Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路觀光夜市) @ Chiayi City in Taiwan

Night markets are synonymous with Taiwan and weird as it might sound, I didn't pencil in any night market to visit on our first night in Taiwan (2025) as I figured we would be too tired by the time we checked in to our hotel at Chiayi. 

What I didn't realize was the close proximity of Wenhua Road Night Market as it was only about 600 meters from where we stayed, and it's almost a direct straight line along Zhongzheng road. 

Random photographs of the items for sale; nothing appealed particularly to me, especially for the wearables suitable for the winter season yet unsuitable for the climate at my home country.

This was quite interesting; sale of lucky bracelets by a foreign backpacker to fund his trips, which at that moment had covered over 60 countries! Nevertheless, this would likely be illegal in Singapore although our compassionate police officers would let him go with a verbal warning.

Game section - a huge business in Taiwan night markets as they remained popular among adults despite the technological advancement and addiction via our mobile phones. One key advantage; prizes can be pretty lucrative. 

Local snacks; although I would love to buy some back for my mom, I hesitated as it was merely the first day of my 11-day trip (expiry and storage considerations), and there wasn't any sampling! 

Food would be my focus for any night markets, be it in Taiwan, Malaysia, Thailand or Singapore! Problem for this focus, unfortunately, was the widening dilemma with the expansion of the variety! Should I go for this even though there is no queue? I would love to eat this but like so fattening!

Random photographs of the night market; generally clean unlike night markets in other countries and it was extremely comfortable for both of us, with the wide road and the temperature at a mere 15 degrees celcius.

Adorable doggie wearing a pair of spectacles! 

I was conflicted over what to eat and decided to start with something healthy; guava, which came with more flavours like liquorice root, lemon, passionfruit other than the usual plum.

A bag at NT$50 for the normal guava with liquorice root. Crunchy, juicy with a somewhat sweet, saltish flavor that's not from any powder; seemed to be from the water it was sprayed with. Thankfully didn't have the tart taste. 

Next up, the flaming beef dices that I had back in 2014, at Taichung! Back then, it was said to be something new and it's incredible to find it still standing strong in the competitive Taiwanese night market scene.

NT$100 for this box of flaming beef cubes topped with rose salt; I relished in their hot juicines (despite it being a frozen slab of beef just a few minutes ago) in the cool weather! Alex couldn't stand the bloody middle though. 

Ended! 

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Address

Wenhua Rd, West District, 

Chiayi City, Taiwan 

Map

As above.

Click HERE for 11 Days, 10 Nights Taiwan Trip: Summarised Itinerary for Chiayi Alishan (嘉义阿里山) - Kaohsiung (高雄) - Tainan (台南) - Taichung (臺中)