Shimending shopping district, located in southwest Taipei was and still is a bustling, crowded and exciting shopping center and market place. It had everything, including street vendors, shops, department stores, hotels, electronics stores, large movie theaters and great places to eat including the "Circle" restaurants (shown below), famous for Chinese banquets, Peking Duck and exotic foods.
At night Shimending was a spectacle of lights and colorful neon signs. (Photos by Carpenter, Swallom, Hine and Paul Birden)
Shimending 1970. Four shots taken along the traffic "circle" at old Hsi Ning South Road and Chung Hua Road (ref map at top of page). There was lots of traffic, people, noise, restaurants, shops, businesses and movie theaters. The green building in photo "3." above had restaurants located on every floor.
1.) 1970 shot of First Company Ltd. department store (tall building in center with red sign) in Shimending. AFNT (Armed Forces Network Taiwan - Radio) was located across the street from the First Company in the Sugar Building.
2.) The same view of the First Company Ltd. department store at night.
3.) Circa 1970 postcard of the Taipei Railway Station (provided by J. Koztecki).
4.) Circa 1966 postcard of the upscale First Hotel.
5.) 1989 photo of Shimending. "...When we were there [1969-71] a huge benjo ditch ran right down the street...by 1989, however, it was gone." [Dec. 26, 2008] Paul Birden (Charlie Flt '69-'70).
