Lukang Urn Wall

If you keep your eyes peeled, strolling down the narrow, winding lanes in Lukang, you will find a wall stacked with 120 clay urns that used to store wine. This famous urn wall might not be that easy to spot as it blends perfectly among the redbrick houses in its surroundings.

According to traditional customs, local parents, rich or poor, would bury many urns of Shaoxing wine (紹興酒) underground when there was a newborn in the family. They waited until the day their daughter got married, and these urns of wine became dowries, therefore known as “daughter brew (女兒紅).” If it was a son, they would invite friends and family to celebrate his passing the highest imperial civil service examination by drinking up all these “scholar brew (狀元紅).” The urns are so great in number that urn walls have become a unique scene to capture while in Lukang.

During the Japanese Colonial Era, robbers were plentiful in Lukang, and these urns secretly acted as security boxes where locals hid their valuables and cash. They could even peek through the slits between urns to see if there were any robbers or thieves around.