Chenghuang Temple

Hsinchu City's Chenghuang Temple is dedicated to the City God, or God of Earth. It is regarded as the highest-ranking of all City God temples in Taiwan, because of the superior spiritual power of its City God in protecting the town.

In front of Chenghuang Temple, there is a market with a lot of small stalls selling delicious Taiwanese snacks. These include the famous Hsinchu rice noodles, the even more famous Hsinchu meat balls, thick cuttlefish broth, and Chuchien Biscuits. (Chuchien, meaning "trenches of bamboo" in Chinese, is the original name of Hsinchu County.)

Another well-known product found in Hsinchu City is shiangfen, or fragrant powder, which is a traditional cosmetic powder used by women throughout Taiwan before the arrival of other cosmetic products from the West. The powder is also used in offerings to Chiniangma, the guardian spirit of children. Only one store, run by the Tsai family in Hsinchu City's Julian Street, still produces this fragrant powder today.