If you haven’t been to any night market while traveling around Taiwan, it’s just like you haven’t known Taiwan enough. Night market is one of a very important culture in Taiwan. Visiting the night market after work or after school is common for Taiwanese people. I loved going to the night market with my parents when I was a kid. And now I still love to go to there so much. Let me show you the power of it!!

What is night market?

Night markets are street markets in Taiwan that operate in urban or suburban areas between sunset and sunrise. Most night markets operate daily and feature a mixture of individual stalls selling clothing, consumer goods, xiaochi (similar to snacks or fast food), and specialty drinks. The atmosphere is usually crowded and noisy with hawkers shouting and fast-paced music playing over loudspeakers.

You can do many things in the night market. However, I will mainly show you famous food in each night market in this article. As for me, I usually go there for dinner, buy some clothes and play games. It’s very fun to go with friends. Maybe I should go to the night market tonight. 😛

Where are night markets located?

Due to Taiwanese people really love to go to the night market, you can find it everywhere in Taiwan. There are small ones and big ones. Every city has at least one notable night market. I’m gonna show you the 10 most popular night markets around Taiwan.

Northern Taiwan

There are more citizens in north Taiwan, so you can find many famous and popular night markets there. And these are the popular ones for me. I’d love to share with you guys. 😊

Keelung Temple Night Market

The Keelung Temple Night Market (基隆廟口夜市; Jīlóng Miào Kǒu Yèshì) night market was started to serve the needs of the many worshipers who came to the popular Dianji Temple (奠濟宮; Diànjì Gōng) to pray for fortune, good luck, and health, or to seek answers to their problems. Therefore, the night market centers on the neighboring area of the temple. On the other hand,  Keelung is a port city, fresh seafood is another feature of the night market.

The food above are people recommend that you must try while visiting this night market. They are crab soup, Taiwanese sausages, braised pork on rice, curry rice and barbequed sandwich. Furthermore, a Keelung specialty and particularly popular drinks is Paopao Ice, which is ice shaved and beaten up into fine, smooth, snow-like texture and then flavored with fruity jams and nuts.

Raohe Street Night Market

Running six hundred meters from Fuyuan Street to Ciyou Temple, Raohe Street Night Market is located in the Taipei’s Songshan District on Raohe Street. In Taipei, it was the second Night Market to be considered a tourist destination.

Famous food are baked pepper buns, mochi, ribs stewed in medicinal herbs, stinky tofu, beef entrails soup, pork-meat soup, oily glutinous rice, Korean dish-bibimbap and stewed pork knuckles. I know most of their names sound weird and maybe the pictures look not tasty, but you won’t know it if you don’t try. Sometimes they don’t look yummy, but they actually damn delicious. 🤤 Therefore, don’t hesitate and just try it.

Shilin Night Market

Shilin Night Market is one of the most famous and largest night markets in Taiwan, located in Taipei. Interestingly, the Night Market consists of two different sections. One section is the durable goods section, which is surrounded by the Yang Ming Cinema on Anping Street. The other section is the food section, and it consists of food vendors on the opposite side of the Jiantan Metro Station.

Some of the most famous snacks include deep-fried chicken breasts (雞排; jīpái), grilled kebabs, scallion pancakes, pan-fried dumplings, Taiwanese sausages with sticky rice, hot pot, oyster omelets, fresh squid, and pork or fish thick soups. On the other hand, popular drinks include bubble tea, Chinese herbal teas, and juices made with fresh local fruits and vegetables.

Central Taiwan

Fengjia Night Market

Fengjia Night Market is located in Xitun District, Taichung. It extends along those two roads and even touches Chijian Night Market. This Night Market is also known as the Wenhua Night Market. It is just near Feng Chia University and Overseas Chinese University. Therefore, students from these two schools make up a good part of the customers here.

Besides, Feng Chia Night Market is best known for its prices and variety. Altogether, there are an estimated 15,000 shops, restaurants and stalls in the market. You can find much fashionable clothing, accessories, toys, electronic products and the latest music CDs and DVDs here. Amazingly, food stalls and restaurants offer snacks from around the world. It’s easy for you to find whatever you want to eat.

