Enter Hsinchu in autumn and the air carries a faint scent of rice mingled with wind. Along the Keya River, the vermicelli-making yards of Nanshili stretch row upon row — white strands of rice vermicelli hung out in October's Nine Descending Winds like curtains swaying in the breeze. This is Hsinchu's most aromatic season of the year. "Hsinchu rice vermicelli" is not just any handful of dried noodles: it owes its characteristic springiness to the northeast monsoon that blows in from late September and continues for three or four months each year.
What Is Hsinchu Rice Vermicelli
Hsinchu rice vermicelli uses indica rice as its base. The rice is ground into a slurry, pressed, kneaded into a dough, and extruded into fine strands, then steamed and wind-dried. Traditionally there are two types: "steamed vermicelli" (炊粉), which comes out thin and springy and holds up in soup or stir-fry without turning mushy; and "water vermicelli" (水粉), which is slightly thicker and softer, commonly found in rice noodle soup. What Hsinchu is truly renowned for throughout Taiwan is the steamed variety — strands as fine as hair that remain firm even after prolonged soaking, a feat that vermicelli made elsewhere cannot replicate.
Why Hsinchu? The answer is wind. Each year from September through January, the northeast monsoon funnels through the Taiwan Strait and encounters the river valleys of the Touqian and Keya rivers, generating the driest and strongest winds in all of Taiwan — known locally as the "Nine Descending Winds" (九降風). Rice vermicelli requires low temperatures, low humidity, and strong air circulation to dry properly, and Hsinchu's climate offers conditions found nowhere else in Taiwan. In 2025, a rice vermicelli stall in the East Gate Market area was selected for the Michelin Bib Gourmand — Hsinchu's first-ever inclusion in the Michelin Guide — raising the profile of this century-old industry yet another notch.
How to Eat It the Local Way
Local Knowledge
Verified endorsements (advertiser-filtered)
- An East Gate Market rice vermicelli stall was selected for the 2025 Michelin Bib Gourmand — Hsinchu's first-ever inclusion in the Michelin Guide — representing the district's long-established old-timers.
- The Nanshili rice vermicelli-making village is registered as an industrial landscape in the National Cultural Memory Bank; century-old vermicelli workshops are clustered here.
- Pure rice vermicelli and blended vermicelli (rice + corn starch) carry different CNS labeling; check the rice-content percentage on the packaging when purchasing.
Tips for Visiting
- East Gate Market is busiest before 10 a.m.; many stalls close after noon, so arrive early if there's a queue.
- The drying yards are private family workshops — please stay on the outer walkways and do not enter the drying areas, to avoid disrupting production.
- For wetter-style stir-fried vermicelli, look for old stalls in the city center; for drier versions, try Hakka villages, where the style differs slightly.
Information compiled from the Michelin Guide, Hsinchu City Government Tourism Bureau, Hsinchu County Government Tourism and Travel Division, and a large volume of public reviews, with sponsored content filtered out. Photos to be replaced with channel-exclusive material once Dio shoots on location.