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Every city in Taiwan has its own night markets, and Taichung is no exception. The star of Taichung’s night markets is Fengchia Night Market, one of the country’s largest and most famous night markets, and one of the most popular things to do in Taichung.
In my quest to visit every major night market in Taiwan, I recently visited Taiwan’s “middle” city to check out the other major night markets in Taichung. What I found is that, perhaps due to its central location in the country, Taichung’s night market scene is a microcosm of the country’s. The city has night markets that I would describe as Taipei-style, but also ones that are reminiscent of those in Tainan and Kaohsiung. And so sheer variety night market styles and Taiwanese foods is what you can expect when night market hopping in Taichung!
In this article, I’ll introduce the five major night markets in the Taichung city center, including how to get there and the most famous food stalls at each one.
At the end, I’ll mention over 10 Taichung night markets located in districts outside of the Taichung city center – keeping in mind that Taichung “city” spans a huge area, from ocean to mountaintops, that used to be called “Taichung county”.
You may also want to read my similar guides to the best night markets in Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Keelung! I’ve also got a guide to visiting Taichung.
Table of Contents
The Five Major Taichung Night Markets
The following are arranged in order of my most to least recommended. For the food stall names, I’ve translated them to English – to find them, I suggest copy-pasting the Mandarin name to GoogleMaps.
Feng Chia Night Market Guide
Feng Chia Night Market (逢甲夜市, also spelled Fengchia, Fengjia or Feng Jia Night Market) is by far the most famous night market in Taichung. For more information than I’ll provide here, including a walking tour map so you don’t get lost like I did the first time, visit my separate map and guide to Fengchia Night Market.
It is also one of the largest night markets in all of Taiwan. There are claims that it is the largest in Taiwan, but this is difficult to say for sure. Fenchia is definitely Taichung’s answer to Shilin Night Market in Taipei, and it is the one that most tourists visit when they come to Taichung.
If you’re vegetarian or vegan, I recommend the best vegetarian food stalls at Feng Chia here.
Fengjia Night Market first opened in 1963, when nearby Feng Chia University first opened. The night market started out on Wenhua Road, which is still it’s main road, but has spread out into several other alleys and roads since. The market doesn’t have any particular specialty like some do. It’s mainly known for its sheer variety of choices.
Fengchia is in Xitun district, quite a ways from the city center, so you need to take a taxi or bus to get there. From the Taichung High Speed Rail station (get your discount HSR tickets from Taipei here and find out how they work), you can take the new Taichung MRT green line to get there–get off at Wenxin Yinghua Station. Once the blue MTY line is opened, you will be able to ride it there from Taichung station.
If you’re planning a day trip to Gaomei Wetlands, which is also northwest of the Taichung city center, consider stopping at Fengchia Night Market on the way back.
This popular Taichung day tour includes Gaomei wetland at Fengchia Night Market!
Famous Stalls/What to Eat
- Yixin Vegetarian Stinky Tofu (一心素食臭豆腐) Yes, some stalls use meat ingredients in their stinky tofu recipe, but not this one
- Ming Lun Dan Bing (明倫蛋餅) A Taiwanese breakfast favorite to enjoy at night, made from scratch, a little thicker than usual breakfast shop ones, and super popular, with two locations in the night market
- Guan Zhi-lin’s Rice Sausage Stuffed with Sausage (官芝霖大腸包小腸) You can find this across Taiwan, but locals seem to love the ones here
- Yu Pin-Yuan Binghuo Tangyuan (御品元冰火湯圓-台中逢甲店) Try their specialty of hot, gooey, sweet tangyuan atop a bowl of shaved ice with sweet osmanthus honey and lemon
- Seaside Hut (海邊小屋) Grilled shrimps and cute little whale-shaped boxes of mini clams
Yizhong Street Night Market
Yizhong Street Night Market (一中街夜市) is a more centrally located Taichung night market. This one is Taichung’s hippest night market, so I would compare it to Ximending shopping district in Taipei.
Yizhong Street is known as a shopping street focused on trendy, low-priced trendy in the daytime, and for its many cram schools. The street is named after Taichung First Senior High School (Taichung YiZhong / 臺中一中), which is also found on the street. It is also crammed between the National Taiwan University of Science and Technology and the National Taiwan University of Sport.
In the late afternoon and evening, it bursts to life with night market stalls, which are concentrated on Yizhong Street, starting in the south at Jingwu Road (精武路) across the street from Taichung Park, and stretching north to Jinxin Street (錦新街), plus several alleys leading east and west off from it.
