In those early days, many family treasures of refugee Nationalist soldiers ended up for sale on Kuling Street. Occasionally a crate of out-of-print books would turn up, or even works by master painter Qi Baishi or a solid-gold incense burner of an aristocratic family. Crowds would come from all over to search for treasures--and of course, many would fall victim to scam artists.
早年由於大批軍民隨國府來台，隨身帶著的家傳寶物有不少流落出來，於是牯嶺街舊書攤不時能弄到整箱絕版書，還有齊白石等大師的真跡、世家大族的純金香爐等，吸引各方人馬前來尋寶，當然，買到假貨上當受騙的也不少。