Dear reader: This article contains links to products and services that I may be compensated for, at no extra cost to you.
Fengchia Night Market (逢甲夜市, also spelled “Feng Jia” Night Market), is by far the most famous of the many night markets in Taichung.
In fact, claims have even been made that it is the largest night market in Taiwan. This is difficult to verify. But there’s no doubt that it’s one of the best night markets in Taiwan and top things to do in Taichung. Fengchia is known for its sheer variety of Taiwanese street foods – you could even say it is Taichung’s answer to Shilin Night Market – the largest of Taipei’s night markets.
Fengchia isn’t the easiest to get to, and it’s so large that it can be a little disorienting. That’s why I’ve put together this detailed guide including how to get there, a map of Fengchia Night Market with suggested walking route, and my recommendations for what to eat there (for vegetarians and vegans, find all the vegetarian food stalls in the night market here!)
Also don’t miss my guides to other Taichung attractions like Gaomei Wetland, Rainbow Village, and my Taichung travel guide. I’ve also got posts covering the best night markets in Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Keelung!
Table of Contents
Introducing Feng Chia Night Market
Most night markets in Taiwan start with a few foods stalls outside of a temple or school, slowly growing over time and spreading along the streets around them. In the case of Fengchia Night Market, it is the latter.
In 1961, Feng Chia College of Engineering and Business (now Feng Chia University) was established. Food stalls catering to the students began setting up on Wenhua Road (文華路) in front of the college. By 1963, Feng Chia Night Market was officially established.
Over time, these food stalls spread up and down Wenhua Road, following it as it curves west and intersects with the main thoroughfare, Fuxing Road (福星路). The small lanes and alleys between Wenhua and Fuxing roads began to fill up with stalls, too.
Today, this vast night market stretches 1.5 kilometers from north to south. There are hundreds of food stalls and hole-in-the-wall restaurants dishing out a wide variety of Taiwanese and internationally-inspired street foods. It is by far the largest and most famous night market in Central Taiwan, so it surely deserves a spot on your Taichung travel itinerary!
If you prefer to go on a guided trip, then this tour finishes at Fenchia Night Market.
Getting to Feng Chia Night Market
Fengchia Night Market is located in Taichung’s Xitun district, northwest of the Taichung city center. It is actually quite a ways from Taichung station (the regular TRA train station) and other popular Taichung attractions.
Taichung is still working on expanding its new MRT system. Someday, when the blue line is finished, you will be able to ride it from Taichung station to Fengchia Night Market. You will be able to take it to Taichung City Hall Station, where the blue line will connect with the green, then walk from there, or transfer to the green line and go one stop closer, the Wenxin Yinghua station. But since the blue line isn’t open yet, you’ll have to get there by taxi or bus.
By bus, you can take bus #25 from “Taichung Station Minzu Rd. Intersection” stop and get off at “Dingnanzai Xitun Rd.” stop. It takes 30 minutes, and you can swipe your EasyCard to pay. Another option is bus #45 from “First Square” stop, also riding for 30 minutes and getting off at “Dingnanzai Xitun Rd.” stop.
If you’re coming from the Taichung High Speed Rail (HSR) station, you can get to Fengchia by MRT. Ride the green MRT line from Xinwuri station (connected to the HSR station) and get off at Wenxin Yinghua station, from where it’s a 10-minute walk to the night market. You can get a discount on your HSR tickets if you pre-order them here and follow the steps in my HSR booking guide.
You can also get there on this half-day tour or by renting a scooter in Taichung.
Fengchia Night Market Map and Walking Route
I’ve prepared this Feng Chia Night Market Map to show my recommended walking tour of Fengchia Night Market. While it doesn’t cover everything (that would be impossible) it takes in some of the best food stalls the night market has to offer, and all of its main streets.
If you are arriving by MRT, walk to Point A (Fuxing Park) on my map, and then walk into the night market from there.
If you arriving by bus, you’ll likely start at Point B, which is near “Dingnanzai Xitun Rd. (頂湳仔(西屯路)) bus stop here. Several (but not all) buses from the Taichung city center to Feng Chia will pass by here.
Point D (note cluster of pins) on my map is the main intersection of Fengchia Night Market. Even though there’s a little triangle in my route to the left of here on the map, the night market’s main entrance is to the right of this intersection. It is the intersection of Fuxing and Wenhua roads. From here, the night market will follow Wenhua Road to the right, as it curves north toward Feng Chia University.