The food stalls at Yizhong Night Market cater to the high school and university students (lucky them!) and the many other youths who flock there to feast, shop for fashionable items, and play night market games. Even though the vibe is trendy, the foods for sale in this market are still mostly traditional.
Some quirky shops here include a branch of the famous poo-themed Taiwanese chain restaurant Modern Toilet on the edge of the night market area. There are also at least two “maid cafés”: 貓貓領域女僕咖啡 (Mao Mao Maid Café, which serves as both a maid and cat café) and 心跳女僕咖啡 (Doki² Maid Cafe).
Yizhong Night Market is located just north of the expansive Taichung Park. It takes about 20 minutes to walk there from Taichung Train Station, and you can walk through the beautiful park on the way. When the orange MRT line opens someday, there will be an “Yizhong Shopping District” stop, which will be the first stop north of Taichung Station.
Famous Stalls/What to Eat
- 21 Stinky Tofu (21臭豆腐) Crispy and excellent – there are several other stinky tofu stalls around it
- Angel Chicken Fillet (天使雞排 – 一中店) Classic jipai stall
- Tiger Sugar Bubble Tea (老虎堂 台中一中店) A super popular bubble tea shop in recent years, with black sugar syrup poured down the sides of the cup
- Lu’s Half Moon Shao Xian Bing (stuffed flaky pastries) 盧の堡半月燒餡餅一中總店) Traditional flaky pastries stuffed with various things
- Xi Feng Yu Tianbula and Mianxian (喜豐榆 甜不辣/麵線) Taiwanese fish cakes and vermicelli stew
- Fengren Shaved Ice (一中豐仁冰) Cups of very traditional shaved ice (think beans, sour plum flavor, etc.), considered a must by local visitors
Zhongxiao Road Night Market
Zhongxiao Road Night Market (忠孝路觀光夜市) is another of the largest night markets in Taichung – not to be confused with Jhongsiao Night Market in Kaohsiung, which is also on a Zhongxiao (Jhongsiao) street.
Speaking of Kaohsiung, though, Zhongxiao Road Night Market reminds me a lot of another famous (among locals, not tourists) Kaohsiung Night Market – Guanghua Night Market. At both of these night markets, most diners pull up on scooters to take their food away. Thus I like to think of Zhongxiao Road Night Market as a “Kaohsiung-style” night market in Taichung.
While it can be fun to see the masses of scooters parked on either side of the road, it isn’t as suitable for visitors arriving on foot. You have to navigate around seas of parked scooters and walk along a busy traffic road. Still, of you are looking to experience a busy, mainly local night market, Zhongxiao Street Night Market could be it.
The night market is in South District, just south of Taichung City Third Market (臺中市第三公有零售市場) a day market for everything from meat, produce and dried foods to clothing and household goods, as well as Cultural Heritage Village (臺中文化創意產業園區), one of the top Taichung attractions.
It is about a 10-minute walk southwest of Taichung Train Station.
Famous Stalls/What to Eat
- Ogawa’s (小川家) Try the deep fried beef & melted cheese bowls atop Japanese curry (起士牛丸咖哩飯)!
- Wei Quan Mi Gao (味泉米糕) For very traditional and always tasty tongzai migao (Taiwanese rice pudding with pork)
- Cai Family Douhua (蔡家豆花) Popular douhua (dessert tofu) stall that also has xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and guabao (Taiwanese hamburger)
- Yongdetang Barley Milk (永德堂薏仁牛奶) A popular traditional drink stall with the likes of barley milk, papaya milk, and green bean milk.
Hanxi Night Market
If Zhongxiao Street Night Market is a Kaohsiung-style night market, then Hanxi Night Market (旱溪夜市) is a Tainan-style one. In Tainan, most night markets are not along normal streets but in huge, vacant parking lots. There
Also, just like night markets in Tainan, Hanxi Night Market only opens on certain days of the week. Every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, vendors set up temporary rows of stalls in this large space just east of the Han River (旱溪 or Han Xi), hence the night market’s name.
Few tourists ever make it out this way, so try this night market out for an off-the-beaten-track and Southern Taiwan vibe. No scooters or traffic to worried about inside the night market is another plus.
In terms of food, expect lots of typical local specialties, like quail egg skewers, meat skewers, papaya milk, green onion cakes, oyster omelets, and the list goes on. One specialty the night market is known for is fermented bean curd chicken (豆乳雞) – the chicken is marinated in fermented bean curd paste before being deep fried.
