Exploring the Old Industries of Tainan City
Route Introduction
Wu Wan Chun Incense Sticks Store
No. 253 Min-Chuan Road, Sec. 2, Central-Western District, Tainan City
In 1895, Mr. Biao-Mei, Kao, started an incense sticks store near Bao'An Temple called "Yu-Mei Incense Sticks Store." He later sold the store and the techniques to Mr. Wan-Chun, Wu, in 1902, hence the name today. It has been run for three generations. Incense sticks are still made with the ancient techniques and ingredients, one of the very few existing stores that sell handmade incense sticks. The powder contains scented wood like sandalwood and agarwood, combined with herbal medicine like Large head Atractylodes Rhizome, Rhubarb, Cinnamon inner bark, and others. Old master-makers apply the powder on the sticks by hand, put them under the sun for drying, and then wrap them up in a plain and ancient-looking red paper. The scent has been passed down for more than a century.