Shilin Night Market

士林夜市 | Shìlín Yèshì

Shilin Night Market is a night market in the Shilin District of Taipei, Taiwan, and is one of the largest and most famous night market in the city.

Night markets are unique to Taiwan. They are markets set up in an open lot at night with food vendors, retail salespeople, CD sellers, animal sellers, game stalls, etc. There are rows upon rows of these types of stalls lined up trying to make a profit. In a sense, it is almost like a local fair, except held every night. If you have ever been to the Pittsburgh Strip District on Saturdays or to the Boston Quincy Market then you would have an idea of what night markets are like (except of course they're held during the nighttime and not daytime :) ). Most night markets in Taiwan open around 4 pm though most people don't go until at least 6pm. As students begin returning home from school, crowds reach their peak between 8 and 11 pm. Businesses continue running past midnight and close around 1 or 2 am.

Shilin Night Market is also one of those "you haven't been to Taipei if you haven't been to the Shilin Night Market" kind of places. The night market is composed of two sections. The first section contains food vendors and small eateries which is housed under the old Shilin Market building. The other section circles around the building as businesses and shops selling retail items and street food.

The food court section holds 539 stalls, and the second floor serves as a parking lot for 400 cars (though most people arrive via train/bus/walking).

In addition to the food court, side streets and alleys are lined with stores and side stalls. Though now police try to get these side stalls out of the area because they are "squatters" who are illegally there without a permit. It also is supposedly a crowding hazard.

Like Xi Men Ding, Shilin Night Market is an exciting and fun place to go. It doesn't have a very metropolitan-feel like Xi Men Ding, but if you love to eat or love to shop or both! go to Shilin Night Market. You can shop and eat here the whole night and still have missed out on foods and stores! Every night there's always something new or different to explore and see. My personal recommendation to eat at Shilin is the fried chicken steak (you can't miss this, there's ALWAYS a huge line for this heavenly seasoned chicken. The vendor is right in front of the food court and is arguably the most famous food found at Shilin). Oyster omelet is another fan favorite and if you can find them, the crepes with a Taiwanese twist! PS the fried chicken steak is huge and bigger than my hand (I have rather small hands though >.<).

This is the oyster omelet. It doesn't really look like the one I remember eating, but it is pretty much the same. It isn't an aesthetically appealing food, but the savory taste will make you want to have seconds. :)

This is the fried chicken steak stall

This is the huge fried chicken steak! 

Food stalls

The street of shops, and if you can see in the middle, a clothes "squatter" with signs advertising their merchandise price.

More food stalls

Xi Men Ding | 西門町

Found in west Taipei, Xi Men Ding is a popular hotspot for both tourists and locals. The pedestrian streets were the first of its kind and are between Cheng Du Road and Wu Chang Street, the main streets. However, the true specialties and experience of Xi Men Ding lies in its alleyways. It is here you'll find the true side of Taiwan's youth culture, the places they hang out, the stores in which they work and shop in. They say that you haven’t been to Taipei if you haven’t been to Xi Men Ding (one of the many places you have to go to while in Taipei to count as having visited and being in Taipei…)

Xi Men Ding is close to Taipei Main Station, which is great for transportation to get here. You can take the buses, train, or THSR (Taiwan High Speed Rail) to the Taipei Main Station and then take a short MRT ride or a 10 minute walk to the Xi Men Ding area.

It is often very crowded so it is best to get used to crowds, and be able to navigate yourself at the same time without getting pushed or shoved around like me.  Being a hot spot in Taipei, a lot of Taiwanese celebrities can also be found around here and hold concerts/events at the Ximending Walking Street. 

Xi Men Ding is one of the most popular places for the youth culture of Taiwan to gather. This eight-branched intersection dates back to the Japanese occupation. It is home to the famous Red House Theater and Mazu Temple.

Mazu Temple

The Red House Theater 西門紅樓 was built in 1908. It used to be a public market until 1949 and was then converted into a theater. In the 1930s, the area became a center of Taiwan's film industry. Most cinemas in Taipei were founded there and now today there are over 20 cinemas that remain in the area, so you can catch a movie if you want while in Xi Men Ding).

Red House Theater

Because the area is populated by young people and it is an urban setting, eccentric stores, restaurants and people can be found here as well. The open-minded mentality at Xi Men Ding also attracts many same-sex couples to the area to hang out with one another without getting dirty looks.

Xi Men Ding is now a place bursting with shops selling fashion of all sorts of culture, fast food, shoes, sunglasses, scarves, Sanrio, Sony, and Western foods. It is commonly referred to as the "Harajuku of Taipei." It is here where you can get all the hottest new clothes and fashion trends, be it by observing the shoppers or shopping at the stores! They sell a wide range of clothing from Korean to Japanese to local Taiwan fashion.

I personally love shopping in here because the atmosphere is lively and exciting, very metropolitan city-like without cars everywhere like in other cities. It reminds me a lot of NYC's Time Square and 5th Avenue except with much more hub bub and things to do. There are lots to do and lots to eat! If you're a young person, I would definitely recommend going to Xi Men Ding. There are movies, fashion, KTV (karaoke), hairdressers, eccentric restaurants galore so that you'll never be bored in Xi Men Ding! You'll find lots of movie theaters on the Cinema street and street performers. Overall, it is a great place to people watch, catch a movie, meet young people, and just hang out.

Lion Dance

舞獅: The lion dance is a tradition art performed with drums, gongs, and cymbals. The lions express joy and happiness. Both lions and dragons are figures in New Year parades and other celebrations throughout the year. There are now many lion dance competitions featuring troupes from various Asian countries. 

