There are many night markets located in taiwan,like 士林夜市,東海夜市,逢甲夜市,六合夜市..and so on. some of them have become famous spot and attract many people to shop, eat, play there.

Could you share with us your experience when you visit night market?(like your favorite food there, what you often buy there, or what 奇人異事 you have seen there....and so on.

By the way, dose your country have night market like taiwan,too? Then what dose the night market have in your country? Please share with us .

Night Markets

Taipei's night markets offer fun, bargains, and a lot of local color, and generally sell a variety of traditional products, casual clothes, fruit, exotic snacks, and novelty items. Most vendors speak only Chinese, so pen and paper are needed for bargaining (local cash only, no exchanges).

Night markets frequented by students generally have the best bargains on food, fashions, and curios. These include Shihlin; Kungkuan; and the small Shih Ta Night Market. Other major night markets are Huahsi Street; Tunghwa Street; Sungshan; and Ching Kuang.

Other evening entertainment options include piano bars, discos, shopping, and inexpensive guided tours of Taipei.

source from:
http://taiwan.wcn.com.tw/en/taipei/entertainment.shtml

Taipei's oldest night market to close after nearly 100


yearsLabeled as Taipei's oldest night market, the Chiencheng Circle will close its doors for good at the end of this week. The nearly 100-year-old night market will then only live on in the memories of Taipei residents. In fact, the Chiencheng Circle has been in decline for years. Presently, only six stalls still operate in the area. Despite its fall from popularity, there will still be a ceremony held on Sunday evening to bid farewell to the night market. Residents best take advantage of these final three days to get to the Chiencheng Circle and taste some of the treats still on offer there.

Taipei City Councilwoman Chen Yu-mei on Thursday held a goodbye press conference in honor of the night market located at the Chiencheng Circle. She called on residents of Taipei to pay a final visit to the facility before it is demolished. Even Chen was visibly saddened by the events about to take place, with her voice cracking at times.

The owner of one of the longest established stalls at the night market, a place that sells oyster egg omelets, said that the facilities at the night market are not good and the place is no longer able to attract customers. He said that while he is saddened by the events, he has no choice but to leave the area. He said, however, if the place is rebuilt, he will certainly come back and set up a new stall there.

In October of 2003, the Chiencheng food court was torn down, rebuilt and then reopened to the public. However, within about six months, business started to fall off. Presently, all of the stalls that were located on the second floor have closed, and people who operate businesses on the first floor are just making ends meet. Still, of the 11 stalls on the first floor, five have been shuttered. The Taipei City Government unveiled plans at the end of last year to reclaim the night market and ended contracts that it had signed with vendors ahead of schedule. After the closure of each stall, the operator of the store will receive NT$870,000 from the government in relief subsidies. In the future, the structure will again be remodeled and will be turned into a food promotion center.

The night market management office said that after business concludes on July 2, the government and the operators of the stalls will settle all financial matters on July 7.

Chen Yu-mei specially has created a Web site in honor of the Chiencheng Circle night market. She aims to include all the memories of people who have worked and have eaten at the night market on the Web site, as a move to keep the memories of the night market fresh in peoples' minds.

In addition to introducing the history of the night market, the Web site presents heartfelt stories provided by the various food vendors in the facility. There will also be stories by people who talk about their favorite foods at the night market. The Web site will also indicate where people can go to find their favorite foods after the night market closes. Chen said she hopes people submit articles, pictures and video of the Chiencheng night market, enabling everyone to take part in writing its history. The Web site is located at:
www.yumei.com.tw/yuanhuan/index.htm

The initiator of a "Give Me Back My Chiencheng Circle" activity, Chien Yu-yan, who is a candidate for the Taipei City Council from the Taiwan Solidarity Union, said that after starting a signature campaign, over 100 residents have put their names to the paper. Chien said both the food vendors and residents complain that the city government does not have a clear plan to redevelop the Chiencheng Circle. After the vendors move out at the close of business on Sunday, the facility will simply become a place where mosquitoes can fester, Chien said. Chien added that the structure could also become a safety hazard if it is not closely monitored. The night market management office to this point has still not provided any documents to vendors as to when they will receive their subsidies and how much they will get, Chien said.

Chien said that in the process of the signature campaign, it was not only Taipei City residents who are upset about the closure of the night market. Residents from Hsichih and Chungho in Taipei County, and even some patrons as far away as Yunlin and Kaohsiung said that they were willing to travel great distances to be able to eat their favorite foods on offer at the night market. Chien said many people are quite upset about the fate of the night market. Next Tuesday, Chien will hold an event to mourn the passing of the night market and a joint prayer hoping that the night market will be given a new life. Various people will speak at the event and there will be live performances of Taiwanese folk songs.

Source:United Daily News(2006/06/30 16:21:52)

The Night markets or night bazaars are street markets operating at night mainly in urban or suburban areas that are generally dedicated to more leisurely strolling, shopping, and eating than more businesslike day markets.

