原英商嘉士洋行倉庫/Former British Merchant Warehouse
Introduction
Former British Merchant Warehouse is located at 22, Bitou Street, right beside the Tamsui MRT Station. After the 1858 Treaties of Tientsin, more Qing’s ports would be opened for foreign trade, including Tamsui. Tamsui port quickly became the largest port in northern Taiwan, accounting for up to 60 percent of Taiwan’s trade. Many foreign merchants quickly moved into Tamsui.
At that time this warehouse stored tea related products by the British tea merchants. This warehouse was expanded into oil tanks after the Royal Dutch Shell Company bought this property for its import business in 1907. Therefore, this spot was called “stinky oil stack” at that time. This warehouse once played a role in the global oil business. In 1944 the warehouse was the bombed by Allied planes and half destroyed.
Now the ownership of this warehouse belongs to the National Property of the R.O.C. To preserve the historical meaning of this building, it was restored and repaired. It is now one of the most important historical sites in Tamsui.
Documentary:《Sticky memory》: Warehouse of Shell in Tamsui history
This documentary includes two episodes. Part One describes the history of this warehouse. Part two describes the critical factors which influence the building of Tamsui River Freeway.
Video
- Video description：《Sticky memory -- Rooting》focuses on the historical background of the Warehouse.
- Video source：Youtube
- Video description：《Sticky memory -- Bud》focuses on the critical factors which influence the building of Tamsui River Freeway.
- Video source：Youtube
Photo Gallery
- Former British Merchant Warehouse1
- Former British Merchant Warehouse2
- Former British Merchant Warehouse door
- Former British Merchant Warehouse
~Translated by Yi-Syuan Cai, and i-Ling Jhao
