Tamsui Cultural Park - Shell Warehouse Introduction
The area around Tamsui MRT Station was formerly known as "Bí-á-tó." After Tamsui Port opened, Western-style buildings and trading companies flourished. Among them were the five major trading firms—Boshun, Deji, Shuiyu, Heyi, and Yiji—along with the Jiashe Trading Company, located at today's No. 22, Bító Street, where the Shell company's oil storage and tanks stand; its predecessor was the "British Jiashe Trading Company Warehouse." Today, it is used by the Tamsui Cultural Foundation and Tamsui Community College. The Tamsui Customs officially opened for trade in the first year of the Tongzhi era (1862), and Tamsui Port quickly became the largest port in northern Taiwan, accounting for over 60% of Taiwan's trade volume, with tea, coal, and camphor as the main exports. Notably, the British Boshun Trading Company's residence and the Shell company's oil tank warehouse are famous. A century later, most trading companies and warehouses have disappeared, but the Shell warehouse remains due to property disputes. In the effort to protect the Tamsui River waterfront landscape, it was reported as a historical monument and has become an important artifact of Tamsui's golden age of opening to commerce. It is now designated as a city-level historical monument. The former British Jiashe Trading Company Warehouse (Tamsui Shell Warehouse), designated as a city-level historical monument by New Taipei City, consists of four large warehouses, three small buildings, and the oil tank ruins, covering an area of nearly 4,000 ping. It witnesses significant historical moments such as the opening of Tamsui Port, Japanese occupation of Taiwan, and the U.S. military's bombing of Taiwan during World War II. It is one of the few remaining trading company warehouses in northern Taiwan and one of the few industrial heritage monuments in Taiwan.
