Taiwan Manhole Cover Colourful Designs Guide + Map

The streets of Taiwan (and in particular Taipei) are adorned with colorful Taiwanese manhole covers.

From cherry blossom manholes in Shilin to classic Taipei 101 manhole cover designs, no trip to Taiwan is complete without spotting some of these sublime sewer covers.

Turning a practical item into something so colourful and cool is nothing new but these creative Taiwan manhole covers are a fun thing to spot.

Whilst not on the scale of say Japan’s famous manhole collection, there is even a Taiwan manhole exhibition plus a useful map with all the sidewalk locations.

From where to find them to permanent collections, here is our guide to spotting colourful Taiwan manholes and striking sewer covers with photos.

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Table of Contents

Taipei Manhole Covers

For the last five years, Taipei’s Hydraulic Engineering Office (HEO) has been installing creative and colorful manhole covers around the city, working with local artists to create beautiful painted manhole covers.

Launched in 2019, over 20 designs have been created and installed in a variety of spots around the city.

There are 24 different Taipei Taiwan manhole cover designs at the time of writing in January 2025, spread across a dozen Taipei city districts.

Entitled the ‘Taipei Gorgeous Manhole Covers’ project, the aim of the colourful manhole covers is to get residents and locals to think differently about their surroundings and add a splash of colour in usually urban areas.

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Taipei Manhole cover map 2025

So how to locate these ‘Taipei Gorgeous Manhole Covers’? HEO have created this handy manhole map which you can use to find them all >

We used the Taipei manhole map to spot lots of cute manhole cover designs around the city including the cherry blossom manholes, the beautiful bird manholes in and around Shilin plus some fantastic fish manhole cover designs near Da’an Park and Yongkang Street.

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Dadocheng / Dihua Street Manhole Covers

Some of our favourite colourful manhole covers in Taipei are found in the historic Dihua Street and Dadaocheng district.

One of Taipei’s oldest settlements, the sewer cap designs are a throwback to the area’s architecture and history as a key trading area.

Check out our guide to Dihua Street or our guide to Dihua Street’s annual Lunar New Year Market (the biggest in Taipei)

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Manhole Cover Taipei exhibition

Recently in 2024, Taipei City Hall had a manhole cover exhibition organised by Taipei’s Hydraulic Engineering Office showcasing all 24 designs plus also the opportunity to collect manhole cover stamps.

They have also held similar ‘Taipei Gorgeous Manhole Covers’ exhibitions in 2020 and 2022 so perhaps it will return again soon.

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Other Taiwan Manhole cover designs

It isn’t Taipei that is getting in on the manhole action – we’ve also seen them elsewhere in other cities like Tainan (check out the fun manhole covers in Snail Alley).

If you spot anymore around Taiwan, please let us know by posting in our Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Facebook group >