Another day, another night market in Taipei, this time Ximending in the Wanhua District where the lights shine bright and every other person was riding a bike! In comparison to Shida and Shilin night markets, Ximending had a more modern feeling and definitely seemed to be catering to a younger crowd.
Ximending attracts over 3 million people every month on average and has been called the “Harajuku” of Taipei (a fashionable shopping district in Tokyo) famed for the diversity of entertainment and activities on offer.
The streets surrounding the area were full of moped riders which seemed to be the most popular form of transport in Taipei. Considering the speed at which they zip around it’s best to keep your eyes wide open when crossing the road!
Most of the people wandering about looked to be teenagers/students enjoying the abundant shops, stalls and small restaurants. The area is easily accessible by the MRT station of the same name.
As always I loved looking at all the neon signs glowing at night. It reminded me a lot of Seoul which I imagine could partly be put down to them both having developed in a similar fashion with foreign influences post World War II.
There was also a cool IMAX cinema on the street but unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to watch anything. IMAX certainly seems to be having a resurgence in recent years with more and more mainstream releases coming to the massive 70mm format.
If the locals thought they were cool then this taxi driver was clearly going out of his way to grab some of the attention. Given its surroundings, it somehow didn’t look out of place but I’m not sure who would want to risk a ride with this boy racer!
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