Point C is the furthest north we’ll go on this tour. From there, we’ll circle back to the main intersection at Point D.
The large area between Wenhua Road and Fuxing Road, which my walking tour does a big circle around, contains many small alleys full of food stalls – don’t be afraid to go off my proposed route and further explore them. There are many hidden culinary gems to seek out!
What to Eat at Fengjia Night Market
We’re going to start this Feng Chia Night Market tour from the main intersection at Wenhua and Fuxing roads (Point D on my map, with a cluster of pins. We’ll start by exploring those pins, then walk in a small triangular loop to the left.
Returning to Point D, we’ll enter the main night market gate and follow Wenhua Road as it curves north past Feng Chia University. Eventually we’ll loop back and finish at Point D.
Takoyaki (日船章魚小丸子 – 逢甲總店)
You can’t miss this popular takoyaki place thanks to the huge octopus on the sign. It’s right at the main intersection of Feng Chia Night Market.
Takoyaki is a Japanese dish of deep fried batter balls containing cabbage and a chunk of grilled octopus and topped with teriyaki sauce, sweet mayo, and your choice of toppings.
You can find Takoyaki in night markets across Taiwan, but I recommend this one, if anything, because of it’s awesome stayue.
Jiguang Fragrant Chicken (繼光香香雞 – 福星店)
Right across Wenhua Street from the Takoyaki stall is this popular Taiwanese fried chicken (炸雞, also called “Taiwanese popcorn chicken”) shop. It’s another landmark stall, thanks to the enormous statue of fried chicken nuggets being tossed into the air by a cartoonish chef adorning the outer wall.
The stall dates all the way back to 1973. Besides fried chicken, they dish out fried squid, oyster mushrooms, cuttlefish tempura, sweet potato fries, sweet potato balls, and more. Greasy and delicious, any of the above go down well with cold beer, available from the 7-Eleven a few steps away.
Taiwan King Spicy Noodles (大王麻辣乾麵)
This is a sit-down restaurant a few steps in from the main intersection (Point D). This hip restaurant with funky decorations (including some bad words in neon lights) specializes at insanely mala (mouth numbing-spicy) noodles. Your can choose from spicy to extremely spicy, on a spicy scale of 1–5.
I personally went for a level 4, and that was enough for them to take a polaroid photo of me to put on the wall (only once I finished the whole bowl). To be totally honest, I regretted it. It was ridiculously, painfully spicy. I went to 7-11 right after for a drink. My stomach was not happy the next day. In my photo above, the sign they put on my table says “He’s eating super spicy”.
Noodle choices include vegetarian, pork and pickled mustard, minced pork sauce, or spicy oil, as well as spicy wontons. They range from NT 45 to 140 for a small/large bowl – I just went for small.
Ming Lun Dan Bing (明倫蛋餅)
Danbing (蛋餅, or Taiwanese green onion egg crepes) are a common Taiwanese breakfast food item that you can find at literally any breakfast shop across Taiwan. But who says they have to be only for breakfast?
The danbing served at Ming Lun (NT 45) are a little thicker, spongier, and sweeter than typical breakfast shop ones. They are made from scratch with fresh green onions. They come in a paper bag rather than the usual cardboard box, with your choice of house sauce, soy sauce, black pepper powder, and/or spicy sauce (choose as many as you want). The choices are posted on a board in English, so you can just point if you don’t speak Mandarin.
Ming Lun is so popular that it has two locations: one near Point B on my map and one near Point D.
Ershui Stinky Tofu with Crab Roe (二水山泉臭豆腐)
On the same street as Minglun Danbing, there’s a exceptionally delicious stinky tofu shop called Ershui Shanquan Stinky Tofu. Their specialty, which I’ve never seen anywhere else in Taiwan, is stinky tofu with a huge mound of lobster roe on it (蟹黃臭豆腐TWD 15). The crab roe has a surprisingly subtle flavor – it’s not fishy or overwhelming.
Besides that, they’ve got regular deep fried stinky tofu and the stewed version duck blood version. They make their own spicy sauce on site (I watched them do it while I was eating there). It’s delicious!
Zun Pin Yuan Zhi Beef Noodle Restaurant (尊品原汁牛肉麵)
One of Taiwan’s most famous dishes is beef noodles – it was brought to Taiwan from China by KMT soldiers but the ingredients and method of preparation has evolved into its own thing over time.
