Shida Night Market

Location/Accessibility

Shida Night Market is situated at Shida Road and it is in between the residential areas. Something interesting that we found out about its location from the wonderful National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) Hosts was that previously the alley that the night market is situated now is for the purpose of mitigating the spread of fire during the Japanese Colonial Rule. Back in those days, the area used to be a residential area in which the houses were made from wood. Hence when the occurrence of fire or bombings by the enemy occurred, the alley created would not destroy the whole area totally. Back to the topic, the night market is convenient for us since it was merely a 5-minutes walk from NTNU and also the Taipower Station. With that, we find that this night market is crowded with the younger generation and this should probably be the students from both NTNU and National Taiwan University (NTU).

Map of Shida Night Market

Nearby Attractions/Amenities

This night market is located between two biggest universities in Taiwan, as mentioned earlier NTNU and NTU. Due to its proximity to these famous universities, we find that this night market is catered to the needs and interests of the youths in Taipei. This is due to some observations made about the things such as shoes, dresses, leggings and trench coats that are being sold at this market.

Chengying and Zenn with their hosts at NTNU

Shikin and Serene with their loots!

Shoes bought in Shida Night Market

Clothings bought in Shida Night Market

Specialities

As mentioned previously, this night market caters to the youth of Taipei for this instance the students from both NTNU and NTU. As such, food, clothing, accessories to even stationery stalls are a common sight at this night market. Moreover the things sold here are much cheaper on top of the variety of products as compared to the other night markets that we have visited preciously. For example, we noticed that the average price of a trench coat at the other night market can go up to NT$1500 whereas a similar piece could be sold at only NT$1000 at this night market. Thus this would support our claim made that it is catered to students as being students, we have lower purchasing power. On the other hand, the food are relatively similar to those from the other night markets. One thing which is different is that the food stalls do not provide any seating area for customers' consumption of their food on the spot unlike for example Ningxia night market. Furthermore, the stalls are widely spaced out in which we think could have contributed to the 'non-smoky' alley. This definitely provides better ventilation especially for tourists like us who are not accustomed to the smell and the smoky environment.

Food Stalls in Shida Night Market

Clothes stalls along the alley

Layout of Stalls

The stalls here are along the alleys of Shida Road. The stalls are upfront instead of those makeshift stalls in comparison to the other night markets. Therefore, even during a rainy weather, it would not affect shoppers as the area is well-sheltered with the protruding canvas from each stall. At the same time, we find that the stalls here have different franchises either along the same alley or adjacent to it. Therefore this could be a double-edge sword to the stall owners. Firstly, this could be a good business strategy since stalls that are located near the main road would be one of the first that would be patronised. Hence with the different franchise all over the night market, the main stall owner would not lose out since he or she could still earn as they are located at different places. Nonetheless, this would not be a good idea since it not only limits the choice provided to customers but simultaneously, customers like us who have recognised the shop names would not even enter the shop with similar names. This case in unlike Raohe Night Market whereby a clothing stall could be position next to a food stall. At the Raohe Night Market, customers who are particular about cleanliness would not purchase the apparels as the smoke and smell from the food stall may affect the cleanliness of the clothings. We are a good example. We did not buy any clothes from Raohe Night Market as we do not want our new clothes to be full of the food smell.

Cluster of food stalls with protruding canvas for shelter