Exploring Old Occupations in Tainan
Route Introduction
Wu Wan-Chun Incense Store
No. 253, Minquan Road, Sec. 2, Zongxi District, Tainan City
In 1895, Mr. Gao Biao-Mei started an incense sticks store near Baoan Temple called "Yumei Incense Sticks Store". The son of Gao Biao-Mei was adopted by the Wu family, so the shop was renamed as Wu Wan-Chun, and hence kept till today.
The shop has been run for three generations. Incense sticks are still made with the ancient techniques and ingredients, one of very few existing stores that sell handmade incense sticks now.
The powder contains scented wood like sandalwood and agarwood, combined with herbal medicine like atractylodes, rhubarb, cinnamon bark, etc. The master applies the powder on the sticks by hand and put them under the sun for drying.
The finished incense sticks are wrapped by ancient-looking red paper. The scent has been passed down for more than a century.