Top 10 Gift & Specialty Shops in Miaoli, Miaoli

Reviewed By OrderintheHouse

On the last day of our 6 night private tour of Taiwan arranged through Wendy Wu Tours, as part our 40th wedding anniversary celebrations in January 2020, my wife and I travelled from Kaohsiung (Taiwan’s third largest city and its largest port) back to the capital Taipei; a 350 kilometre easy drive on an excellent highway. One of the places visited on the way was the charming township of Sanyi, in southern Miaoli County, in the north-west of the island approximately 140 kilometres south of Taipei. The township is renowned for its mudiao industry. Mudiao is traditional Chinese woodcarving characterised by detailed fretwork. As such, Sanyi has earned the title of “The Woodcarving Kingdom of Taiwan”. Our tour schedule only afforded us time in Sanyi to take in the renowned Shuei Mei Street to see first hand the plethora of amazing woodcarving shops and studios located on both sides of the street – shop after shop all promoting the very best in woodcarving skills. The extent of wonderful work on display, created with detailed dedication and skill by so many master craftsmen, was simply amazing. As wood carving goes what we were witnessing was “Simply the best”. There was a wide range of carved items and sculptures on display including large and small Buddha statues and other God like figures, ornately carved animals, food bowls and trays, and highly varnished wooden jars with lids. Some of the varnish work was simply exquisite producing a very high polished appearance, and this was particularly evident with a stunning spherical wooden jar we observed in one of the shops and a spectacularly polished wooden pig in another shop. The prices for the really large items were strictly for the "rich and famous" and well out of our league. However, scattered among the very pricey items were reasonably priced smaller pieces on offer for those interested in bringing home a high quality wooden souvenir from Taiwan. It was good wandering into quite a number of shops to see what was on offer and to enjoy the endearing aroma of freshly worked local wood permeating inside as soon as you shut the door. Some shops had clear signage asking that no photographs be taken inside and we respected their wishes. However there were quite a number of shops that did allow photos to be taken and given the sheer beauty of the high class woodwork on offer, how could I resist. There were many shops displaying their fine craftsmanship outside their street entrances, providing a colourful scene. All items on display in the shops we visited were very well presented – they were like mini museums in themselves. The visit to the Sanyi Shuei Mei Wood Sculpture Street was a delightful diversion on our all day trip from Kaohsiung to Taipei and something very different from the usual tourist attractions to which we have become accustomed. So, a big thank you to our tour guide for taking us here.