The neighborhood known as Yung-kang occupies the area bordered by Chinshan South, Hsinsheng South, Hsinyi, and Hoping East Roads. With Yungkang Street at its epicenter, Yungkang encompasses portions of Lishui, Chinhua, and Chinghua Streets. Across Hsinsheng South Road to the east is Da-an Park. The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial is visible from Chinshan South Road to the west. This is one of Taipei's prime areas for tourists on foot.

Under Japanese rule, the area was divided into Fuchuting ("Fukuzumi-cho"--the north section of Yungkang Street) and Chaoheting ("Showa-cho"--the south section of Yungkang Street, and Chingtien Street). Because it bordered the Office of the Taiwan Governor-General and other major government buildings, the colonial government designated it as a housing area for high-ranking Japanese government officials. More than 2,000 people lived here. The sleeping quarters left when the colonial government departed after World War II gradually morphed into National Taiwan University, National Taiwan Normal University, and government dormitories. Shanty towns populated by military personnel and other people from elsewhere around the island began sprouting up along the strip of land that includes Yungkang and Lishui Streets.

As was true of military settlements of this type in Taiwan, most of the residents came from all over mainland China. They began setting up all kinds of tiny eateries around Yungkang Street, serving up specialties from their hometowns, like crispy roast duck from Guangdong, light repasts from Jiangxi and Zhejiang, Sichuan cuisine, and noodles from northern China. Yungkang Street would become an important epicenter of mainland Chinese fare in Taiwan's capital city.

The historic establishment of Da-an Park--the newest, largest patch of green in downtown Taipei--in the early '90s, and the introduction of the two-day weekend in 1998, dramatically increased weekend and holiday crowds in the tiny Yungkang area. It also became a culinary mecca for foreign tourists. Leisure and internationalization have produced an influx of cafes as well as European and Japanese-style restaurants over the past decade, increasing the area's richness and diversity.

In 1995, the Taipei City Government made plans to open up a new road through Yungkang which would have resulted in the removal of more than 50 old trees and the shrinking of Yungkang Park by two fifths. Community residents signed petitions in opposition to the project. Dialogue and compromise brought about the cancellation of the project.

Now teeming with crowds, Yungkang Street is a far cry from its relaxed and secluded former self, but it is still characterized by a laid-back and friendly atmosphere. The Yungkang Community Development Association, which grew out of the earlier tree protection movement, was organized by enthusiastic residents. Local resident and former association director Chen Yu-xfen relates that community residents have nothing against businesses there, but they hope that the process of development doesn't adversely affect the living environment around Yungkang Street or the community's tradition of helping each other out. The most important defining characteristic of Yungkang Street is a kind of "lifestyle of low-key aesthetics." "We cannot allow it to become just another loud and tacky night market!" she asserts.

Exactly how the Yungkang community will maintain a balance between commercial development and quality of life will be local residents' biggest challenge.

Bristling with towering trees, Yungkang Park is at the heart of the Yungkang neighborhood and represents local residents' insistence on quality of life.