Three years into our life in Taipei and we still haven’t run out of new things to do or places to see in this city! This weekend we hit Sanxia Old Street and tried our hand at indigo dying. It was a great outing, although morning rain prevented us from including Yingge’s Old Street and Ceramic museum in the tour. (So we’ll have to leave that for a future outing & blog post. 🙂 ) Still, we packed in a very full and fun afternoon outing to Sanxia, which we’d highly suggest to anyone!
DIY Indigo Dying Class
Thanks to our Chinese speaking expat friends, we were able to call and reserve a Saturday afternoon indigo dyeing class. When we arrived, our first task was to pick what we wanted to dye. Pauline chose to die a scarf for $600NT (an incredibly reasonable price, considering indigo scarves in shops here otherwise start at $1000NT). Our friends chose chopstick holder napkins for $200, and Josh dyed a small drawstring bag for $250.
Next, we each choose a pattern to dye our cloth. Then the instructor showed us how to fold and tie our cloth in order to get the desired pattern. After that we washed the cloth in water before doing the first of three indigo soaks. Oh! And of course they also kindly provided gloves, which we made sure to rubber band on tightly, as we weren’t looking to leave with smurf hands!
Soaking the cloth in the indigo dye is fascinating – one big surprise is that the dye is green! But once exposed to the air the cloth goes from cloudy swirling green to deep blue. Finally after 3 different indigo soaking cycles we crossed our fingers and unwrapped our bundles. And then squealed with delight (well, at least Pauline did) But we were all very happy with our handiwork. 
DETAILS:
The price of the class is just based on what you dye, and no payment is required in advance.
According to the New Taipei City Travel website where we learned about this activity, DIY Indigo Dyeing classes are only available on the weekends. Although large group of 20+ can make reservation for the weekdays. When we called we were told there were two classroom times, 10am or 1pm. We chose 1pm. Unfortunately, we ended up arriving over a half an hour late! But when we called to let them know, they were very relaxed about it. I got the impression they might have accepted walk-ins, but we can’t say for sure. So if you want to be guaranteed the experience you should call 886-2-86713108 and make a reservation.
Display room and Gift Shop:
There’s also a sweet little gift shop along with a small museum- like display room explaining a bit about the history of indigo dyeing in Sanxia and the different techniques used. The gift shop has some BEAUTIFUL pieces. If you’re looking for high quality artisan souvenirs from Taiwan this is one place we’d highly recommend!
Sanxia Old Street
A short walk away from the DIY dying shop is the old street. There are a few of these in various neighborhoods in Taipei and New Taipei city. These are old commercial or market districts that have preserved their architecture. They might not be the economic centers that they once were, but they still have traditional crafts and foods for sale, as well as quaint novelties or decorations. We did end up finding some great presents to take back to the US, including some old fashioned wooden toys for Pauline’s nephews. All of the shops are in old red brick buildings connected by arched, covered walkways. It’s not only a shopping experience, but also a great place to get some good pictures.
Snacks along the way
Douhua The finale of Sanxia’s old street is a couple of cute little traditional douha (tofu pudding) shops inviting you to rest your feet and have something sweet. And really, everyone who visits Taiwan should try douha! As far as we can tell its one of Taiwan’s most traditional and beloved desserts. And its so unique! We’ve both really like it, although Pauline is not as open to the many different textured toppings as Josh is. Thankfully the restaurant we chose provides hilariously translated yet helpful English menus, so you can just point to what you want – whether “primary” or “comprehensive”! Pauline recommends the “tofu pudding of tang yuan”. Josh of course, recommends the comprehensive.
Scallion pancake Quesadillas We found another favorite local treat on the other end of Sanxia Street. Well, actually it came before entering Sanxia Street. A block or so before the temple, we found this delicious scallion pancake vendor. Variations on the scallion pancake are nearly endless here and we suggest you try as many as you can! This one, in the form of a quesadilla filled with glass noodles and leeks was especially good! As soon as we tasted it Josh and I immediately regretted agreeing to share one. But by that time we’d already walked away and were almost to the bus. So learn from our mistake! If you see this cart, by at least one and don’t share.
Getting to Sanxia & the Indigo Workshop
The reasons we ended up late for our indigo class was because we’d planned to take a taxi from Taipei out to Sanxia. But the taxi we hailed was not thrilled at the idea of going so far out of the main city without guaranteed return passengers. In fact, he flat out refused. So, we piled back out of the taxi and rushed down to the MRT. Turns out, you can take the blue line out to its last stop a Dingpu station and from there take a 15 minute, $250NT cab ride.
Taking the train to Yinge Station is another great option, as Yinge is supposed to be another great old artisan area worth exploring. From there Yinge its about a 10 minute cab ride to Sanxia. Then again of course buses are also always an option too! And on our return trip we opted for the bus back to Dingpu.
Here’s a google map pin of the Indigo Dye spot’s exact location, for your reference. 🙂
And here’s the sign out front to look for 🙂 . We’d love to hear about it if you end up going!