Taiwan Travelogue: Scenes and Snacks from the Raohe Street Night Market

One of the oldest night markets in the Songshan district and just within walking distance from Wufenpu, is the Raohe Street Night Market.


If you are coming from Wufenpu, you would be able to get here in an approximate of 10-15 minutes walk (do confirm your directions with the locals), or alternatively, take the train straight to the Songshan station to reach this night market.

Raohe Street Night Market is another night market to add to the list of night markets in Taipei, which courts tourists and locals to its estimated 600m long street filled with the familiar scenes of an intermix of food, drinks and clothing stalls. Originally a busy area thriving on business centers, the rapid development and implementation of the modern transportation system has driven the limelight away from this Xikou area; making Raohe street a secondary road, taking a backseat in their crowds and also the prosperity of the businesses here as they make way for development.
Taking note of the declining popularity and the effect in the local economy, the government stepped in and established a night market for the locals as a source of income, which is today flourishing as one of Taipei's most visited night market.



Like most of the night markets in Taipei, the streets are filled with the local sights not to mention the familiar aroma of food cooking in the stalls set up neatly along the walkway. The night markets, as I have previously mentioned are similar to our local version of pasar malam, and that being said, it also means that most of the locals can be found on these streets as this is just simply part of their lifestyle.
The best place to probably get a glimpse into the Taiwanese street culture would probably be on these night markets, which are all over the city.





The signature Oriental-styled archway entrance and exit at both ends of the night market, and also commonly graces the other night markets in Taipei too (especially the government-established night markets).


Scenes from the Raohe Street Night Market



It amazes me how there are little stalls set up complete with tables and chairs for customers to enjoy their food on the spot, right beside the stall and straight from the stoves and woks.











Found a stall run by a father and daughter selling the fluffy egg cakes; and they used the cute moulds to make the little Bearmina egg cakes as advertised on their banner.









Look at this adorable little Bearmina Egg cake!~ ❤ ♡❤ ♡


To bite or not to bite, that is the question!




Another delectable cakes stall run by a jolly-looking European chap, selling such colorful and attractive-looking sweet treats~
Just looking at them is enough to make one swoon over the cakes, with its bright colors screaming for attention~







Another stall which caught our eyes, located towards the end of the night market is a stall with a banner, "Frying Milk"
(How on earth does one fries milk? In the same way one fries ice cream, I suppose?)



Upon closer look, he confirmed my suspicions as I watched him coat the milk with flour in a half-solidified state to form little cubes on skewers., before dipping them into boiling hot oil.






Another stall buzzing with a large crowd is this stall selling Dorayaki.
Like the egg cakes, this is another fairly popular snack. In short, I have noticed that the Taiwanese definitely love their sweet eggy pastries for snacks.



Dorayaki certainly comes in different flavors, and even shapes.


I am old-school on this one, and I stick to my favorite red bean flavor, with a couple of green tea (matcha) dorayaki, just for the taste, and oh, I opted for mini dorayaki, which just seemed so cute!



Cleanliness is taken very seriously here on the streets in Taipei, and in Raohe, I have spotted a man picking up the trash on the street along the 600m long night market. It is a good thing to be enforced here, though I do find it rather hard to find a trash can around on the streets in Taipei (to my surprise) and yet, there is no trash spotted on the streets or roads for that matter.
I am impressed with the civic consciousness and awareness levels among the Taiwanese in that aspect.


Raohe Night Market turned out to be a rather enjoyable place for me; and truly, this came from a person who does not even go to night markets of any sort even in my own country.
Perhaps it was the cool weather, or the ease of walking, or the lesser crowd, or the night market was just pleasant for a visit. I personally enjoyed the better organized market, with the more systematic manner in which the stalls are arranged and the wider space for the patrons to walk.

I also find the folks here more friendly and hospitable (the stall vendors), and in my personal opinion, I would prefer this over the more famous Shilin Night Market (which I find, a little overrated), anytime of the day...

Taiwan Travelogue: Wufenpu Garment Wholesale Area

Wufenpu (五分埔), literally translates to the "Land of Five Divisions" is a name derived from the five families who migrated from Fujian, China and bought over the land from the aboriginal tribe here (Malixikou). The natives were said to have been the inhabiting the area since the era of the Qing Dynasty, and the land was mainly used to rear pigs; with the farms dotting most of the space here.
In addition to that, it was also said that there was a number of mental institutions in the same area and it was probably due to the above reasons whereby the land has been mostly neglected due to its poor conditions, and also the fact that the land was infertile as nothing could be grown here.
The other reason for the name was also probably due to the fact that the area, located in the Xinyi district of Taipei encompasses five neighborhoods; within the section 5 of Zhongxiao East Road to the Zhongpo North Road.