The most well-known night markets are those in China and other areas inhabited by ethnic Chinese such as Hong Kong, Taiwan, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Chinatowns worldwide. The larger and more formal of these markets might take place in purpose-built marketplaces while smaller or more informal ones tend to occupy streets or roads that are normal thoroughfares by day. Although some of these markets are specialized (e.g., in certain types of food), most have a mixture of individual stalls hawking clothing, consumer goods, xiaochi (snacks or fast food), and specialty drinks. The atmosphere is usually crowded and noisy with hawkers shouting and fast-paced music playing over loudspeakers.

Night markets are also hosted in various areas of North America to celebrate Chinese culture. The Taiwanese Student Association at the University of Washington in particular hosts an annual night market on campus in May. This event generally attracts an attendance of 2000 people from the Pacific Northwest area. In San Francisco, a large night market with almost 100 booths takes place every autumn Saturday in Chinatown's Portsmouth Square. In Vancouver, BC, large night markets take place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from May to September in Chinatown and also in an industrial area near suburban Richmond, BC's Golden Village; the latter features more than 400 booths and attracts in excess of 30,000 people per night (attendance in 2005 was almost 2 million).

source from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_market

Historical development

The main alley of the night market
Interior of Shilin Night Market
Crowds of people in Shilin Night MarketThe night market is located near the former location of a wharf on the Keelung River, agricultural produce from farms in Shihlin being shipped to other ports such as Banka and Dadaocheng would typically be sold in this area. The daytime Shilin Market was formally established in this area in 1909. With the influx of customers, many new businesses and food vendors began to establish themselves in the area and the Shilin Night Market was born

Recent years
Shilin Night Market has since become the largest and most well known night market in Taiwan, especially with regards to food, and is a favorite focal point for Taipei's night life among residents and visitors alike. The night market encompasses two distinct sections sharing a symbiotic relationship: a section formerly housed in the old Shihlin Market building containing mostly food vendors and small eateries; and the surrounding businesses and shops selling other nonfood items.

Due to safety, sanitation, and fire hazard concerns, the old Shilin Market structure was demolished in October 2002 by the Taipei City Government; the food vendors formerly based within the old structure were relocated to a newer temporary structure a few hundred meters away next to the MRT Jiantan Station.

Most Famous foods
Fried chicken steak (炸雞排)
Small bun wrapped in large bun (大餅包小餅)
Fried buns (生煎包)
Peanut candy (花生糖)
Oyster omelet (蚵仔煎)
Tempura (天婦羅)
Lemon aiyu jelly (檸檬愛玉)
Pearl tea (青蛙下蛋)
Braised stinky tofu (紅燒臭豆腐)

ps: if you want to know information about night market in taiwan, you can click the link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_night_markets_in_Taiwan#North_Taiwan

source from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_market

Singapore doesnt have authentic night market anymore, it is popularly known as pasar malam, literally meaning 'market night'.
Nowaday the night market is very artifical in singapore and the food is not nice at all unlikes the famous taiwan night market.

Chiencheng Circis is 圆环? I suspect it was closing down cause when i was there several months, it was very quiet, a sharp contrast from the original...

http://okenglish.tw/modules/xcgal/displayimage.php?pid=412&album=topn&cat=0&pos=255

it is such a pity.

The top twenty foods people like most in night market of Taipei city. They are 最令人食指大動的美食是蚵仔煎，香味獨特的臭豆腐排名第二的，第三名則是蚵仔麵線,4至20名依序為雞排、珍珠奶茶、生炒花枝、藥燉排骨、芒果冰、水煎包、滷味、鹹酥雞、大腸包小腸、胡椒餅、青蛙下蛋、烤香腸、大餅包小餅、蔥油餅、仙草粉圓、土魠魚羹、紅豆湯.(2005.8)

source from:
http://www.tcoc.org.tw/newslist/012900/12949.htm

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The pictures look great.
now i will tell u something about night market in PEI county.
After seeing what u said,I know the night markets anywhere are almost no different.
The food there are delicous, the prices are much cheaper. and the stallowners look friendly.I enjoy this feeling.and to this feeling,it is hard to find in the big cities such as Shanghai .

The scene is something like that of korea TV serial,it is very humoral.

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Hello williamkun:

No worry. You can visit Taiwan then you will have the chance to taste those delicios food and experience the teeming atmosphere in the night market.

ps:Thank you for sharing something you know about night market in your city.

I read a news about a fight of Who is the first one to invent pearl tea(奶茶)? haha I have drank pearl tea 奶茶many times,but never think of that question.

根據大陸版維基百科對珍珠奶茶的歷史沿革說明，台灣有兩家茶飲店宣稱是珍珠奶茶的發明者，其中之一是台中市的春水堂，負責人劉漢介指他在1983年開始實驗製作奶茶，當時他加的是水果、糖漿、糖漬地瓜和粉圓。他推出的奶茶剛開始的時候並不受到歡迎，後來在一次一個日本電視節目的訪問後，終於吸引了注意。
另一說則是台南市翰林茶館涂宗和所發明，據他表示是在1987年在台南市成功路的鴨母寮菜市場見得歐巴桑賣白色粉圓得到靈感，故早期珍珠為白色，而後才改為現今的黑色。但這兩間店皆未申請專利權或商標權。


I just copied part of paragraphs from that article, if you wanna read the whole news, you could click here to read.http://tw.news.yahoo.com/article/url/d/a/061026/17/5pfu.html