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肉圓ròuyuán
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North · Destination
Hsinchu
新竹
Wind-dried rice noodles and a bowl of meatball soup by the City God Temple
Map of Hsinchu
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Open in the mapIntroduction
The food of Hsinchu
Hsinchu is nicknamed the Wind City, and the dry, strong northeast monsoon of autumn and winter is just what rice noodles need for drying; Chinese Wikipedia says October to December is when they come out best. Around the City God Temple in town, stalls cluster, and rice noodles, pork meatball soup and ba-wan are the names that come up most.
Head into the county and the flavors change. Beipu is a Hakka settlement whose old-street tea houses grind sesame, peanuts, tea leaves and other ingredients in a mortar into a paste and pour hot water over it; Beipu and Emei are the home of Oriental Beauty tea (called péngfēng tea in Beipu); and around Hankeng in Xinpu, persimmons are hung to dry every autumn, and the town's flat rice noodles have a name of their own.
- 1 dish
- 3 neighborhoods
The short list
Known for
What Hsinchu is famous for, most iconic first. Foods with their own guide are linked.
Hsinchu rice noodles (mǐfěn)新竹米粉
Said to have been introduced by migrants from Hui'an, and dried well by the strong autumn northeast monsoon; most are now made mainly with cornstarch, so look for a 'pure rice' label if you want all rice.
Pork meatball soup (gòngwán)貢丸湯
Soup of pork meatballs; Chinese Wikipedia lists Hsinchu meatballs among the city's signature foods, and Wikivoyage says booths around the City God Temple sell the soup.
Hsinchu ba-wan新竹肉圓
Chinese Wikipedia lists ba-wan among Hsinchu's signature foods, and Wikivoyage says booths around the City God Temple sell them.
Dish guide
City God Temple snacks城隍廟口小吃
The Hsinchu City God Temple was founded in 1748 and the vendors who spread around it after the war grew into today's temple-front snacks. Rice noodles, meatball soup and ba-wan are the names that come up most, and each stall keeps its own hours and days off.
Beipu lei cha (léichá)北埔擂茶
Hakka lei cha is a paste of sesame, peanuts, tea leaves and other ingredients ground in a mortar and thinned with hot water. It reached Taiwan with Hakka migrants around 1948 to 1949 (one source: a National Central University Hakka e-paper), and a tea house on Beipu's old street lets visitors try the grinding themselves.
Oriental Beauty tea (Dōngfāng Měirén chá)東方美人茶
Leaves bitten by tiny green leafhoppers take on a honey and ripe-fruit aroma; Beipu calls it péngfēng tea and Emei calls it Oriental Beauty, and it is picked in summer, roughly June to July.
Xinpu dried persimmons (shìbǐng)新埔柿餅
Xinpu's persimmons are processed mostly around Hankeng village and hung to dry in the autumn jiǔjiàng wind. The Ministry of Agriculture calls Xinpu the 'century persimmon town'; the season runs from about mid-September to January (Chinese Wikipedia says September to December), with a Persimmon Festival every October.
Xinpu flat rice noodles (bǎntiáo)新埔粄條
Xinpu's flat rice noodles are mentioned with Meinong's in Kaohsiung, as in the saying 'Xinpu in the north, Meinong in the south'.
On the table
Signature dishes
Dishes with their own guide that are most tied to Hsinchu.
Where to wander
Neighborhoods to know
Districts and towns to eat your way through.
District
North District (City God Temple)北區（城隍廟）
The Hsinchu City God Temple stands at 75 Zhongshan Road in the North District, founded in 1748 and listed as a municipal monument. After the war vendors spread around it and grew into Hsinchu's best-known cluster of snack stalls; rice noodles, meatball soup and ba-wan are the names that come up most.
Keep reading
Hours and days off differ shop by shop, with some opening at dawn, some running into the evening and some closed on Mondays or on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so check before you go. The Hsinchu snack shops listed in one travel guide open anywhere from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Known for
Township
Beipu北埔
Beipu is a hill town in southwest Hsinchu County, over 90 percent Hakka. The Jinguangfu land company, formed by Cantonese and Fujianese settlers in 1835, made it the core of the Da'ai frontier; its headquarters is the only national monument in the county, and the old street runs along Beipu, Miaoqian, Nanxing and Chengmen streets with Cítiān Temple as the community's heart.
Keep reading
Today the old street draws visitors with Hakka snacks. Lei cha is the signature: sesame, peanuts, tea leaves and other ingredients ground in a mortar into a paste, then thinned with hot water. The street also sells dried persimmons and Oriental Beauty tea, called péngfēng tea locally. Lei cha reached Taiwan after the war with Hakka migrants from Hepo, and Beipu only developed it as a tourist attraction in 1998.
