Taiwanese Beef Noodle Soup
牛肉麵niúròu miàn
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North · Destination
Taoyuan
桃園
Black dried tofu, Hakka cooking and the Yunnan rice noodles of a former army village
Map of Taoyuan
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Open in the mapIntroduction
The food of Taoyuan
Taoyuan is often treated as an airport and a connection, but on its plateaus there are plenty of flavors worth getting off for. Daxi's black dried tofu is braised salty and colored with caramel, and by the account of the Huang Ri Xiang family of Daxi they have been making dried tofu since 1924. Zhongli's beef noodle soup comes in a spicy Sichuan style and a milder Hakka one. Longtan has a street of restaurants serving live fish from Shimen Reservoir.
This is also one of Taiwan's great Hakka areas; Chinese Wikipedia says Taoyuan has the largest Hakka population in the country, and the southern districts of Zhongli, Yangmei, Pingzhen, Longtan, Guanyin and Xinwu have traditionally been Hakka. The Hakka dishes it lists are pickled-mustard-green duck, ginger-stir-fried pork intestines and braised pork belly with preserved greens. Zhongzhen Village, built in 1954 for Yunnan troops and their families evacuated from Burma, brought rice noodles and Yunnan, Burmese and Thai snacks to the Longgang area.
- 1 dish
- 3 neighborhoods
The short list
Known for
What Taoyuan is famous for, most iconic first. Foods with their own guide are linked.
Daxi dried tofu (Dàxī dòugān)大溪豆乾
Five-spice dried tofu with a thick, black skin, braised salty and colored with caramel; the Huang Ri Xiang family says it opened in 1924 and began making the black version around the 1930s.
Available in a spicy Sichuan style and a milder Hakka style; Chinese Wikipedia lists beef noodles among Zhongli's 'three treasures', the other two being peanut brittle and sickles.
Dish guide
Yunnan rice noodles and Burmese-Thai snacks in Longgang龍岡雲南米干與泰緬小吃
Zhongzhen Village was built in 1954 for Yunnan troops and their families evacuated from Burma. The old village has been demolished and the site of its church and kindergarten became the Zhongzhen Village Cultural Park, while the nearby market and restaurants still sell Yunnan rice noodles (mǐgān, mǐxiàn), bābā and other Yunnan, Burmese and Thai snacks.
Hakka dishes客家菜
Chinese Wikipedia lists pickled-mustard-green duck, red-yeast duck, ginger-stir-fried pork intestines and braised pork belly with preserved greens as Taoyuan's Hakka dishes; Taoyuan has the largest Hakka population in Taiwan, and the traditional Hakka districts are in the south: Zhongli, Yangmei, Pingzhen, Longtan, Guanyin and Xinwu.
Shimen live fish石門活魚
More than 20 live-fish restaurants cluster along Longtan's Wenhua Road, serving Shimen Reservoir fish in many preparations, from the original 'three ways' to 24 or even 36.
Peanut brittle and peanut nougat花生酥糖與花生軟糖
Zhongli's peanut brittle is one of its three treasures and has two origin stories; Longtan's peanut candy trade began as a sideline to tea-growing and was refined into the peanut nougat now called the district's best-known souvenir.
On the table
Signature dishes
Dishes with their own guide that are most tied to Taoyuan.
Where to wander
Neighborhoods to know
Districts and towns to eat your way through.
District
Daxi大溪
Daxi sits on the Dahan River, once called Dakekan, and in the Qing period it was a river-shipping terminus for northern Taiwan. Its old street is made up of Heping, Zhongshan and Zhongyang roads, and the ornate facades mostly survive from a 1912 to 1919 urban renewal under Japanese rule. The Daxi Wood Art Ecomuseum, whose venues include the Li Teng-fang former residence, is billed as Taiwan's first wall-less museum.
Keep reading
The town's signature food is black dried tofu: white dried tofu braised until salty, then colored with caramel, with a thick, dark skin. The Huang Ri Xiang family says it began making dried tofu in 1924 and made the five-spice black version around the 1930s; Chinese Wikipedia also traces Daxi dried tofu to the Huang family of the 1920s and lists several other producers. Buses link Daxi with Taoyuan and Zhongli.