Believe it or not, the lion dance is often mistakenly referred to as a dragon dance. An easy way to tell the difference is that the lion is performed by only two people, while a dragon requires many people and often times has a leader who wields a "dragon ball" to entice the dragon to follow them in unique patterns. A lion dance has the performers' faces covered, since they "become" the lion. In a dragon dance, the performers are seen since the dragon is held up by poles. Incidentally, the lion dance almost always is performed in pairs or even numbers, sometimes as "families" with two adult lions and two young ones. 

The lion dance isn't really a lion though, it is more akin to a dog, Fu Dog. The behavior of the lion is playful and requires physical finesse because basic lion dance movements are based on Chinese martial arts: WuShu. There also has to be complete coordination between the two performers, especially when on the high pedestals for competitions or for more circus like tricks such as balancing on a ball.

There are two types of lions: the northern lion and the southern lion. The southern lion is more common than the northern one, it is especially used in competitions.  

Northern Lion

The Northern lion was used as entertainment for the imperial court. It is usually red, orange, and yellow. It has a very furry mane, and a golden head (my take as it to why it is furrier than its southern counterpart, is that because it is colder up north). The northern dance is acrobatic and is mainly performed as entertainment. It has strong ties to wushu (Chinese martial arts). They usually debut in acrobatic shows where the performers balance on balls or perform high end tricks on balancing boards. The northern lion is typically more realistic to a playful animal than the southern lion. Young lions are performed by one person and adult lions are performed by two. Performers wear furry trousers to match the drape of the lion. The northern lion makes use of prancing legs and shaking like a dog.

Southern Lion

The Southern lion originated in Guangdong and is more symbolic. It plays an important role in scaring away evil spirits or for performances for various events such as opening ceremonies, weddings, festivals, temples, competitions, etc. The southern lion has many colors and a distinctive head with large eyes, and a horn at center of the head. It is said that the appearance of the southern lion is based on the New Year Monster "Nian." The southern lion’s head is shaped more like a dragon’s but without two horns or a long snout. The southern lion makes dramatic head thrusts to the sound of drums and gongs. Supposedly the movement basis for the southern came out of observing actual lions. So it is most likely to see pantomimes of scracthing, shaking, licking fur, and chasing/nuzzling the other lion. 

Fun fact: A new lion should not be used in a lion dance until it goes through the eye opening/dotting awakening ceremony.

Here's a video of what you would most likely see at a lion dance competition:

Here's a video I particularly like because there's so many lions performing together (which is unusual since typically there are only 1 to 4 lions that perform together). There are also some really impressive tricks involved as well.

New Year Cuisines

  During Chinese New Year, there are many customs and traditions that are followed. But aside from traditions, there are foods that are eaten especially for the New Year.

The first of which is "Nian Gao" or 年糕.
There are two types of nian gao, one is savory and eaten as an entree, the other is sweet and more as a dessert. It is considered good luck to eat nian gao because "nian gao" is a homonym for "higher year." The Chinese word 粘 (nián) is "sticky", and sounds like 年 which is "year", and the word 糕 (gāo), meaning "cake" is identical in sound to 高, meaning "high or tall". Therefore nian gao symbolizes raising oneself taller in each coming year (年年高升 niánnián gāoshēng).  Nian gao also symbolizes a rich, sweet life and the round shape signifies family reunion.

Nian gao is made of sweet glutinous rice and is sticky like marshmallows, but much more firm.The taste is subtle and sometimes is made with rice wine. There are also other variations of nian gao with a flaky crust baked on the outside with the same sticky texture on the inside.The savory nian gao can usually be found in your typical Chinese restaurant with varying shapes served. It is stir-fried with vegetable and maybe some meat, very chewy.

Savory Nian Gao

Store bought Nian Gao

Flaky Crust Nian Gao

Dumplings/Pot-stickers 水餃 or 餃子are also eaten because of the shape of dumplings are similar to gold ingots, meaning wealth. Ingots are the Chinese equivalent to gold bars.
Dumplings are a flour based skin with meat and/or vegetables inside.There are variations where kimchi (fermented spicy cabbage from Korea) is put inside, or even corn with meat. They can be prepared in a variety of ways. You can steam cook, boil, or pan fry them. They are usually eaten dipped in soy sauce. There is even a type of dumplings with "soup" inside.Dumplings can also be folded in a variety of ways as well.

Gold Ingots

Dumplings

 A whole fish魚, head and tail attached, is also served at a typical Chinese New Year Dinner. The Chinese word for fish, yu, sounds like the word for abundance, and it is believed that eating fish will help your wishes come true in the year to come. It is also important to leave some fish left and not finish it because that way you will have excess wealth for the coming year. The head and tail attached represents the beginning and end of the year.



Oranges, tangerines, and pomelos are used as an offering to the gods and are also eaten because the words for sound like wealth, riches, and "to have" (seeing a pattern?).

Tang Yuan, literally "soup sphere" is eaten on the last day of Chinese New Year called "Yuan Xiao Jie" or the Lantern Festival.  It is made from glutinous rice flour. It is cooked and served in boiling water. Tang Yuan can be small or large, and filled or unfilled and are usually white in color but for customer appeal sometimes are colored to other colors. My personal favorite is when they are filled with sweet peanut filling or sesame filling. It is sticky and sweet. The spherical shape represents togetherness of the family as well and is meant to be eaten with family like all the foods.

Tang Yuan with sesame

Colored Tang Yuan

There are countless of foods that are eaten during Chinese New Year, varying twice as much from region to region. The ones I have listed here are the most common and the ones I am most familiar with. Everyday of Chinese New Year is a feast, a mix of Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. That's why we eat and celebrate so much with so many different foods and traditions!