Township
Xinpu新埔
Xinpu is a town in northern Hsinchu County whose name means 'newly developed riverbank land'; around 88 percent of residents are Hakka in a 2016 survey. The Ministry of Agriculture calls Xinpu the 'century persimmon town': when the dry northeast monsoon (the jiǔjiàng wind) sets in each autumn, farms around Hankeng village begin drying persimmons into dried persimmon cakes, a season running from about mid-September to January (Chinese Wikipedia says September to December), and a Persimmon Festival is held every October.
Keep reading
Xinpu's flat rice noodles (bǎntiáo) are well known too: the Ministry says Zhongzheng Road is the town's famous noodle street, and Chinese Wikipedia quotes the saying 'Xinpu in the north, Meinong in the south' to put them alongside Kaohsiung's. According to Chinese Wikipedia it is also the county's biggest pear-growing area, with about 70 percent of the county's planted area. The Ministry calls Fangliao Baozhong Pavilion Yimin Temple the main altar of Yimin temples across Taiwan, and Chinese Wikipedia regards it as the center of Hakka belief for Xinpu and the wider north.
Food history
A food history of Hsinchu
Hsinchu's old name, Zhuqian, comes from the Taokas village of Zhuqian; Chinese Wikipedia records that the seat of the Tamsui sub-prefecture moved here in 1733 and the city of Zhuqian grew around it, and that the name changed to Hsinchu in 1875. The Hsinchu City God Temple was founded in 1748, and after the war vendors spread around it and slowly grew into today's temple-front snacks. Chinese Wikipedia says (in an uncited sentence) that Hsinchu rice noodles were brought in by four brothers led by Guo Quan from Hui'an in Fujian in the Daoguang to Xianfeng years (roughly 1820 to 1860); a 2017 Mirror Media feature on the Dong De Cheng noodle factory has its third-generation owner saying his grandfather learned the steaming method in Hui'an, Fujian, which supports the Hui'an link, while the names and dates still rest on Wikipedia alone; after a 2013 controversy over how much rice the noodles actually contain, rice-content labeling rules took effect on July 1, 2014.
Much of Hsinchu County's story is Hakka. The Jinguangfu land-reclamation company was formed in 1835 by Cantonese and Fujianese settlers to open the Da'ai frontier around Beipu. Lei cha came with Hakka migrants from Hepo in Guangdong after the war, around 1948 to 1949 according to a National Central University Hakka e-paper, and only became a tourist draw when Beipu developed it under the 'one township, one feature' program in 1998.
Through the year
Seasonal specialties
Months are a rough window, and the weather moves them from year to year.
Season: Oct–Dec
Rice noodle drying season米粉曬粉季
Chinese Wikipedia says that from October to December, after the rice harvest, the northeast monsoon brings strong wind and little rain, which is best for drying rice noodles and gives the best quality.
Season: Sep–Jan
Xinpu persimmon season新埔柿餅季
Xinpu's dried persimmons are processed from about mid-September to January (the Ministry of Agriculture's and county's account; Chinese Wikipedia says September to December), centered on Hankeng village, with a Persimmon Festival in October.
Season: Jun–Jul
Oriental Beauty harvest東方美人茶採收
Oriental Beauty is picked in summer, roughly June to July, and its quality depends on how many leafhopper-bitten shoots there are.
Plan your trip
Getting there
Open Hsinchu in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)Hsinchu's high-speed rail station is in Zhubei, about 30 minutes from Taipei, with a shuttle or the Liujia rail line on to the city center. Taiwan Railway takes roughly one to two hours from Taipei depending on the train. Beipu can be reached on the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle 5700 (Shishan line), boarding at Hsinchu HSR Station or Zhubei Railway Station and passing the Zhudong visitor center and Green World farm to reach the Beipu Old Street stop (as described in a 2022 county promotion); travel sites put it at about 35 to 45 minutes from the HSR station. Check current timetables and fares.
In pictures
Hsinchu in photographs
Photo credits
Front hall of Cihtian Temple in Beipu, with curved golden-tiled rooflines and colorful ceramic dragon ornaments
Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab)
Guide in progress
The full Hsinchu guide is still on its way
We are still researching Hsinchu: its markets, restaurants and a food itinerary will come in a later update. In the meantime, these complete guides are close by.
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ReviewedDrafted with AI and cross-checked against sources.Last reviewed Oct 11, 2026