Go to Taipei in autumn! Part 1: Shilin Night Market, Ningxia Road Night Market, Ningxia Night Market

Good evening!

The evening breeze is starting to feel like autumn.

It’s almost autumn travel season!

Every year, I get caught in a spiral where the season ends before I’ve even had a chance to decide where to go.

However, this time I went to Taipei, Taiwan, a place I’ve been wanting to visit for a long time!

I took Friday off and went on a 2-night, 3-day trip over the weekend.

Taipei is only a 3-hour flight from Japan, so in terms of time alone, it’s about as close as a domestic trip to Okinawa or Ishigaki Island, which is quite appealing.

You can go for just a few tens of thousands of yen if you use budget airlines or tours.

I’m currently a huge fan of JAL, so I flew with them round trip.

Even in economy class, I love their service; it’s fantastic.

It’s a good idea to buy a SIM card that works in Taiwan beforehand; it’ll be convenient once you’re there!

I’ve written an article about it here, so please take a look.

台湾シムカードの買い方

 

【Index】

成田空港～松山空港

台湾に到着。市内へ移動します！

サンワン台北レジデンス(神旺商務酒店)にチェックイン

龍山寺へ出かけてみよう

士林夜市（シーリンイエシー）から、寧夏路夜市(ニンシャー・イエスー)へ

劇混みを諦め、寧夏夜市（ニンシャー・イエスー）へ。。。

Narita Airport to Matsuyama Airport

This time

Outbound flight: JAL805, departing 11:15 AM – arriving 2:05 PM

Return flight: JAL804, departing 12:50 PM – arriving 5:10 PM

This is the schedule.

I actually wanted to leave a little earlier on the outbound flight and leave a little later on the return flight, but that would have made it considerably more expensive (everyone thinks the same way, right? Everyone wants to stay longer!), so I gave up on that idea.

Since I had already completed web check-in beforehand, I quickly dropped off my carry-on luggage at the baggage drop-off lane at the check-in counter and headed straight to the food court near the boarding gate.

Feeling a little hungry, I had some sushi and okonomiyaki with a beer while I waited.

Now that my hunger has been satisfied, I’m off to Taiwan!

Arrived in Taiwan. Now heading to the city!

After a three-hour flight,

I arrived in Taiwan in no time at all.

Taipei has two airports:

Songshan Airport and Taoyuan Airport. Songshan Airport is closer to the city center.

Since my stay was short, I wanted to use Songshan Airport as much as possible, but using it for both legs of the journey wasn’t feasible.

I’ll only be using Songshan Airport for the outbound flight.

As you can see on the map, it only takes about 30 minutes by subway from Songshan Airport to Taipei 101.

It’s incredibly close!

Well, now that there’s a train line from Taoyuan Airport to the city center, the travel time might be about the same for both options.

So, I can reach my hotel in the city center within an hour of leaving the airport, but due to hotel check-in times, I’ll have a late lunch before checking in.

I’m heading to Din Tai Fung, a place I checked out before departure.

This restaurant also has branches in Japan.

I know that.

But I wanted to eat it in Taiwan!

So, I’m going to Din Tai Fung Shin Kong Mitsukoshi branch (Zhongshan District).

From Songshan Airport, I’ll take the brown subway line and transfer to the green subway line at Nanjing Fuxing Station, two stops away.

From there, I’ll head west two more stops and get off at Zhongshan Station.

 

The shop is located on the first basement floor of Mitsukoshi department store.

When I arrived, it was past lunchtime, but there was a huge line.

It took about 40 minutes to get inside the shop, but I waited patiently for the sake of the xiao long bao I was looking forward to.

After checking in, you are given a device that vibrates when your number is called, so you don’t need to stand in line. I wandered around the same floor of Mitsukoshi.

 

I finished it in no time.

Ah, it’s so wonderful when the food is delicious.

I’m looking forward to my trip to Taiwan.

Checked into Sun Wang Taipei Residence (神旺商務酒店).

Having filled up at Din Tai Fung, I’m heading to check into my hotel.

It’s just past 2 PM, a perfect time for check-in.

The hotel is about a 7-minute walk away, so I’ll walk.

In Taipei, I stayed at the Sun Wang Taipei Residence (神旺商務酒店), a 4.5-star hotel. (It’s a somewhat odd star rating, but that’s what it said.)

This hotel had its grand opening in 2008. It’s an adults-only hotel, and the hotel’s website states that children under 12 are not allowed.

The reason I chose this hotel was, of course, because of the positive reviews about their breakfast, but also because they offer afternoon tea during their happy hour!

Afternoon tea is included for hotel guests, from 11 AM to 5 PM, so after checking in, I enjoyed a café latte and three kinds of cake (small, bite-sized), which allowed me to forget the hustle and bustle of traveling and relax for a while.

I forgot to take a picture before I started eating.

This hotel also has a deep bathtub.

It’s a square-shaped bathtub with tiles. It even comes with special bath salts!

I chose this hotel because I could take a bath after walking around sightseeing.

It takes 7-8 minutes to walk to the station, but there’s a bus stop right in front and a convenience store nearby, so it’s quite convenient.

The breakfast includes miso soup, so it’s a hotel that elderly parents would likely enjoy.

Also, the amenities here are by L’Occitane.

 

I booked through hotels.com, and I requested a room on a higher floor if possible.

Perhaps because of my request, I was given a room with a great view.

The room overlooks a park, so there’s nothing obstructing the view.