District
Zhongli中壢
Zhongli is Taoyuan's second most populous district, with about 440,000 people and roughly half of them Hakka. Its railway station was set up in 1894. Chinese Wikipedia names three 'treasures': peanut brittle, beef noodles and sickles. Peanut brittle has two origin stories, one of them a couple selling peanut candy at what is now the First Market in 1929; the beef noodles come in a spicy Sichuan style and a mild Hakka one.
Keep reading
Head toward Longgang on the Pingzhen border for a different flavor. Zhongzhen Village was built in 1954 for Yunnan troops and families evacuated from Burma and officially lies in Pingzhen; the old village has been demolished and the site of its church and kindergarten became a cultural park. The park and the Zhongzhen Market near Zhongli's rear station still hold shops selling rice noodles and other Yunnan, Burmese and Thai snacks. For night markets, Zhongli Tourist Night Market (also called Xinming) was founded in 1990 according to Chinese Wikipedia.
Known for
District
Longtan龍潭
Longtan sits on the plateau in southern Taoyuan and is named for the Longtan Big Pond, with Hakka people making up around 60 percent of its residents. Close to Shimen Reservoir, it has more than 20 live-fish restaurants around Wenhua Road, serving the reservoir's fish in more ways than the original 'three ways'; Chinese Wikipedia says the repertoire has grown to 24 or even 36 dishes.
Keep reading
The district is also known for peanut nougat: besides growing tea, locals once supplemented their income by processing peanut candy, and refining that trade produced the peanut nougat now considered its best-known souvenir. Oriental Beauty and Longquan teas also have a name. Snack stalls gather around Longyuan Temple, and Sankengzi Old Street and the reservoir make easy side trips.
Food history
A food history of Taoyuan
Chinese Wikipedia says the earliest recorded Han settlement was in 1713 (Kangxi era), and the name 'Taoziyuan' is traditionally tied to peach trees the settlers planted; Taoyuan became a special municipality on December 25, 2014. Daxi was one of northern Taiwan's river-shipping termini, and the Dahan River trade turned its old street into a commercial town; the ornate facades along the street mostly date to a 1912 to 1919 urban renewal under Japanese rule.
The story of Daxi's dried tofu has the Huang Ri Xiang family's own version: the business opened in 1924 with plain white dried tofu, which went soft and sour within about half a day, so they braised it salty and colored it with caramel to make it keep, and around the 1930s the five-spice black version reached the market. Chinese Wikipedia also traces Daxi dried tofu back to the Huang family business of the 1920s. The soldiers and families who came to Taiwan around 1949 also left military-village food in Taoyuan, and Zhongzhen Village is one example.
Plan your trip
Getting there
Open Taoyuan in Google Maps (opens in a new tab)The high-speed rail reaches Taoyuan Station from Taipei in under half an hour, and the Airport MRT express runs from Taipei Main Station to Terminal 1 in about 35 minutes, and the line now reaches Laojie River Station (A22) in Zhongli District, opened on 31 July 2023, but not yet Zhongli Station (A23): English Wikipedia gives 2028 for completion, while Chinese Wikipedia says the work has fallen well behind because of the Taoyuan railway undergrounding project. Taoyuan and Zhongli have Taiwan Railway stations, Daxi has Taoyuan Bus services to Taoyuan and Zhongli, and Longtan has coaches straight from Taipei. Check current timetables.
In pictures
Taoyuan in photographs
Photo credits
Daxi Bridge in Taoyuan, a grey arched gateway with red-brick columns and purple suspension cables
Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab)
Guide in progress
The full Taoyuan guide is still on its way
We are still researching Taoyuan: its markets, restaurants and a food itinerary will come in a later update. In the meantime, these complete guides are close by.
Complete guides nearby
Nearby
Close to Taoyuan
The three closest destinations on the map.
Hill-and-harbor snacks that ring Taipei, from Jiufen taro balls to Shenkeng tofu
Known forJiufen taro balls (yùyuán) · Tamsui A-gei (āgěi) · Shenkeng tofu and stinky tofu
A capital that eats from the first soy milk at dawn to the last night-market bite
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Wind-dried rice noodles and a bowl of meatball soup by the City God Temple
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ReviewedDrafted with AI and cross-checked against sources.Last reviewed Oct 11, 2026