei