Free Retro Costume at Dadaocheng + Yangmingshan Hydrangeas

When most people think about Taiwan travel, the checklist is predictable: Taipei 101, Shilin Night Market, Sun Moon Lake. But as travel blogger Phan The Anh — someone who has spent years exploring every corner of this island — I’ve learned that Taiwan’s most memorable experiences are almost always the ones you stumble upon by going a little deeper.

On my latest visit to Taipei, I explored two places that absolutely blew me away — and both are seriously underrated on the international travel radar. The first: slipping into a 1920s silk changshan (traditional Chinese long robe) for free in the middle of one of Taipei’s oldest historic districts. The second: standing shoulder-deep in hydrangeas at the rim of a dormant volcano, surrounded by thousands of flowers in every shade of blue, purple, pink, and white.

Here’s everything you need to plan both experiences yourself.

Part 1: Free Retro Costume Dress-Up at Dadaocheng Visitor Center

What Is Dadaocheng — And Why Does It Matter?

Before we get to the costumes, let me give you a quick orientation to the neighborhood — because knowing the history makes wearing the costume feel genuinely meaningful, not just like a tourist gimmick.

Dadaocheng (大稻埕) — sometimes romanized as “Twatutia” from its Hokkien pronunciation — is Taipei’s oldest commercial district, with a history stretching back to the mid-19th century. The name literally means “large rice-drying field,” a reference to the Fujianese settlers who cultivated this area before it transformed into the most important trading hub in all of Taiwan.

By the late 1800s, after Tamsui opened to international trade, Dadaocheng had become the commercial heartbeat of the island — exporting tea, herbal medicine, silk, and camphor to global markets. Dihua Street (迪化街), formed around the 1850s, was the spine of this commercial empire and is now recognized as Taipei’s oldest surviving street.

The architecture you see today is a fascinating hybrid: traditional Fujianese shophouse interiors topped with elaborate Baroque Revival facades, a legacy of Japanese colonial rule from 1895 to 1945. The covered arcaded walkways (亭仔腳) lining both sides of the street were a practical Japanese-era innovation — shade and shelter for shoppers in Taipei’s subtropical climate. Today, Lonely Planet and CNN Travel both rank Dihua Street among Taipei’s must-see destinations.

The Free Costume Experience: 菊元治裝所 (Ju Yuan Costume Shop)

Hidden on the second floor of the Dadaocheng Visitor Center at 44 Section 1, Dihua Street, Datong District (directly across from the Yongle Fabric Market), is a little-known gem called 菊元治裝所 — “Ju Yuan Costume Salon” — where you can dress up in authentic 1920s–1940s period clothing completely free of charge.

This is not a commercial photo studio with cheesy props. It’s a thoughtfully curated cultural experience designed by the Taipei City Government to help visitors connect with Dadaocheng’s golden commercial era. The result? Photographs that look genuinely cinematic — and a tangible sense of what life felt like in this neighborhood a century ago.

The key detail: The costume rental is free, but you’ll leave a refundable cash deposit of NT$1,000 per person (returned in full when you return the costume on time).

Available Costume Themes

Seven character personas from the 1920s–1940s Republican-era Shanghai and Japanese colonial Taipei:

Costume Name	For	Description
知性新女性 “Intellectual Modern Woman”	Female	Elegant qipao with contemporary flair
豪門貴婦 “Wealthy Matron”	Female	Luxurious qipao with fur stole
青春少女 “Youthful Maiden”	Female	Soft, girlish qipao style
文人雅士 “Scholarly Gentleman”	Male	Long scholar’s robe (長袍) + hat
集貨商人 “Merchant”	Male	Traditional Chinese merchant attire
青春少年 “Young Man”	Male	Period male casual wear
Student Uniform	Male/Female	Sailor-style school uniform (Japanese era), extremely popular

Choose up to 1–2 accessories: folding fans, paper umbrellas, fur stoles, clutch bags, vintage glasses, shawls, hats.

Note: Hair and makeup services are not provided. Come pre-styled for the best photos — many visitors do light makeup and a vintage hair look before arriving.

Booking Information

Book online: travel.taipei/vintage-clothing/en

Booking window: 11–31 days in advance (no same-day bookings)

Opening hours: 10:00–17:00 daily (closed 12:00–13:00)

Three daily sessions: 10:00–12:00 | 13:00–15:00 | 15:30–17:00

Session duration: ~90 minutes total (selection + changing + photography + return)

Maximum per booking: 5 people

Walk-ins accepted only if slots remain — weekends fill quickly

Getting to Dadaocheng

By MRT (recommended):

Daqiaotou Station (O12, Orange Line): Exit 1, ~3–4 min walk — the closest option

Beimen Station (G13, Green Line): Exit 3, ~10 min walk along Nanjing West Rd

Shuanglian Station (R12, Red Line): Exit 2, ~12–15 min walk

By bus: Routes 9, 206, 274, 641, 669, 704 to Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕碼頭)

Best Photo Spots in the Visitor Center and Beyond

Inside the visitor center (2nd–4th floors), five immersive 1920s-themed backdrops await:

The Costume Salon itself — Victorian-era tailor’s room with antique wardrobes and mirrors

Traditional Chinese Medicine Shop — wall-to-wall wooden herb drawers, apothecary aesthetic

Early-Era Tea House — low tables, ceramic teaware, warm amber lighting

Vintage Classroom (3rd floor) — wooden desks, chalkboard, oil lanterns (my personal favorite)

Lantern Gallery (3rd–4th floor) — hundreds of colorful hanging lanterns, extremely Instagram-worthy

Once you step outside in costume, the street itself becomes the set:

The arcaded walkways directly in front of the visitor center — morning light (10–11am) creates beautiful diagonal shadows through the columns

The Ten Connected Shophouses (十連棟) — the northern stretch of Dihua Street where uniform Baroque-facade shophouses with red brick arches create the most iconic Dadaocheng photo wall

Dadaocheng Wharf (大稻埕碼頭) — 5 min walk, riverside backdrop with replica Qing-era trading junks; stunning at golden hour

Xiahai City God Temple (霞海城隍廟) entrance — traditional temple gate backdrop

Part 2: Yangmingshan Hydrangeas — Taiwan’s Most Beautiful Seasonal Bloom

Yangmingshan National Park — Taipei’s Year-Round Flower Kingdom

For the second experience, we leave the city and head north into Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園), a volcanic mountain range sitting just 30–60 minutes from central Taipei at elevations of 200–1,120m.

This park is a botanical phenomenon. Thanks to its cool climate, fertile volcanic soil, and year-round moisture, Yangmingshan hosts a continuous parade of flowers across all four seasons — a fact well-documented by Taiwan Tourism Board and the Yangmingshan National Park official website. But of all its seasonal blooms, the hydrangea season in May–June is widely considered the most spectacular.

When Do the Hydrangeas Bloom?

Peak season: late May through mid-June every year

For 2026 specifically: approximately May 23 – June 22, 2026

Best single period: the last week of May + first two weeks of June (most vivid color saturation)

Bloom can extend into early July in cooler years

Blogger tip: Hydrangeas actually look more vivid on overcast, slightly rainy days than on bright sunny days. The moist conditions intensify the colors, and the soft diffused light is flattering for photography. Don’t cancel your trip because of clouds — embrace them.

Why Such Rich Colors?

Hydrangea color is directly determined by soil pH:

Acidic soil (pH < 5.5) → blue to light purple flowers

Alkaline soil (pH > 5.5) → pink to red flowers

Yangmingshan’s naturally acidic volcanic soil produces the stunning blue-purple tones the region is famous for. Private farms supplement this with soil amendments to create mixed-color displays. The result: fields that shift from icy blue to deep violet to hot pink within a few meters.

The Best Hydrangea Farms at Zhuzihu (竹子湖 / Bamboo Lake)

The hydrangea epicenter is Zhuzihu (竹子湖 — literally “Bamboo Lake”), a natural highland basin at approximately 670m elevation within the park, in Beitou District. The village itself has no admission fee — individual private farms charge NT$100–150, which is typically redeemable as a voucher for food, drinks, or small plants.

Farm Name	Hours	Fee	Best For
大梯田 (Da Tiantian) — Large Terraced Farm	07:00–18:00	NT$150 (NT$100 redeemable)	Panoramic terraced rows; best for landscape shots
高家繡球花田 (Gaojia)	05:00–18:00	NT$100	Opens earliest; human-height flower walls; best 5–8am
午後陽光 (Afternoon Sunlight)	09:00–17:00	NT$100	Slate walkways; ideal for portrait photography
頂湖采馥 (Dinghu Caifu)	09:30–18:00	NT$100	Elevated viewing platform; family-friendly
竹子湖花木園 (Bamboo Lake Flower Garden)	08:30–18:00	NT$100	Wide variety of plant species

How to Get from Taipei to Zhuzihu

There is no MRT station at Yangmingshan — you’ll need a combination of subway + bus.

