XIMENDING Market (popularly known as the Harajuku of Taipei) :)

One of our favorite night markets in Taiwan is the XIMENDING Market in Taipei.

Here is what you can see in Ximending Night Market:

Flavors of Taiwan Series (2012):

• DIN TAI FUNG Experience @ Taipei 101!
• TAIPEI 101: On Top of the Tallest Building in Taiwan 🙂
• TIAN WAI TIAN Hot Pot – The BEST Hot Pot I’ve Ever Tasted
• The Making of Tea (Nantau, Taiwan)
• CHATIME: What We Can Learn from the Market Leader in International Bubble Tea Industry
• Taiwan’s SHILIN MARKET: #1 Shopping Attraction in Taiwan!
• SHILIN MARKET Taiwan: Xiao Tze (Small Eats) Food Trip Guide
• XIMENDING Market (popularly known as the Harajuku of Taipei) 🙂

Ximending is a modern night market more popular for shopping, especially for limited edition shoes.

It’s like an open-air alfresco mall, which is a cross between Bonifacio High Street and Greenhills tiangge.

Don’t forget to try Ji Guang Delicious Fried Chicken!

It serves freshly fried chicken shots…

…with its own signature seasoning. We like ours hot.

It costs about NT$55.

It is best eaten on-the-go using chopsticks while exploring the market.

Another popular street food — pancakes.

It’s a simple snack, and people say it’s yummy because it is cooked in lard.

For a healthier treat while shopping, we recommend purchasing from the street fruit vendors.

We like these baby tomatoes with champoy-like filling.

The strawberries are sweet and made more delectable with condensed milk.

You can’t go wrong with this as a sweet appetizer or energizer for your shopping marathon.

There are other interesting stalls with long lines but it’s quite hard to understand their menus.

Any other must-try street food in Ximending Market in Taiwan?

It’s fun to shop here with the young, fashionable and romantic crowds. This is often called the “Harajuku of Taipei“.

The acoustic street performers are fun to watch as they serenade shoppers and passersby.

The stores are a bit more modern than those in Shilin Market. You can buy accessories and…

Chinese, Korean and Japanese clothes.

Although, admittedly, Rache was not able to buy any fashion stuff here.

I just love the textured ambiance of Taiwan’s night market. It continues to challenge us and inspire us to make the night markets in Manila at par or even better than our neighbors.

Don’t forget to check out the shoe shops!

Here’s a tip from the Koa family: Go to Shinjuku Plaza in Ximending Night Market because they carry fashionable, limited edition shoes. Relatively cheap, and you know that the style is unique.

For pasalubong, we would recommend the Sophisca Taiwanese chocolates.

The chocolates are good considering they are uniquely Taiwanese — but they are not as good as Royce’.

Tip: We used KFC and the plaza in front of it as our meeting point primarily because KFC has a clean restroom that you can use after shopping and eating.

XIMENDING Night Market, Taipei, Taiwan
 
“Ximending has been called the “Harajuku of Taipei” and the “Shibuya of Taipei”. Ximending is the source of Taiwan’s fashion, subculture, and Japanese culture. Ximending is also the main LGBT district of Taiwan, with a host of many clubs and pubs surrounding the area. This area is in the northeastern part of Wanhua District in Taipei and it is also the most important consumer district in the Western District of Taipei. The well-known Ximending Pedestrian Area was the first pedestrian area built in Taipei and is the largest in Taiwan.” 

 (Read more about the market here: Wikipedia | Ximending )

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Flavors of Taiwan Series (2012):

• DIN TAI FUNG Experience @ Taipei 101!
• TAIPEI 101: On Top of the Tallest Building in Taiwan 🙂
• TIAN WAI TIAN Hot Pot – The BEST Hot Pot I’ve Ever Tasted
• The Making of Tea (Nantau, Taiwan)
• CHATIME: What We Can Learn from the Market Leader in International Bubble Tea Industry
• Taiwan’s SHILIN MARKET: #1 Shopping Attraction in Taiwan!
• SHILIN MARKET Taiwan: Xiao Tze (Small Eats) Food Trip Guide
• XIMENDING Market (popularly known as the Harajuku of Taipei) 🙂

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Full Disclosure: The Taiwan Familiarization Trip was courtesy of the Taiwan Tourism Board. 🙂

P.S. It is best to explore Ximending Night Market and Shilin Night Market on separate nights. Always bring an umbrella and a bottle of water when you go to the night markets.