Night is the best time to venture out. The city is the most alive. It’s finally cool, and the city is well lit, vibrant, and ready for adventure.
The number one travel tip for Taipei is “visit the night markets.” It’s true – do. There are so many, and each has its own distinct flavour. I visited many, and now that I’m writing this a year later, I don’t remember the details of specific markets, bar Rahoe and Ningxia, both of which were walking distance to where I rested my head for two weeks.
The night markets are full of people, and it feels like they’re full of locals, unless the markets are extremely good at making everyone look like a local. I feel like I’m the only obnoxious one pointing a camera at everything while everyone else is at the market to eat, meet friends and laugh.
The markets start to get busy at dusk. Food vendors prepare their food, the grills sizzle, plastic and steel tables are set out, queues begin to form for the market specialities, and the fun begins. Most of the food is cheap, fast, fresh and delicious – I am never hungry, but always craving more. My eyes feast on the food long after my stomach is satisfied, though there is always room for a cooling bubble tea.
Many of the stalls seem to be family-run businesses. Mum and dad and the children all work together, without talking, like a well practised dance. Some of the younger children nap in front of fans, too bored and tired to participate, probably knowing that soon their turn to join the dance will come.
The markets aren’t just great for food. Many have massage parlours, with huge adverts of low prices. Suddenly, at the sight of them, our feet swell, ache and cry for relief. We buckle and settle into the massage chairs, though for the duration of the massage it doesn’t feel like relief. Fingers and thumbs dig deep into my calves and soles and I have to focus hard to keep my composure, and stop myself from squirming. I can tell the masseuse is looking at my face and trying to read how much harder he can knead. I know the pain will be worth it tomorrow, but now, I avert my attention from the pain and examine the other masseurs that sit bored in wait for customers.
The night markets, though, aren’t the only allure of Taipei at night.
We don’t plan on it, but late one evening my friend and I are walking towards the National Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Memorial – the building is circled by eaves that hide a wide corridor circumferencing the building, and we discover that this is the place where a variety of dance groups congregate to learn choreographed dances. It’s incredible. We walk around, stop at each group, watch, take photos and no one seems to mind. Some people smile at us, noticing my camera, but they keep dancing, totally uninhibited. At one point my friend stands in the back row and joins in. The dancers are in a zone, dancing for themselves only, enjoying the cool evening.
Each sports area is now also busy, bursting with life, now that the sun isn’t beating down on it. We stop to watch a few boys practice shooting hoops while Taipei 101 magnificently stands in the background.
We walk on. Through brightly lit alleys, across busy intersections, through posh neighbourhoods and quiet ones.
Temples are all beautifully lit. I spend some time exploring Xingtian Temple and Qingshan Temples at night. At Qingshan Temple, I wander to the back and find stairs that take me up on some kind of a patio from which I am able to get a new look at Taipei, it’s quiet night streets and the people returning home from work on their scooters. At Xingtian I find people relaxing, finding comfortable spots to sit and enjoy the tidy and organized calm that temples offer.
On one such night meander, my friend and I find ourselves standing in front of Core Pacific City Mall.
Normally, shopping malls don’t excite me. In fact, they drain me of energy. But not Core Pacific City.
Ok, so we do find the mall after hours, and the shops are closed, which probably helps as it makes the place eerie – the mall is abandoned bar a few other people who came inside probably to cool off a little. We come to cool off, but also because the globe shape and lights of the mall draw us; we stay because it’s fun to ride the escalators, the see-through elevator, and we feel like we are in a living space-ship. It’s not like any other mall I’ve been too.
Another evening we wander to Taipei Main Station for dinner – it’s my friend’s idea. I don’t realize that this means we buy a take-away dinner at one of the many food shops, then take it to eat on the floor of Taipei Station’s Main Hall.
Probably, the best part of meandering around at night is the slow gander home. I’m familiar enough with the city that I can weave in and out of the small alleys that are guarded by the major streets. I discover streets lined with pots of green. Many people are sitting at home, with their doors or windows wide open, relaxing (I don’t dare to take photos of those private moments though.) Everything is fresh and relaxing, not unlike the usual feel of a concrete city.
It is refreshing to be in a city where the people are out, and not just running from one place to another with a mug of coffee in their hands, wearing black. Here, people favour colour, and most of them aren’t rushing. They take their time. They sit and chat and laugh. It feels that people actually enjoy the city, and life in it. The people here aren’t cogs in a dirty, industrial machine.