Where Night Owls Feel at Home

In the evenings, Taipei and the island's other cities come to life. The neon lights flicker on and the pubs, restaurants, night markets, bubble-tea shops, lounge bars, and various all-night shops begin to attract customers. Add the relative safety of cities in Taiwan, along with the reduced traffic and the atmospheric, neon-lit neighborhoods, and you get all the ingredients that suit the night owls of Taiwan. If you're sleepless in Taipei, there is always something to do.

The island's signature night-time activity is undoubtedly a visit to a night market. Almost every big city has at least one, and Taipei, as luck would have it, has four or five, depending on your definition of a night market. The biggest, brightest, most famous and most sprawling of them all is Shilin Night market, a moveable feast of food, clothes, and games that qualifies as a must-do experience.