Hanxi Night Market is in Taichung’s East District, about 30 minutes on foot from Taichung station. I recommend going by taxi or Uber like I did.
Famous Stalls/What to Eat
- Master Fang Lian’s Dried Dou Gan (方臉師傅豆干) Super yummy dougan (dried tofu) with various toppings
- Good Hualien-style Green Onion Cakes (好蔥食花蓮炸蛋蔥油餅 旱溪總店) Deep fried green onion cakes with a runny whole deep fried egg inside
- Zhengfeng Original Pineapple Ice (正豐原祖傳鳳梨冰) Traditional slushy pineapple drink
- Yiye Fermented Bean Curd Chicken (一也豆乳雞) A popular fried chicken stall; the chicken is first marinated in furu, or fermented bean curd sauce
Zhonghua Road Night Market
Dating to the 1950s, and officially recognized as a night market in the 1960s, Zhonghua Road Night Market (中華路夜市) is Taichung’s longest-running night market. However, despite holding the title as Taichung’s oldest, the night market is past its prime and I don’t really recommend it.
The reason I say this is that it barely counts as a night market because it is so long and spread out. There is no single part of it with a dense collection of food stalls that you can easily stroll on foot. Instead, it’s better to arrive at a specific stall by scooter as the locals do.
As the name suggests, the night market runs along both sides of Zhonghua Road (spaning parts of section 1 and 2). The night market starts a few blocks northeast of where is indicated on GoogleMaps, but runs about a kilometer (southwest direction) from there. But like I said, it’s not a continuous night market, so there are many streets or gaps with few or no stalls.
Still, many older Taichung locals love to come to Zhonghua Road Night Market for the memories and traditional foods on offer. It’s also known for being the go-to place to find something greasy and delicious to eat as late as 4 A.M.
A 10-minute walk directly west of Yizhong Street Night Market will bring you to the start of Zhonghua Street Night Market, but as I mentioned, it’s best to plan where you want to eat first, then arrive by scooter or taxi, rather than walk from one end to the other.
Four of the night market’s most famous stalls (all on my list below) are at the same intersection, where Zhonghua Rd Sect 1 (中華路一段) and Taiwan Boulevard Sect 1 (台灣大道一段) meet, so that would be the best spot to arrive. Still, no won’t really feel you are in a night market – at least I didn’t.
Famous Stalls/What to Eat
- Fu Din Wang (富鼎旺豬腳-中正店) Famous for their braised pork knuckles
- Three Generations Fried Noodles (三代炒麵 or San Dai Chao Mian) 60+ year-old fried noodle shop. They’ve also got a “ketchup fried rice” (don’t knock it till you try it!)
- A Quan Gua Bao (阿全割包担) For guabao (“Taiwanese hamburgers”), just across the street from the above two
- Zhonghua Stinky Tofu and Oyster Omelet (中華臭豆腐蚵仔煎) Two Taiwanese classics at one stall, across from the latter
Other Night Markets in Taichung City
Keep in mind that Taichung City is huge, encompassing many districts that used to make up Taichung County. Many of these districts have night markets of their own that mainly attract locals living in them.
The following night markets are located in districts outside of the main Taichung city center, so they may be worth checking out if you happen to be these parts of Taichung, or as a day trip from Taichung!
- Tunghai Villa Night Market (東海別墅夜市) Next to Tunghai University in Longjing District, about 5 km west of Feng Chia Night Market
- Chang Ping Night Market (昌平夜市) In Beitun district near Sihwei Elementary School Station on the green MRT line
- MRT Terminal Night Market (Jie Yun Zongzhan Night Market or 捷運總站夜市) Near Beitun Main MRT Station, last stop on the green line
- Sizhangli Night Market (四張犁夜市) Sundays-only night market also in Beitun District
- Lufeng Night Market (峰夜市) A brand new night market (opened April 2022) in Shalu District
- Tanzi Shengli Night Market (潭子勝利夜市) Monday, Thursday, Saturday only, in Tanzi District
- Yatan Night Market (雅潭夜市) Wednesday, Friday to Sunday in Daya District
- Fegyuan Miaodong Night Market (豐原廟東夜市) Largest and most popular night market in the northern Taichung district of Fengyuan
- Pacific Night Market (太平洋夜市) and Huludun Night Market (葫蘆墩觀光夜市) Two more night markets in Fengyuan
- Gongming Night Market (公明夜市) Small night market near the Taichung International Airport
Thanks for making it to the end of my Taichung night markets post? What do you think the best night market in Taichung is? What did I miss? Let me know in the questions below!
