Due to the climate, the summer in Taiwan is hot and the time is very long. People like to go shopping at night, and it is not cold in winter. Operators can operate in all seasons, so night markets in Taiwan are particularly prosperous. Shilin Night Market, Shida Night Market, Raohe Night Market, and Ningxia Road Night Market in Taipei can’t remember the names. There are Liuhe Night Market and Xingzhong Night Market in Kaohsiung. Hualien integrated several small night markets on the basis of the original Dadongmen Night Market to form a large night market called "Aboriginal Street". We chose Danan Road, Shilin District as our first place to stay in Taipei because it was convenient to go to Shilin Night Market. These large and small night markets are generally lined up along a street with stalls facing each other. The length is six to seven hundred meters, and the short one is one to two hundred meters. The night market in Hualien is an exception. It was planned and built on a square by the local government, and a dining area was specially opened. There is also a performance stage in the center of the square, where anyone can perform an impromptu performance. Of course, professional musicians are also invited to add to the fun. We went to Taipei Shilin Night Market twice, and even though it was raining, the crowds of people shopping were still bustling with each other. Most of the shops in the night market focus on making and selling a variety of special snacks. There are only three or two tables in front of the door, and diners can eat while standing or sitting. When we first arrived, we didn't know what to eat, so we just looked at which one had a long queue, and which one had a fresh name, so we ate that one.

night markets in Taiwan

Let me introduce a few special snacks to you, and you will be greedy. "Large intestine wrapped with small intestine" is a thicker (thicker than Harbin red sausage) filled with steamed sticky rice, split in half and sandwiched with a fried sausage. "Oyster Omelette (Ou Wa Jian in Hokkien dialect)" is made by picking out cooked clam meat, wrapping it in eggs, and frying it in flour. "Grandma's Iron Egg" is an air-dried marinated egg. The coffin board (official, financial) digs out the center of the sliced ​​bread and fills it with various dishes. The dishes can be Western salads or Chinese pepper beef tenderloin, etc. "Fishball" is a kind of soup. I don't know what is added to the fish filling, which makes it chewy. "Danzi noodles" are similar to Wuhan hot dry noodles. Put a handful of pre-made dry noodles in a strainer and boil them in a boiling water pot, or eat them dry with fresh soup or seasoning. "Sweet and not spicy" is a kind of sweet and salty sauce that boiled radish cubes in high soup. When I came back, I searched on Baidu. "Sweet and spicy" is a sweet and salty seasoning sauce from Japan. Whether it is fried, boiled or steamed, it is called "sweet and spicy". "Aji" is a huge tofu puff filled with minced meat, shredded bamboo shoots, and vermicelli. It is fried and then steamed in a pan, and then poured with some sauce when eating. "Fried egg scallion pancake" is a deep-fried pancake rolled with chopped green onion and a medium-cooked fried egg. "Lu Rou Fan" is a rice bowl with diced meat and stewed seeds. The locals also have a soft spot for western-style fried pork cutlets and fried chicken cutlets, which can be found in several night markets. In addition, there are people queuing up in front of all the stalls with place names in mainland China. Shanxi knife-sliced ​​noodles and Tianjin Zhuobing (I don’t know if Zhubingbing is a specialty of Tianjin), maybe it’s a kind of nostalgia. For me, a non-foodie with a less sensitive sense of taste, I did not leave much memory on my taste buds after eating it for a while, but I was a little worried about the environment of the night market and the hygiene of the stalls. I feel good about Taiwanese desserts. "Handmade Mochi Ball" and "Amethyst Crisp" are not very sweet and taste good. The former is soft and sticky. Steamed glutinous rice is mashed into mochi, which is filled with various fillings such as taro, sesame, custard and even ice cream. The latter is crispy, with taro flour as the meringue, and various soft and sweet taro fillings inside. I think these two kinds of dim sum are better than the pineapple cake that mainlanders are familiar with.

Various delicacies in the night market

Parkway Foods also has a place

Taipei also has a commercial street like Nanluoguxiang in Beijing——Yongkang Street, which is full of small and fresh style. The total length is more than a kilometer, and the surrounding alleys are full of various shops, ranging from clothing, bags, woodenware, antiques, jade, and hand-made gifts. These products include local products from Taiwan, some from Southeast Asian countries, and some from Japan. One of the dessert shops selling ice cream was recommended by CNN as "must-eat food in Taiwan". At that time, I didn't eat it because of the cold weather. I will definitely try it next time. Taiwan also produces jade, which is similar in color to Burmese green jadeite and is also very hard. It is mostly produced in the mountains of the Central Mountain Range in Shoufeng Township, Hualien County. Walking from Huadong Rift Valley to the mountains, there is a river called "Baibao River". It is said that if you walk up this stream, if you are lucky, you will be able to pick up Taiwanese jade. It seems that the possibility of picking up Taiwan jade is much higher than picking up Hetian jade. Friends who want to buy Taiwanese jade are best to find a knowledgeable person to accompany them. It is hard to say that the merchants in the tourist area are innocent. There is a small park in the center of Yongkang Street, where you can sit and have a rest when you are tired from shopping. In the corner of the park is a bust of Chiang Kai-shek (originally placed at the entrance of the street). The Kuomintang party emblem on the base has been erased, and someone has placed a photo of the early years beside it for comparison. It is understood that the houses in the area of ​​Yongkang Street were dormitories for Japanese government officials during the Japanese occupation period. After the liberation, the Kuomintang government allocated them to senior faculty members of various universities in Taipei to live in. These buildings do not have Japanese architectural features from the outside, so I don't know if they are Japanese-style structures inside. Today, the entire first floor here has been opened up as a ground floor store, and the professors must have moved away from the hustle and bustle all day long.

A glimpse of Yongkang Street

Intertwined Throwing Diagram

Polished Taiwanese Jade