Xinzhuang Temple Street Night Market is a Taiwanese night market in New Taipei City’s Xinzhuang District. It sells tasty green onion cakes and doesn’t charge tourist rates. Explore this guide to learn more.
I’ve lived in Taiwan for over 5 years and have been to the Xinzhuang Night market at least 5 times. I want to combine my experience with additional helpful information I’ve found surrounding this night market.
Table of Contents
Important Information for Travelers
| Is It Worth Going to? | Not really |
| Hours (As of 2024) | 4 PM – 12 AM daily |
| Cost to Enter | Free |
| City Located | New Taipei City |
| Address | Xinzhuang Rd, Xinzhuang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan |
| Chinese Name | 新莊老街夜市 |
| Wheelchair-Accessible? | Yes |
| Free Wi-Fi | No |
Traveler Tips & Considerations
- Always alert vendors to any allergies you have when ordering food. Translation cards detailing your allergens can facilitate communication.
- The optimal time to visit a night market depends on the specific food stalls you wish to try, as their hours may vary.
- It’s important to note that individual stall hours may not always coincide with the overall night market hours.
- While cash is the most common form of payment at food stalls, some vendors may also accept LINE Pay.
Important information regarding food allergies.
Due to differences in the written language, most Taiwanese people cannot read Simplified Chinese. Therefore, it’s crucial to create allergy chef cards using Traditional Chinese characters.
I strongly recommend hiring a local Taiwanese speaker to assist you in creating accurate allergy cards. While Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) offers chef card templates, they may not be suitable for use in Taiwan due to the language difference.
Regardless, always carry an Anapen or EpiPen (or equivalent) in case of an emergency.
If you need an EpiPen in Taiwan, ask for an “艾筆腎上腺素注射筆” (ài bǐ shèn shàng xiàn sù zhù shè bǐ) at a pharmacy. However, be aware that they may require a doctor’s prescription. If so, find a doctor willing to prescribe it and expect to pay around NT$4,200 – 4,500 (2021 price).
Here are Some Good Food to Try
I recommend the green onion pancakes. Not from any particular stand, though.
Since it’s like most night markets in Taiwan, walk around until you see food stalls you like. If that’s not something you’d want, you could always try popular night market food like:
- BBQ
- Seafood
- Dumplings
- Stinky tofu
- Beef noodle soup
If you have trouble ordering something, use a translation app to communicate with the night market vendor.
Xinzhuang night market isn’t a tourist trap. So you won’t see elevated “tourist” prices. Most foods I’ve seen here hover under the NT$100 price range per food item.
Otherwise, the night market isn’t worth visiting unless you are in the area. It’s out of the way.
How To Get There
1. MRT / Subway: Depart from one of two Taipei MRT stations:
- Xinzhuang (Orange Line)
- Touqianzhuang (Circular Line and Orange Line).
2. YouBike: There’s a YouBike station 4 minutes away (walking distance) from the night market.
3. Uber / taxi: The price for taking a taxi will vary by where you order it from.
- I honestly recommend downloading one of these apps to book a taxi:
- Find Taxi (English): Book a taxi ahead of time and know the driver’s ratings (like Uber…)
- 55688 (English): Same as Find Taxi, but with a reward point system.
Is There Anything Nearby Worth Seeing?
While in the area, you can travel to IKEA, about a 10-minute walk or a 5-minute YouBike ride from the night market.
You can get lost in the furniture display labyrinth and try some food.
If you intend to stay in the area for a while and happen to be there during the day, you can navigate around Banqiao District and check out various cool places. On a hot or rainy day, go to the shopping centers (e.g., Megacity) by Banqiao Train Station.
If you want to venture somewhere else in Taiwan, Banqiao has a Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) and Taiwan High-Speed Rail (TSHR) station.
You can take the Taipei Metro Circular Line from Touqianzhuang Metro Station to Xinpu Minsheng Station and walk about 5 minutes to the Banqiao Flower Market. It pales compared to the Jianguo Holiday Flower. But it still has some bonsai trees and other plants you can observe.
This market’s tiny and mainly for locals. But it’s a nice place to kill a couple of minutes.
Otherwise, you can take the Circular Line to Banqiao Station and wander around that area. There are plenty of air-conditioned shopping centers like Mega City or Global Mall.
If you’re in Taiwan in December, Banqiao hosts its annual Christmasland Festival. During this time, the city government will adorn the city hall and the surrounding area with Christmas decorations and light displays.
History
Xinzhuang Miaojie (or Xinzhuang Temple Street) kinda means that it’s home to various places of worship.
These temples include [1 source is in Chinese]:
- Fude Temple (海山里福德宮)
- Wusheng Temple (武聖廟 (武前街))
- QuanAn Gong Temple (全安宮)
- Ciyou Temple (慈祐宮 (利濟街)
- Dizang Temple (地藏庵)
Almost all of these temples aren’t on Xinzhuang road. But they’re relics to check out. So I’ll cover more details surrounding the temple that resides there.
Dizang Buddhist Temple (地藏庵). The Public Master Temple (or Public Temple) finished construction in 1757 and served as a place of worship for the military and government officials.
But now, temple-goers worship Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva. A bodhisattva that took a vow to guide beings from the underworld.
Each year a couple of days before May 1st, locals will hold an event dubbed “anfang.” It’s a ritual used to repel ghosts. Come May 1st, temple volunteers will hand out safety charms and Xinzhuang cake to the locals.
These items bless the locals. I couldn’t find the most history in this area, so I’ll find more information and fill out this section later.
Xinzhuang Night Market and the Dizang Temple have existed for over 300 years. Predating Japan’s colonialism and during the Qing Dynasty’s occupation.
