Xichang Street - Qingcao Alley Introduction
Walking along Xichang Street near Taipei's Longshan Temple, you will smell a strong aroma of herbal grass. This sweet and fragrant scent indicates that you are at the famous Grass Lane in Taipei. In Alley 224, there are more than ten herbal shops that gather a variety of traditional Chinese medicine materials. It is said that when Monga was first developed, there were many prevalent diseases, but licensed traditional Chinese doctors were extremely rare, making herbal shops the primary institution for folk medicine, where people would drink herbal broths to cure ailments. Many ancient folk remedies are hidden within these shops, and at that time, it was colloquially known as "Saving Lives Street." Later, due to the discontinuation of prescription medication at Longshan Temple and the implementation of health insurance, herbal products transformed into natural health foods. Here, there are over 100 types of herbs, all locally sourced from Taiwan and transported from the south after undergoing drying processes. The famous herbal tea is a prized drink in the scorching summer, and many people buy a few packs to brew at home. Under the planning of the Taipei City Government, living samples of herbs such as aloe vera, red river seven, saxifrage, and lavender are planted along Grass Lane and Alley 209 next to Longshan Temple, creating a medicinal plant garden area, making it a great spot for outdoor teaching.