In Feng Chia Night Market, the best place to try it is Zun Pin Yuan Zhi Beef Noodle Restaurant. It’s all done right here – firm but chewy noodles, tender beef, fragrant soup, and suitable sides like century egg, boiled greens, and braised pork rice (滷肉飯 or luroufan).
After visiting the above, return to Point D (the main intersection) on my map. Cross Fuxing Road to walk enter the main entrance gate to Feng Chia Night Market.
Little 8 Tri-Color Sweet Potato Balls (小8三色地瓜球)
Deep fried sweet potatoes are ubiquitous in Taiwan. You can find them in virtually every night market. But the latest trend is to make very colorful ones (thank you, food dye!)
At little 8, the tri-color sweet potato balls like like little Pokeballs. They taste just like any other – crispy on the outside, soft on the inside, and best eaten while still warm. They are a fun, light, and chewy snack. You can choose from a few different flavor toppings – I recommend plum powder (梅粉). A small bag is 30 or big bag is 50.
You’ll find this stall about a block into the night market, right at the corner of a small alley going to the right. The next two entries will be down that alley.
The most colorful sweet potato balls I’ve ever seen were at this stall in Kenting Night Market.
Korean Tteokbokki (韓式辣炒年糕)
One of my favorite foods to eat at Fengchia Night Market is Korean tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes, or nian gao (年糕) in Chinese). If you turn right down the small alley from the above sweet potato stall, you’ll find two popular tteokbokki stalls – 歐巴麻葯-辣炒年糕 and 味寶年糕專賣店, both on the left side of the alley.
At either stall, you can get your tteokbokki covered in a layer of melted cheese (起司辣炒年糕), or go for the full meal deal – instant noodles, tteokbokki, and melted cheese (起司泡麵辣炒年糕).
A-Hua’s Black Wheel Oden (阿華黑輪)
Oden is another Japanese-inspired dish common in Taiwan, including in most 7-Elevens, where it is called guandong zhu (關東煮). It consists of various sticks of meat, veggies, tofu, fish cakes and so on, slowly stewed in a fragrant bonito broth.
At A-Hua’s stall, you help yourself to whichever you want, along with some soup in your bowl, and they’ll ring it up. There’s also peanut satay sauce for dipping. The stall is popular, but some guests complain about the unenthusiastic service – its all about the food, not smiles here.
Due to its popularity, there are now two A-Hua stalls. The second, quieter location (阿華黑輪) is here on the same alley as the Korean tteokbokki stalls, but on the right side. To find the original location (阿華黑輪總店攤位), return to the main road of Feng Chia Night Market and continue following it toward Feng Chia University. It will be on the left.
Self-Service Iced Tea Station (中飲自助飲料站)
Here was another first for me – seeing a self-serve iced tea station designed to look like a Taiwanese gas station! To “fill up” with a drink, you need to choose from the menu on the screen, pay, then choose the correct pump to fill you cup provided – the green tap on the left is for honey tea, red tap in the middle is for black tea, and yellow tap on the right is for Thai milk tea. For other choices, it will indicate which tap to fill from.
Then, place it under the sealing machine on the right, which will automatically seal your cup with a plastic cover. Help yourself to a straw! How fun!
Yuan Grilled Fish (元-火烤魚)
Across from the gas pump iced tea, there’s a popular stall which does whole grilled sea bass (TWD 300). Before grilling the fish, they cover the fish in a thick layer of salt. Once ready, they’ll break the salt chunks off and serve it in an aluminum pan. The salt gives the fish a delicious flavor. This is a showy dish, and one you’ll be har pressed to find anywhere else.
Besides the fish, they have some cheaper items like squid and clams with various flavors. There is a room with seating across from food stall.
Seaside Republic (海邊小屋)
Once you’ve gone past the main entrance to Fengchia University, watch for Seaside Republic on a corner on the right side. It does grilled prawns, but what you really come for its their cute, whale-shaped to-go boxes of small clams (蛤蜊). One whale goes for NT 90.
There are four flavor choices available: Sea Flavor (大海原味), Black Pepper (濃厚系黑胡椒), Garlic (大片黑蒜), or Ginger (御百邪老薑). These small clams are ubiquitous in Taiwan – they won’t fill you up by any means (more room in your tummy to try other things!), but they are miniature flavor bombs. Make sure to drink the juice in each clam shell.
I don’t normally condone using plastic bags, but the vendor will insist you take one, which is actually quite useful for putting your shells and container in when you’re done. The vendor will also take your bag back at the end – very useful, since trash bins are scarce at Fengchia, like most night markets in Taiwan. There’s even a small sink to wash your hands, too.
