LifeA night out in Taipei Taipei 101, the city’s landmark, stands out in the neon-lit night sky. (Photos: Chang Su-ching)
Night falls early in Taipei City. Even in the midst of summer, the last rays of sunlight fade out by 7 p.m. Freed from the heat of the day, the city’s residents happily stroll around or seek the best way to spend their evening. Depending on their mood, they either look for the liveliness of some alleyway suddenly jammed with evening crowds, or the tranquility of some teahouse; the frenzy of some club, or the intimacy of some lounge; the elegance of some hotel bar, or the conviviality of some street eatery. Despite appearances, not everyone is a night-life enthusiast: the city has no lack of early risers, and as night advances, certain neighborhoods seem quick to fall asleep. But even in its most quiet corners, Taipei is always on the go, as attested by the omnipresence of 7/24 convenience stores always ready to serve hungry party revelers or sleepless students. At night, the city’s residents cross paths. At 10 p.m. crowds of teenagers stream out of “buxiban,” or private cram schools, and department stores are just closing their doors. This is the moment when night markets are in full swing, and in various parts of town people are eating a late dinner or meeting up with colleagues at some KTV. Businessmen who have finally taken off their jackets pass clubbers looking like hell and heading for some theme event. At dawn, the most hardcore of night revelers have just started to gobble a Taiwanese-style breakfast as their after-drinks snack, while elderly early birds are already in the parks doing traditional calisthenics. This intense, safe and reasonably priced night life is not concentrated in just a few meccas, but spread out all over town. And while the Xinyi business district in the east has undeniably gained high status as a center of trendy bars and clubs, Shida, Ximending, Gongguan, and Zhongshan, among others, remain great options for some of the best fun at night. It is not easy for foreign visitors to find their way in all this effervescence. A few well-trodden paths from Shilin Night Market to the bars around the Taipei 101 skyscraper will certainly guarantee a successful evening out, but Taipei has so much more to offer. Recently, websites like taiwannights.com or gigguide.tw have started offering detailed and up-to-date information in English about the restaurants, bars, night clubs, parties and concerts in Taiwan’s capital city, allowing visitors to venture deep into Taipei’s fascinating night scene.
 Eslite Bookstore is one of Taiwan's numerous business establishments that open 24 hours.18:00 The city offers an abundance of spots to view a great sunset. The Maokong Gondola takes visitors from Taipei Zoo to high up the Muzha hills that overlook the capital from the south. With its numerous tea plantations and lovely teahouses, this is the perfect place to sip a cup of baozhong or tieguanyin, as one bathes in the last rays of the day. And on the way back, the “crystal cabins” of the cable car, with their transparent floors, give the impression of hovering over the evening lights of the capital. In the north, the slopes of Yangmingshan offer probably the best view of the city’s nightscape. Around midnight, lovers flocking to the spot sometimes even cause traffic jams. But it is always possible to take one of the walking trails, like the “monkey trail” in Tianmu, uphill for a romantic dinner at some panoramic restaurant. The devoted sunset seeker will go further west to the picturesque town of Danshui, at the mouth of the Danshui River. The ultramodernist, on the other hand, will not miss the thrilling 27-second ride to the 88th floor of Taipei 101 to take in the grand spectacle of the bustling city gradually wrapped in a deep-blue languor.
