Shilin Night Market () is a

night market Night markets or night bazaars ( zh, 夜市) are street markets which operate at night and are generally dedicated to more leisurely strolling, shopping, and eating than more businesslike day markets. The culture of night markets originates from C ...

Shilin District Shilin District (also spelled Shihlin District, zh, t=士林區, p=Shìlínqū, poj=Sū-lîm-khu) is a district of Taipei. The central command center of the Republic of China Navy (ROCN) is located in Shilin. History The name ''Shilin'' w ...

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

, often considered to be the largest and most famous night market in Taiwan.

Overview

The night market encompasses two distinct sections sharing a symbiotic relationship: a section formerly housed in the old Shilin Market building, containing mostly food vendors and small restaurants; and the surrounding businesses and shops selling other nonfood items. The food court holds 539 stalls, and the second floor serves as a parking lot for 400 cars. In addition to the food court, side streets and alleys are lined with storefronts and roadside stands. Cinemas, video arcades, and

karaoke is a type of interactive entertainment system usually offered in nightclubs and bars, where people sing along to pre-recorded accompaniment using a microphone. Its musical content is an instrumental rendition of a well-known popular song. I ...

bars are also prevalent in the area. Like most night markets in Taiwan, the local businesses and vendors begin opening around 16:00. As students begin returning home from school, crowds reach their peak between 20:00 and 23:00. Businesses continue operating well past midnight, closing around 01:00 or 02:00. Tourist traffic has increased since the 1997 opening of two nearby stops on the

Taipei Metro Taipei Metro (also known as Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and branded as Metro Taipei) is a rapid transit system operated by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation serving the capital Taipei and New Taipei City in Taiwan. It was the first rapi ...

system. The night market is closest to

Jiantan Station Jiantan (, formerly transliterated as Chientan Station until 2003) is a metro station in Taipei, Taiwan served by Taipei Metro. There was a station of the same name on the now-defunct Tamsui railway line, however the position was different; the ...

on Tamsui–Xinyi line (Tamsui/Red Line), and can be seen from the station platform.

Historical development

The night market is located near the former location of a

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

on the Keelung River. Agricultural produce from farms in Shilin being shipped to other ports such as Banka and

Dadaocheng Dadaocheng is an area in Datong District, Taipei, Taiwan. It was also known as Twatutia (a transliteration of the Taiwanese Hokkien ''Tuā-tiū-tiânn''), Daitōtei during Japanese rule, and Tataocheng (Mandarin) during the Kuomintang era. ...

would typically be sold in this area. The daytime Shilin Market was formally established in this area in 1909, and the market was inaugurated in 1913. With the influx of customers, many new businesses and food vendors began to establish themselves in the area and the Shilin Night Market was born. The most prominent landmark inside the night market is the centuries-old Matsu Temple, known as Shilin Cixian Temple, which was first established in 1796 and moved to its current location in 1864. Shilin Night Market has since become the largest and most well-known night market in Taiwan, especially with regards to food, and is a favorite focal point for Taipei's

nightlife Nightlife is a collective term for entertainment that is available and generally more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning. It includes pubs, bars, nightclubs, parties, live music, concerts, cabarets, theatre, ...

among residents and visitors alike. Due to safety, sanitation and fire hazard concerns, the old Shilin Market structure was demolished in October 2002 by the Taipei City Government; the food vendors formerly based within the old structure were relocated to a newer temporary structure a few hundred meters away, next to the

of the

Taipei metro Taipei Metro (also known as Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) and branded as Metro Taipei) is a rapid transit system operated by the Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation serving the capital Taipei and New Taipei City in Taiwan. It was the first rapi ...

. Plans for the renovated site began in 1999. Work commenced in 2006 after the relocation of the vendors to the temporary site. The renovated site re-opened in 2011.

Transportation

Shilin Night Market is accessible via the Tamsui–Xinyi line (Taipei Metro) at Jiantan Station. A number of bus routes also serve the area with stops at Jiantan Station, nearby

Ming Chuan University Ming Chuan University (MCU; ) is a private university with four campuses in Taipei, Taoyuan and Kinmen in Taiwan, as well as one in Michigan, United States. MCU also has international education centers in Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand. ...

, and Xiao Bei (Hsiao Pei) Street.

Famous foods

Bubble tea Bubble tea (also known as pearl milk tea, bubble milk tea, tapioca milk tea, boba tea, or boba; zh, t=珍珠奶茶, p=zhēnzhū nǎichá, zh, t=波霸奶茶, p=bōbà nǎichá, labels=no) is a tea-based drink most often containing chewy tapio ...

() * Chicken katsu () * Cold noodles (), Good Friend Cold Noodles * Fried buns () * Grilled king oyster mushrooms () * Lemon aiyu jelly () * Oyster omelet () * Oyster vermicelli () * Papaya milk () * Peanut candy () *

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich A peanut butter and jelly sandwich (PB&J) consists of peanut butter and fruit preserves spread on bread. The sandwich is popular in the United States, especially among children; a 2002 survey showed the average American will eat 1,500 peanut ...

() * Small Sausage in Large Sausage () *

Stinky tofu Stinky tofu ( zh, c=臭豆腐, p=chòu dòufu) is a Chinese form of fermented tofu that has a strong odor. It is usually sold at night markets or roadside stands as a snack, or in lunch bars as a side dish, rather than in restaurants. Traditio ...

() * Taiwanese tempura ()

References

External links