In addition, many snacks have been invented locally by the food stall or restaurant owners. Many innovative snacks now seen in Taiwan’s other night markets were originally created in FengChia Night Market. For example, deep-fried salty and crispy chicken ribs (see Taiwan fried chicken), cheese potatoes, bubble tea, 4-in-1 combo juice and Japanese-style chicken ribs.

Doliu Night Market

Doliu Night Market is located in Yunlin. What’s special is that it’s only open on Saturdays. Therefore, it’s always full of people on Saturdays. You will have to wait for a while if you want to eat some local and popular snacks here. My advise to you is to visit there earlier and leave earlier before people come from everywhere.

The famous food here are soy sauce braise, stinky tofu, guabao. My favorite food are deep-fried chicken wings, grilled kebab, grilled chicken cutlet, puffs and fruit tea. Yes, I love eating so much. That’s why I decide to write about it and share with foodies. 🤤

Wenhua Road Night Market

Wenhua Road Night Market is one of the famous attractions in Chiayi City. It has been selected as one of the top ten night markets in Taiwan. In addition, it is also one of the characteristics that the stores and vendors are relayed so that there are businesses open 24 hours a day.

Generally speaking, the business hours of the store are about 10:00 am and 11:00 pm to 10:00 pm. After closing, the roadside stalls operate until 4:00 am, and then from the vendors selling breakfast, vegetables and fruits to the general store opening the next morning.

Oyster omelette, duck thick soup, dongshan duck head, turkey rice, seafood congee, rice pudding and tofu pudding are popular here. I know the names sound really weird and ridiculous, but it’s because of the translation. You gotta try them in person. Otherwise, you will regret. 🤪

Southern Taiwan

Tainan Flowers Night Market

Tainan Flowers Night Market might not boast the same history as other night markets in Taiwan. However, it has rapidly grown into a huge night market with nearly 400 stalls. Besides, It is not only the largest night market in Tainan but also one of the most famous in Taiwan. In 2013, it was ranked 12th in Facebook’s top check-in locations.  

The market is divided into four zones including food, fashion, general goods,and recreation & leisure. Stalls often put up large banners overhead to attract customers’ attention. The sea of banners is one of the market’s distinctive sights.

Food here are quite different types. You can find potato tower, mochi, fried squid, black tea stinky-tofu, guava and spicy duck blood here. I always have duck blood when I visit there. I know it sounds creepy, but it’s really delicious.

Ruifeng Night Market

Situated in northern Kaohsiung, Ruifeng Night Market is known of its large variety of snacks at low prices. It is usually considered the most popular night market among locals. I used to go there after class with my classmates when I was studying university in Kaohsiung. I had a lot of beautiful memories there.

You must try fried chicken cutlet there. It’s so thick, juicy and delicious. I always bought one when I went there. Other yummy food and snacks are milk mochi, steak, fried noodles, grilled chicken, soy sauce braise, pork knuckle, paella and baked duck with bread.

There are too many delicious food in Ruifeng Night Market. No wonder it’s always full of people on weekends. I missed it so much and I hope I can visit it again as soon as possible. I’m gonna eat all of yummy dishes again to satisfy myself. Don’t be jealous. 😆

Eastern Taiwan

Dongdamen Night Market

Dongdamen Night Market is the largest night market in Hualien city, the east coast of Taiwan. The night market was constructed as part of the 6th rezoning area. It spreads over an area of 9 hectares and consists of Futing Night Market (Chinese: 福町夜市) for Taiwanese cuisine, street of Taiwanese aborigines cuisine (Chinese: 原住民一條街), Zhiqiang Night Market (Chinese: 自強夜市) and street of Mainland China cuisine (Chinese: 各省一條街). The night market also features a center plaza, tourist information center, an ecology pond and a lookout tower.

Luodong Night Market

Luodong Night Market is known as one of the busiest night market and is famous for food. Vendors gather around Yilan’s Chung-shan Park and sell goods to the masses. The night market offers local snacks and fashionable shops. Local snacks range from mutton herbal soup, iced tapioca with red bean stuffed, rice noodle thick soup and Yilan specialties, such as ox-tongue-shaped pastry, smoked duckling etc.

I hope you enjoy the article and feel free to leave me a message if you visit any of the night market above. I’d love to hear some experiences from you guys!! Cheers 🍻 🎉