We've been in Taipei since the start of February. Most evenings we cook at home. But a few nights a week, we let the night markets pull us in.

Rahoe Night

Taipei night markets are loud, dense, and overwhelmingly fried. Not exactly a daily ritual if you care about what goes into your body. But the atmosphere. Smoke curling under fluorescent tubes. Strangers pressed shoulder to shoulder. The kind of visual chaos that, as a photographer, you stop resisting and start framing.

Linjiang Night Market

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Our neighbourhood market. We're staying right next to it, so it was the first one we walked through. Compact, raw, and honestly the most chaotic of the three. The energy is dense, almost claustrophobic.

We go when we're too lazy to cook. It's convenient, but it's our least favourite. The food is fine — nothing remarkable. The kind of place that reminds you night markets aren't curated experiences. They're just life happening fast.

Shilin Night Market

We hit Shilin after a short hike on Xianjishan — a quick trail with views over the city that puts you in exactly the right mood for street food.

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Shilin is the one most people know. Bigger, more spread out, and somehow easier to breathe in despite the crowds. The underground food court is a maze of stalls competing for your attention, and the variety is noticeably better. We liked it quite a lot.

There's a rhythm to Shilin that the others don't have. Wider lanes, more room to wander and observe. Good for slow evenings with a camera.

Raohe Night Market

Our favourite.

Raohe is a single long street, and somehow that constraint makes everything better. The food here felt the most interesting — things we hadn't seen at the other markets, stalls that seemed to care about what they were making. Less generic, more intentional.

The entrance through the ornate temple gate sets the tone. There's a sense of place here that the others lack. And photographically, it's the richest. The light, the faces, the small absurd moments that only happen when hundreds of people are packed into a narrow lane eating things on sticks.

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