Lehua Night Market in Yonghe, New Taipei City (Chinese: 樂華夜市; pinyin: Lèhuá Yèshì)

Compilation of clips of Lehua Night Market in New Taipei City, Taiwan from Images By Kenny on Vimeo.

I've been living in the Yonghe District, New Taipei City for about eight of my nine years in Taiwan. One of the best places to go around Yonghe is the Lehua Night Market.

The 30-year-old night market has a great mix of everything from food to clothes. The awesome and interesting street food at vendors here includes fried chicken steaks, oyster omelets, tempura, mochi, almond tofu, almond milk, shaved ice, and rice cakes. A relatively new addition here is the beef cubes cooked with a blowtorch, which is apparently a Taiwanese traditional food (well, as traditional as anything involving a blowtorch can be). As with most night markets, the vendors prepare the food right in front of you.

Taiwanese Hakka mochi dessert

© Photographer: Imagesbykenny | Agency: Dreamstime.com

If you not into street food, there are also many restaurants, including good pasta and steak restaurants. On a side note, a night market is not a place you'd usually go to eat steak (Although the one in the night market is one of the best in Yonghe), but if you do want to, I suggest going to the actual steak restaurant instead of eating steak at the NT$100-steak night market stands; unless you really like inedible sinew.

Besides the snacks and street food, there are also many clothes shops, small arcades, and grocery stores, as well as seemingly out of place convenience stores and retail chain stores.

The market is pretty packed over weekends, but not quite as much as Shida, Raohe, or Shilin. Most of the stores and stalls are open from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. There is a Party World KTV right next to it if you want to stay out after your visit.

The night market is easy to get to.

By MRT: Go to Dingxi MRT Station, go out exit 1, turn left and walk down Yonghe Road, and you will see the Lehua night market entrance. It's about a five minute walk.

By bus: Buses 5, 57, 214, 227, 250, and 304 all stop at the Party World KTV next to the night market. Buses 706, 297, 249, 262, 624, and 670 all stop at bus stops close by.

Address: YǒngPíng Rd, Yonghe District, New Taipei City, Taiwan 234

 

Have you ever been to Lehua Night Market? Tell me about your experience there in the comments below.


Shutterstock Lightbox for stock photos of Taiwanese night markets



To learn more about interesting places and sights to visit in Taiwan, check out my list of Places to see in Taiwan

Traditional Markets in Taiwan

Woman selling water chestnuts at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

Taiwan is known mostly for its night markets, but there is another kind of market here that deserves a visit—the traditional market (or "day market") which is open from early morning until mid afternoon and sells almost completely different products to night markets.



Fruit and vegetable store at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

 

The products at traditional markets are mostly fresh produce along with some street food and snacks. Although the target market for these traditional markets is mainly housewives and people shopping to cook at home, they make for an interesting excursion to experience the charm and diversity of Taiwan.

Fresh meat at a vendor at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

 

Just like the night markets, they are made up mainly of street vendors, although some stores do form an integral part of some of them. About seventy to eighty percent of the vendors sell fresh fruit and vegetables; others sell fresh meat and fish, while the rest sell street food like fried chicken, tofu, and water chestnuts.

 

Fresh vegetables at a vendor at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

The fruit and vegetables at traditional markets are usually quite a bit cheaper than conventional stores or supermarkets as well as being fresher.
 

Fresh meat at a vendor at a traditional market in New Taipei City

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

 

If you get the chance, go and take a stroll through one of these and see a side of Taiwan many tourists miss.

If you need help finding a traditional market on your trip, drop me a comment below, and I'll help you find one.

Woman buying street food from a vendor at a traditional market

© Photographer: Kenneth Paul | Agency: Dreamstime.com

 

More of my photos of traditional and night markets in Taiwan can be found here:

Stock photos of traditional and night markets in Taiwan

To learn more about interesting places and sights to visit in Taiwan, check out my list of Places to see in Taiwan