De-Hsing Residence (Oli Cultural Cafe) Introduction
Built in 1926, De Xing Ju is a street house in the form of a Western-style building, featuring Baroque red brick architecture. The column tops are simplified Greek-style columns, and the decorative details incorporate traditional timber styles. The floral themes and auspicious symbols are a fusion of Chinese and Western styles. The decorative colored ceramic tiles are rich in variety, and the materials used for the facade and interior are quite sophisticated, unmatched at that time. "De Xing Ju," located on Shenkeng Old Street, was owned by Huang Delong, a descendant of the Huang Chongshu family, who operated a grocery and coal mine. It is said that Huang Delong dreamt of Lü Dongbin at Zhinan Temple, who instructed him to go to Jiufen to mine for gold. As a result, he became a wealthy man on Shenkeng Street and later donated to construct the Fude Temple and Qixing Pool at Zhinan Temple in gratitude. In 1926, he built a three-story Western-style street house named "De Xing Ju," which became the most luxurious Western-style building on Shenkeng Street during the Japanese colonial period and currently stands as a representative structure of Shenkeng Old Street; this is the legendary story behind De Xing Ju.
