Tong Hua Night Markets in Taipei!

If you want to experience a more 'local' night market, head to Tong Hua!

Tong Hua Night Market is the last night market I visited during my 2 week stint in Taipei.  While it’s not the biggest nor the one with most stuff on offer, it is one of the more ‘localised’ markets with a significantly lower tourist ratio.  And there is one stall in particular that I super duper recommend.

The type of things you’ll find at Tong Hua are pretty regular – food stalls, skill testers, portable vendors, and shops lined on both sides selling everything from clothes to socks to art to CDs/DVDs to jewelery to everyday appliances…and perhaps even unmanned pirated DVD tables where you just dump a TWD 100 note into a tin and take one (probably an honesty system).

Anyway, I’ll let the photos below do the talking.

(Click on ‘more…’ to see the photos and find out more!)

A typical rainy weeknight = not a lot of people (by Taiwanese standards)!

Unfortunately, I went there when I already had dinner, so gorging on lots of food was not an option.  But gorging on some food was.

This is one stall you just HAVE to try! Look out for it!

Essentially a crepe with delicious salad, sauces, peanut powder and half a sausage. The guy who makes it wears gloves and is super fast and ultra-clean. Absolutely sensational flavours!

This is another place I tried - the smell was too alluring

A castanet-looking bun filled with stewed fatty (or not so fatty) pork, pickled vege, coriander and peanut powder.

There were plenty of other places selling all types of food, from sausages to dumplings to fried chicken to Thai papaya salad.  And there are, of course,  local Taiwanese dishes (I have no idea what these are).  Oh, and there seem to be quite a few massage parlors too.

How to get there

Not easy.  See map below.

The funny thing is, Tong Hua Night Market is actually on Lin Jiang Street (as evidenced from the map).  You can always get a cab there, and there are a few buses that stop nearby (I recall No. 235 being one of them).  However, if you want to catch the MRT, it’ll be at least a 20 minute walk from either Daan or Technology Building Station (brown line) or Zhongxiao Dunhua or Sun Yat-Sen Memoral Hall Station (blue line).