Route 1 — Via Beitou (most popular):

MRT Red Line to Beitou Station (R22) or Xinbeitou Station (R22a)

Bus S9 (小9) or Route 129 directly to Zhuzihu stop

Total journey: 50–70 minutes from central Taipei

Route 2 — Via Shipai:

MRT Red Line to Shipai Station (R21)

Bus S8 (小8) directly to Zhuzihu

Total journey: 45–60 minutes

Route 3 — Via Jiantan or Shilin:

MRT Red Line to Jiantan (R16) or Shilin (R15)

Bus 260 or Red 5 to Yangmingshan Bus Terminal

Transfer to S8 or S9 for Zhuzihu

Key stop: Get off at 竹子湖 (Zhuzihu) — farms are 5–15 min walk from the bus stop.

⚠️ Weekend Warning: During flower season, buses from Taipei fill to capacity very early. On weekends, buses often reach full capacity before 9am and will skip stops. Plan to be on a bus before 8am on weekends. Weekday visits (Monday–Thursday) are dramatically less crowded and far more pleasant.

Best Time to Visit — Hour by Hour

Time	Rating	Notes
5:00–8:00am	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐	Fewest crowds, morning mist, soft light. Gaojia farm opens at 5am
8:00–10:00am	⭐⭐⭐⭐	Still comfortable, good light
10:00–12:00pm	⭐⭐⭐	Getting crowded, harder light
12:00–3:00pm	⭐⭐	Peak crowds, buses may be full
3:00–5:30pm	⭐⭐⭐	Crowd thins, warm afternoon light

What Else to See at Yangmingshan

If you’re making the trip, it’s worth spending a half-day and seeing more of the park:

Qingtiangang Grassland (擎天崗): A vast volcanic meadow with free-roaming cattle — utterly surreal for a capital city’s backyard. According to the Yangmingshan NP official guide, this is one of the park’s most visited natural sites.

Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑): An active fumarolic field with sulfur steam vents hissing out of the earth — dramatic, otherworldly, and completely unlike anything you’ll see in the rest of Taiwan

Erziping (二子坪): Quiet plateau, easy accessible trails, ideal for picnics and birdwatching

Lengshuikeng (冷水坑): Unique cool-and-hot spring combination — a geological curiosity where cold groundwater mixes with geothermal heat

Yangmingshan also has a full seasonal flower calendar: cherry blossoms (February), calla lilies at Zhuzihu (March–April), azaleas (April), hydrangeas (May–June), and daylilies (summer). If you time it right, you can catch two consecutive bloom seasons in a single trip.

Combining Both Experiences: A Two-Day Taipei Itinerary

Here’s how I’d structure both experiences into a short trip:

Day 1 — Dadaocheng (relaxed start):

08:30: Coffee at a vintage café on Dihua Street

10:00: First session at Ju Yuan Costume Shop (book 11–31 days ahead!)

12:00–14:00: Lunch at Yongle Market food court or nearby restaurants

14:00–17:00: Explore Dihua Street’s shops, temples, and heritage architecture

Day 2 — Yangmingshan (early start required):

05:00: Leave your accommodation in Taipei

06:30–09:00: Gaojia Farm — the light and the solitude are worth every early alarm

09:00–11:00: Da Tiantian Terraced Farm for panoramic shots

11:30–13:00: Lunch in Zhuzihu (taro ice cream is the local specialty)

13:30–15:30: Qingtiangang Grassland or Xiaoyoukeng fumaroles

Final Thoughts

Taiwan travel has a way of rewarding the curious. The travelers who ask “what’s behind that door?” and “what’s on the second floor?” find the best experiences — the ones that don’t appear in the standard itinerary.

As someone who has been documenting Taiwan’s hidden corners for years, I can tell you: these two experiences represent Taiwan at its most authentic. The Dadaocheng costume is free, beautifully curated, and gives you a window into a Taipei that existed a century before Instagram. The Yangmingshan hydrangeas are pure, overwhelming natural beauty — the kind that makes you forget you’re only 40 minutes from a city of 3 million people.

Plan ahead (book Dadaocheng early, go to Yangmingshan on a weekday morning), and both of these will become the highlights of your Taiwan trip.

If you have questions about planning your Taiwan travel itinerary, drop a comment below — I’ll do my best to answer!

Useful Links

Book the free Dadaocheng costume experience: travel.taipei/vintage-clothing

Yangmingshan National Park official site: ymsnp.gov.tw

Taipei official tourism: travel.taipei

Taiwan Tourism Bureau: taiwan.net.tw

Taipei bus route information: ptx.transportdata.tw

Photos & words: Travel Blogger Phan The Anh | voyageblogger.com | Instagram: @lecturer.anh | YouTube: @ThayGiaoAnh

Two Unmissable Taipei Experiences: Free Retro Costume at Dadaocheng + Yangmingshan Hydrangeas in Bloom

Part 1: Free Retro Costume Dress-Up at Dadaocheng Visitor Center

What Is Dadaocheng — And Why Does It Matter?