So, how did a barren land in such poor conditions, filled with only the pungent smell of the domestic farms and mental hospitals ended up to be the largest garment wholesale market in the whole of Taipei?


The story dates back to the beginnings where the place started had a turning point in its fate after the World War II, where a gush of flooding waters which almost had the whole of Taipei underwater (infamously known as the Flood of August 7), caused by a major typhoon left many of the elderly residents of Taipei homeless. The government stepped in, taking immediate measures by donating a piece of land; yes, this piece of barren land and the Ministry of National Defense chipped in to do their part following the donation where they built an approximate of 1,200 temporary homes for the poor homeless veterans.
Economy in Taiwan flourished thereafter; attracting many from the other states and districts to take an interest, and to try their luck at making the bucks in none other than the capital. A huge group from Fangyuan town; Central Taiwan migrated in flocks to Taipei and ended up renting these homes from the elders in the district, which they soon turned the homes into a garment business hub. The homes were turned into shophouses; where the making of the clothing would take place on the upper (second) floor along with their residence while the first floor would be converted into a business space or a pret-a-porter shop to sell their works. As the home owners; the earlier veterans retire, they sold their houses to these folks and the prey-a-porter business hub continues until this very day; filling the whole district with all these shops and eager clothing entrepreneurs ready to make a good living out of their businesses.


Most of the shops here are open for business on a daily basis, and the place can get pretty crowded on weekends; filled with avid local shoppers and tourists eager to walk away with a good bargain.
While the place is generally a wholesale garment area, there are shops which will sell clothing by piece as well.
It would help to have good negotiation skills around here when bargaining with the shop owners, and as the general shopping rules apply, do not be too keen to close a bargain.
Shop around, or take a browse around and go by your instincts. If you think the item is overpriced, it probably is. I can't tell you to tour the entire area before you make your mind, for the place is filled with crowded alleys and with the many intersections, you could probably lose your direction to get back to the original shop where you saw the item you liked.
Therefore, the gut feeling really applies here, and just be careful when bargaining.

They will typically ask the number of pieces you would want when you are interested in a particular style, as with most wholesale strategy. The reason is because prices would vary significantly; with the larger number of items you are purchasing, it is just common sense that there would be bulk discount applied. Do not get fooled by this if you are not interested to purchase more than the number of items you are interested in; unless of course, if you are also looking for wholesale items for your own business, then that would be a totally different story.
(However, I have noticed that they are rather cautious and wary of non-regulars who deal with them on the wholesale and the discounts seem to vary; whereby they would charge the regulars a fixed price (possibly much lower) and then give you a different price, which they will say is a standard.)
As mentioned, just be cautious and you might be surprised with some of the really good bargains you can get off the discount rack around here.





Besides clothing, there are also food stalls available, and there is a whole street where food and drinks stalls are located (haven't I emphasize enough that there is no end to the availability of food everywhere in Taipei?)





Walking around can take easily 3-4 hours; especially if you are a shopper or just trying to get your way through the crowd in the narrow alleys with two-way traffic and indecisive shoppers in front of you. Throw in the wholesalers pushing their goods on those barrows and you get the picture.
Navigating can be confusing, but not totally bad as the alleys always lead to the main street or the main intersection so it is not such an easy task to get yourself lost here. However, locating the shop that you spotted and decided to browse further, might be quite a challenge unless you make a mental note of the directions yourself.

If you are not a shopper, this is still an interesting area to drop by to check out the business and interaction between the locals. Besides, this is a lifestyle and where you can see the locals in action, so yeah, this is more of a people-watching (if you're not into clothing and shoes and bags) area.
Majority of the shops here are more appealing to women, but there are also shops for men, and children.

One thing though, you will need the stamina to keep up with the walking to explore the market (I hardly think that's a problem for the ladies), as there are no seats or comfy couches for one to sit on. In fact, there is not really a space or pavement when you can just sit and wait either and even the stalls or shops do not have seats for their customers. So, keep up with the walking if you are there to really knock yourself out with the shopping.

I found this stall, which was quite interesting...


They were selling egg cakes! It's amazing that I only managed to try these on my third day in Taipei, but still, these were freshly baked and hot, so they are good!
(I did seem a little carried away with these egg cakes instead of the shopping!)