I highly recommend it.

 

 

 

 

I was so excited, I didn’t take many pictures!

The hotel lobby always has a complimentary drink and snack service. I really appreciate this thoughtful touch.

The hotel staff were very efficient, the place was clean, and the service was excellent.

 

You can find more details on TripAdvisor, so please check it out.

The afternoon tea cakes were delicious too.

サン ワン レジデンシズ台北 (神旺商務酒店) (台北)

104 台北128 Nanjing East Rd Section 1

Let’s go to Longshan Temple.

After checking into the hotel and settling in for a bit, we immediately set out for some sightseeing.

Our main destinations were Longshan Temple and the night market.

Taipei has a well-developed transportation network, so we took the subway to Longshan Temple first.

It takes about 40 minutes to get from the hotel to Longshan Temple. While Taipei’s subway system isn’t quite as extensive as Tokyo’s, the stations are easy to navigate, very clean, and the trains seem to run on time (probably). We were able to board smoothly without much stress.

 

 

In Taiwan, you purchase plastic tokens instead of tickets at ticket machines on the subway.

 

 

In Taipei’s subway system, you can either buy tokens to ride or use electronic money similar to Suica. It’s called an Easy Card. It seems convenient, offering various uses and discounts. It’s sold at station service centers and convenience stores, so it’s a good idea to buy one.

When buying an Easy Card, it seems helpful to show a memo like the one below:
Easy Card
Price: 100 NTD (Purchase Fee)
Additional Value: 1000 NTD (Amount to Add)

 

 

When we arrived near Longshan Temple, it was just before sunset, so the townscape had a magical feel to it. (There’s a Yoshinoya there.)

 

This is in front of the main shrine. The vermilion color of the building is dazzling.

 

There were many offerings. Everyone was praying very seriously.

Although it’s hard to see clearly in the background of the photo, the women in the back were placing their offerings, then throwing their sake cups on the floor with all their might before putting their hands together and praying.

 

The brick wall looks absolutely lovely. If you were to isolate just this section, it would make for a truly fantastical picture.

Near Longshan Temple, in front of a shop, there was a dog in the basket of a bicycle. The dog was incredibly cute.

The sun is about to set, and it’s getting really dark now. The sun will be gone soon.

 

I’m starting to get hungry, so I’m heading to what’s said to be the largest night market in Taipei!

From Shilin Night Market to Ningxia Night Market

A 40-minute subway ride north will take you to Shilin Night Market, Taipei’s largest night market.

Taipei’s train system is incredibly convenient.

Take the red line, similar to Tokyo’s Marunouchi Line.

Getting off at either Jiantan Station or Shilin Station on the MRT (Metro) is convenient. I think I got off at Shilin Station, and there was this monument in front of the station.

 

Once you get off the train, just go with the flow of people and you’ll reach the night market.

I got there without even opening a map; I just walked.

 

 

It was the weekend, and it’s Taipei’s largest night market, so when we arrived around 7 PM, it was absolutely packed with people!!!

Seriously, we couldn’t even walk straight.

There were so many people, we couldn’t even see what was being sold at the stalls (tears).

Even if we could buy food, there was absolutely no space to eat!!!

This wasn’t supposed to happen… yea

Giving up on the extremely crowded places, we headed to Ningxia Night Market.

Since Shilin Night Market was incredibly crowded, I headed to Ningxia Night Market, another one I’d checked out.

I took the red line of the metro south for 30 minutes to Shuanglian Station.

The metro ride was about 10 minutes.

According to my research, this night market is smaller than Shilin Night Market, but it’s a popular spot for locals, so

I went there expecting some delicious food.

Ningxia Night Market is just a few minutes’ walk from the nearest station.

I was thinking, “Ah, I’m so excited!” when I saw… Bingzan?

Wait, isn’t this the Taiwanese shaved ice shop I’d checked out?!

I actually wanted to eat this after dinner, but I won’t be coming back here, and the restaurant is empty, so I decided to go in.

I’m having some super fluffy shaved ice.

This mango shaved ice is incredibly delicious!

The white part is ice with plenty of condensed milk, so it’s super sweet.

But because of the ice, it’s light and refreshing, and you can eat it all in no time.

I would definitely go if this was in Japan.

According to rumors, it’s only open during mango season, so be sure to check the mango season before you go!

冰讃（ピンザン）Bingzan

Address: 103台北市大同區雙連街2號　No. 2, Shuanglian St, Datong District, Taipei City, 台湾 103

Business Hours：11：00～22：30

Near Shuanglian Station. Near Ningxia Night Market.

After enjoying some fluffy shaved ice before dinner, we headed to Ningxia Night Market 寧夏夜市（ニンシャー・イエスー）as planned.

Ningxia Night Market is closed off to traffic and turned into a pedestrian zone.

Just strolling through the food stalls is fun, but I ordered a few dishes from a shop with a delicious smell and waited at an outdoor table.

The photo shows Taiwanese rice noodles and fried squid soup.

The rice noodles were as delicious as I expected.

The fried squid soup was surprisingly sweet!

At first I was surprised, but as I ate it, I got used to it and by the end I quite liked it.

 

And this is an oyster omelet that I got to go.

It’s topped with a sweet and salty sauce.

I’m full, so I’ll stroll back to the hotel.

Good night.

Ningxia Night Market

Address：Ningxia Rd, Datong District, Taipei City, 台湾 103

Hours for Night Market：17:00-23:00