Shilin Night Market is synonymous with casual, non-designer brand shopping in Taipei and while the shops lining the main road is open during the day, it is the night when a sueprcharged life is switched on.
Shilin Night Market is located in the Shilin district of Taipei and is renowned as the biggest, best and most interesting night market in all of Taiwan. Your taxi will drop you off in the intersection of the clothes and accessories section or the orignal Shilin Market building a bit like KL's Central Market. The first caters to non-food items while the market building has both.
It does not matter where you start as one is attached to the other but I suggest you start at the place with the big signboard that says 'Shilin Market' and then start wandering aimlessly! Shilin Market is such fun and you cannot go wrong whichever direction you take.
Just follow your nose if you are after food or stop at whichever stall that attracts your attention!
There are cheap clothes galore and endless T-shirts. I only buy trendy and unusual clothes made in Taiwan and there are plenty of choices! In fact, almost evrything is made in Taiwan! Haggling is expected though the vendors do not slash their already low prices by 50% so do not offend them! Of course their asking price is already so attractive and considered cheap compared to 101 so most of the time they only give 10% discount.
I once asked for 40% discount and was told in Mnadarin, "This is Taiwan, not Thailand! We give the same prices regardless whether you are a Taiwanese or foreign tourist. We don't give 2 levels of prices! Just because you are a tourist does not mean we offer a higher price as our things are cheaper than in your country. So you pay the same amount as we don't care if you are local or tourist."
There...
I saw a shirt for New Taiwan Dollars $1,200 and she offered me NT$ 1,100. I asked for NT$1,000 and she declined so I left. She did not call me back so after 10 minutes I crawled back. Finally she said she would have to phone her boss if she could let me for NT$ 1,000. After the phonecall, she nodded and said 'OK'. So it was not as if she was playing hard to get!
Some shops have discount racks with 50% off so these are super great buys!
As for food, I love the fruits! But a big, fat, juicy red guava costs RM 18 so I gave up!
Shilin is also a foodie haven as many youngsters and oldsters come here to feed their faces. The famous stalls have long queues! In Malaysia, we never queue but here the popular stalls are so crowded there is no choice but to line up. There are over 500 food stalls, cafes and restaurants so there is something for your palate, however finicky it is!
The more famous delicacies are 'Small pancake inside big pancake', 'Hotspot on stove and Shilin sausage'.
Shilin Market started in 1899 and there is always something unexpected to be found here!
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