Wufenpu in the evening



The food stalls on the outer perimeter of the wholesale garment area





Overall, Wufenpu may appeal as a large wholesale garment district with low to medium range of pricing and clothing quality and fashionable trends inspired by Korea, Japan and Taiwan.
Most of the clothes/fashion items here are locally manufactured with a small percentage being imported from the above fashion hubs as well.
Not a bad place to check out, if you are a shopper, or not....there's always the food, and the local culture that you can watch out for here, not to mention the fashion trends sported by the locals and the boutique owners themselves!~

Bangkok Travelogue: Local scenes at Chatuchak Market

Another interesting place worth to explore in Bangkok is none other than the famous weekend market; Chatuchak Market (also known as Jatujak and commonly referred to as J.J).
It is definitely the largest weekend market in Thailand and in the world as well.
There is just so much to see and do at Chatuchak; that your time will not be wasted at all here.



Operating only on weekends, the market boasts of more than 10,000 stalls (estimated to be around 15,000 and more) comprising of enthusiastic traders selling clothing, food, handicrafts, souvenirs, artwork, household items, and even pets. The list goes on, and it may seem like there is no end to the streets in the market which is not surprising as the market was designed in a circular-like shape to accommodate the thousands of stalls.


The market is made up of many 'sois' (streets) tucked inside the maze-like inner section (covered) and  these can be narrow alleys packed with the stalls and eager sellers waving their hands and beckoning to you in their sweet singsong Thai accents to woo potential buyers and tourists to their stalls.





The market starts from as early as 8.00am, and it is advisable to be there as early as possible as the crowds just build up to a massive population later in the day. It is estimated that there are as many as 20,000 tourists a day (or perhaps more?)
As this is a huge market with the some of the stalls in the open, and also with the narrow and stuffed alleys in the closed area, walking around the market can be a rather daunting task especially on hot and humid days, or even if it is raining. The best weather would be slightly cool with cloudy skies; which can be rare in Bangkok, which is famous for its all year-round sunny days.
I was fortunate enough to be able to experience that rare cool and cloudy weather, with only a tiny bit of the sun peeking out from behind the clouds sporadically, which made my experience in this world-famous market a rather relaxing and enjoyable one.

Many may have the perception that Chatuchak Market is streets and streets of shopping and is definitely the heaven for shopaholics and shopping lovers; and that the place can be skipped if one is not interested in buying anything at all.
That is a wrong perception to have; as the local market is where most of the local scenes are in action and where you can truly see the other side of Bangkok which you might not have experienced before.
True, Bangkok is already hailed as one of the shopping paradises in Asia; with its mega shopping malls and many little boutiques, offering prices to satisfy all ages and incomes, but the beauty of the metropolis is not only in the sprawling streets lined with stalls but also the unique and beautiful culture seen through the daily lifestyle of the local Thais themselves.
While Chatuchak may be a place packed with traders, it is also at the very heart of the art of trading where Bangkok started its humble beginnings.
Many of the locals are still into the practice of buying food and stuffs from the streets, and the varieties are just endless.



The most interesting part to me about Chatuchak, was not the great bargains they are offering (but yes, they are certainly rather attractive!), but the colorful scenes which are unfolding every minute, and at every corner of the market everywhere I went.
There were just endless lists of things to see and do; and even shop and eat, and I would recommend at least half of the day just checking out this famous market.

Just snapshots of the scenes at Chatuchak:

A man pushing his cart through the oncoming cars to sell fruits


A man selling fruits


Fascinating Ice lollies! (Iced popsicles)












Yes, even little puppies are on sale - poor little pups :(











There is also a section where they are selling 2nd hand books, this, is definitely my weakness!
I just love the scent of books; and nothing beats old and vintage books!


Besides products, there are also services such as massage available; perhaps for the avid shoppers who may need to nurse their poor tired soles? Or perhaps for their companions who are just dragging their feet into each stall despite their disinterest; while the shoppers are just getting more and more enthusiastic?

I spent about 4 hours plus at this market, and though I was fascinated with the scenes, I have to admit that they do have some pretty good stuffs on sale, and at great prices too.
One thing I like about Bangkok is the easy availability of the food and refreshing drinks everywhere we went, and that was indeed a great advantage for tourists who spend the entire day outside and probably relying on water bottles, and 7-11 stores to replenish our water supply.
The varieties are endless, and the prices are reasonable too, making me a happy camper, I mean traveler in this busy city.

Chatuchak market is also filled with food and drinks stalls; and as you can see in the above photo; there are always fruits stalls available everywhere.
I will be covering in my next post on the food and drinks in Chatuchak.....

To be continued....