Gekiuma Yakitori (激旨燒き鳥)
After Seaside Republic, if you’re following the walking route on my map, you’re going to soon turn left down a small line to find the following shaved ice shop.
However, there’s a yakitori (Japanese grilled meats) shop that I want to recommend. It’s a block or two out of the night market, but still worth mentioning. To find it, keep following Wenhua Road north to here. I’ve also pinned it on the map, even though the walking route doesn’t lead to it. The popular shop occupies a small courtyard with a canopy of lanterns above.
This is the perfect place to spend an evening drinking draft beer, eating meat sticks, and making some local friends.
Yu Pin-Yuan Binghuo Tangyuan (御品元冰火湯圓-台中逢甲店)
For something sweet and special at Fengchia Night Market, try this famous dessert shop. Their specialty is binghuo tangyuan. Binghuo (冰火) means “iced fire” while tangyuan (湯圓) are little chewy balls or glutinous rice associated with the Lantern Festival in Taiwan.
This dish is essential hot gooey tangyuan served atop shaved ice. Here, they served it with sweet osmanthus flower honey and lemon juice, and you can add more as you wish. This is actually a branch of the famous, Michelin-rated shop of the same name in Tonghua Night Market, and there’s another at Raohe Night Market (both in Taipei).
Besides this hot-meets-cold dish, the shop has several other variations (NT 70-120), such as black sesame tangyuan with wine vinegar, peanut tangyuan with sweet osmanthus honey, and more. There’s an English menu and a few chairs inside.
You’ll find it once you turn west from Wenhua Rd onto lane 127.
Bingshu Grilled Corn (炳叔烤玉米逢甲總店)
After the shaved ice shop, if you want to go back to salty foods, then I highly recommend this place. It was a later addition to my map, so you’ll see the pin, just a few steps off my recommended walking route, before it circles back to the south.
Bingshu Grilled Corn makes what is literally the best grilled corn I’ve ever had in Taiwan. While grilling it, they scrub the hell out of it with Taiwanese satay (shacha) sauce, which caramelizes to form a salty/sweet/roasted outer layer.
You’ll need to first choose the more tender or QQ (cherwy) corn, then a flavor, such as original, vegetarian, spicy, black pepper, or curry. You pay by weight – most cobs come to TWD 90 to 110.
Guan Zhi-lin’s Rice Sausage Stuffed with Sausage (官芝霖大腸包小腸)
Returning to the walking route and venturing south, “Rice Sausage Stuffed with Sausage” is exactly what it sounds like. They take a thick sausage made of rice, slice it open, and put a normal grilled Taiwanese sausage inside of it. Like a sausage in a bun of rice!
You can find this dish in night markets across Taiwan, but locals seem to love the ones served here (NT 55). You can choose original (原味) which comes with peanut powder, egg, pickled mustard, and cucumber, little/medium/majorly spicy (小辣/中辣/大辣), wasabi flavor (芥末), garlic (蒜味), or black pepper flavor (黑胡椒).
Yixin Vegetarian Stinky Tofu (一心素食臭豆腐)
It is a rather surprising fact that a lot of the stinky tofu served in Taiwan is actually not vegetarian. They often use small amounts of meat or animal fat to kickstart the fermentation process.
For vegetarians, though, you can luckily try this guaranteed vegetarian version (NT 50) at Yixin Vegetarian Stinky Tofu. The cubes of fried tofu here are extra crispy and served with pickled cabbage and julienned cucumber.
They also serve vegetarian mian xian (vermicelli stew or ‘mee sua’ in the Taiwanese language), which is another godsend, as this delicious dish usually has intestines and a meaty base. It’s only NT40 for a small bowl.
Right next to it, you can get all kinds of taro desserts at Dajia Taro City (大甲芋頭城逢甲店). Try their taro sago soup (芋頭西米露 or yutou ximilu). Or, try the delicious baitangguo (rice cakes coated in various sweet powders Classic Baitangguo (古早味白糖粿)!
At this point, you’ve practically returned to where we started, completing our walking loop through Feng Chia Night Market. While you could trek all the way back to the MRT station from here, personally, I was so full that I treated myself to an Uber back to my hotel.
I’ve only just scratched the surface here. There are literally hundreds of other things to eat in Feng Chia Night Market, but I hope this guide provides a good starting point for food tour!