 Night markets, which offer a variety of popular street food and trinket shopping, are seen in every city and town across Taiwan. (Photo: Hubert Kilian)18:45 For dinner, one can have stinky tofu, an oyster omelet, a sausage wrapped in glutinous rice, or a thick soup with calamari. Not to be forgotten is the famous “dabing bao xiaobing,” a sweet or salty bun topped with garnish and wrapped in a pancake. For gourmets the world over, the night market of Shilin, which is undergoing a major metamorphosis, is the must-go rendezvous in town. Part of the fun consists in squeezing through the dense crowds to find all kinds of fashion or decoration items. 19:30 The landscape paintings of Southern Song dynasty painter Gao Kegong seem to give off a special aura as night goes on. Every Saturday, the National Palace Museum and the Taipei Museum of Fine Arts stay open until 20:30 p.m. 20:15 It is time for a cocktail at Dalida. In Ximending, the terraces of the bars around the Red House are packed with people. One of the few places where people can sip a drink and people-watch on a terrace, the area has become fashionable with gay people from Taipei and elsewhere. If it looks like rain, or if one is a music lover who just cannot stand the noises from the street, the nearby Riverside concert halls, The Wall at Gongguan, or Legacy, in the Huashan 1914 Creative Park, all offer quality musical programs that go from independent Taiwan rock to techno by way of hip-hop and aboriginal chant. 21:45 It is never too late to dine. On either side of Guangfu South Road, it is possible to find all kinds of cuisines: various sorts of hot pots, extremely spicy-hot Sichuan dishes, beef noodle soup. In the side streets along Linsen North Road, Japanese delicacies and local seafood compete for clients’ favors. Those in search of traditional flavors can buy some takeout “xiaolongbao,” or steamed meat buns, at the world-famous Din Tai Fung near Yongkang Street. These buns can be carried a few hundred meters away to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall for an improvised picnic. One must not forget to water down the delicious buns with “pearl milk tea” bought along the way. 22:30 The metro corridors are jampacked as high school students and office workers head home after a hard day’s work, so it is better to hail a taxi to get to Shangri-La Hotel at Far Eastern Plaza. The Marco Polo lounge, situated on the 38th floor, offers one of the best views over the city in a cozy, intimate atmosphere. Back on firm ground, a stroll along Anhe Road takes one from one trendy bar to another, from the crowded Carnegie’s to the sparkling Champagne 2. The Marquee further east and Brown Sugar, not far from Taipei 101, offer great live music. 23:30 While some bars compete in offering the most diverse or rare of imported beers, Taiwan Beer Garden, on Bade Road, proudly serves only local brew. In an atmosphere somewhat similar to that of Munich festivals, lively drinkers, many of whom are exchange students from abroad, swill until midnight before heading to Mi Casa, Roxy 99, Luxy, or one of the countless 7-Elevens, which have a surprisingly well-garnished beer list. Further east, at Woo Bar in the brand new W Hotel, the ambiance is resolutely on the trendy side. To have a taste of authentic Japan at Japan Box, on Ren-ai Road, it is absolutely necessary to reserve a table in advance. As to The Ring, a select bar on the 14th floor of a luxury residence on Dunhua South Road, mystery is the word, as it is only open to insiders. When it comes to the gay scene, the newly opened G Star, La Boca and @1 could end up dethroning the well-established Funky, Cafe Fresh and Jump. It is too early to know the outcome, but the new bars have definitely contributed to diversifying an already sophisticated scene. 01:00 At the end of Nanjing East Road, there are dozens of massage parlors. Open until late at night or even all night long, they offer skilled services for one’s feet, and the highly experienced masseurs and masseuses are sure to soothe the feet of partygoers sore from the evening’s frenetic pleasure-seeking. 02:00 Open all night long, the restaurants on Chang-an East Road do it with no fuss: every dish is priced at NT$100 (US$3.43). Seated on small stools, diners heartily take in Japanese beer, if they want a change from local brew. 03:00 Tonight it may be rugby, Formula 1, basketball or football. Sports fans sit in groups to revel at live transmissions of European or American championships, at incredible hours of the night because of time differences. The Brass Monkey, opened in 2003 on Fuxing North Road, happily caters to its faithful clients holding big mugs of beer. 04:00 The atmosphere when people get out of clubs is full of local color. Many finish off the night with a Taiwanese-style breakfast, with a rice porridge served with pickled vegetables, or “youtiao,” a kind of long fried donut. With so much to do, one can hardly wait for the next night out on the town. (AH-HZW) (This article originally appeared in the July 2011 issue of Taiwan Aujourd’hui.) |
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