Five Decades of Photos of Shopping Districts in Taiwan

In this 1999 photo, crowds circulate outside the Shin Kong Life Tower and Asia Plaza Tower, opposite Taipei Main Station. (photo by Yeh Ming-yuan)

Taipei City’s Xinyi District, shown here in 2025, has the highest concentration of department stores in all of Taiwan, as well as the Taipei 101 skyscraper and many corporate office buildings. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

In the Dadaocheng area of Taipei’s Datong District, one can see buildings from various historical periods, including the Qing Dynasty, the Japanese era, and the post-WWII years. Each building has its own story, and the guided tour provider “Walk in Taiwan” offers tours in various non-traditional formats to allow every visitor to Dadaocheng to enjoy a unique and surprising experience. (photo by Lin Min-hsuan) —“Walk in Taiwan: Showcasing a Culturally Self-Confident Nation” (May 2020)

In 2024, after an absence of ten years, Rubber Duck, made by the Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, made its reappearance in Kaohsiung, drawing crowds to the city and fostering a joyous ambience. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Taipei’s Nanjichang Night Market is more than 60 years old. Many of the venerable shops there started out as unlicensed itinerant street vendors. Later their operations were legalized, giving rise to today’s busy market. (photo by Jimmy Lin) —“Exploring Taiwan’s Night Markets with Mariko Okubo” (July 2025)

The Keelung Miaokou Night Market is one of Taiwan’s most iconic night markets, and was once named by an international fashion magazine as one of the world’s top 20 food markets. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

The old Chunghua Market was once the largest commercial complex in Greater Taipei. It was torn down in October of 1992 to make way for urban renewal and the Taipei Metro. (photo by Cheng Yuan-ching) —“Hsimenting—At a Crossroads” (July 1988)

The varied street performers and artists who congregate around Taichung’s Calligraphy Boulevard, Civic Square, and CMP Block Museum of Arts attract large audiences, especially of visitors to the city. (photo by Lin Min-hsuan) —“Taichung, City of Culture” (April 2017)

Shenji New Village in Taichung’s West District was formerly a staff housing complex for the Audit Office of the now-abolished Taiwan Provincial Government. Since its revitalization, it has become a popular spot for cultural and creative industries. (photo by Lin Min-hsuan) —“Taichung, City of Culture” (April 2017)

In 2025 a group of old warehouses next to the Kaohsiung Music Center was converted into a commercial area for restaurants and cultural and creative businesses. It is a veritable mecca for people to meet with friends or go for a stroll. (photo by Jimmy Lin)

Tiehua Music Village in Taitung City was founded collectively by local musicians and artists to showcase Taitung’s easygoing atmosphere and “slow life” culture. (photo by Jimmy Lin) —“From Our Villages to the World: Rediscovering Aboriginal Images and Music” (November 2020)

A few tables and chairs set out on the road make a shared eating area where visitors can sit and enjoy their food at leisure—just one of the ways in which Taiwan’s night markets are catering ever more attentively to tourists’ wants and needs. The photo shows Kaohsiung’s Liuhe Night Market. (photo by Hsueh Chi-kuang) —“From the Margins to the Center: The Metamorphosis of Taiwan’s Night Markets” (November 2010)