Taiwan Nights

Although famous for its night markets, Taiwan also has an endless amount of unique street-scapes that look their best at night.

Shaped by a complex history of Indigenous, Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, and Chinese rule (and thriving tech hardware industry) Taiwan now has its own unique culture. I highly recommend taking five minutes to read the “Republic of China” History section on Wikipedia to understand a bit more of what the recent history is, and why there’s a seemingly unresolvable conflict with the People’s Republic of China.

When Elaine and I went with her family in 2015, we stayed with Elaine’s dad’s cousin’s family, who also drove us around Taiwan and the island. Looking back at photos now, it seems like we went out almost every night, whether it was to try out food at night markets, or get dinner at a fast-fry restaurant. These are some of the assorted scenes I photographed along the way while the rest of the family was busy catching up with each other.

A man unloads his scooter in a Taiwan alley lined with trees.

Photo taken from a car. The red good luck charm hanging from the rear-view mirror is in focus while everything outside of the car is reduced to bokeh.

Scooters line up around cars. — Scooters are one of, if not the, most popular ways to get around Taiwan.

A restaurant with a family eating inside, surrounded by lanterns and a neon Heineken sign.

A kitchen worker dumps some water behind the restaurant.

A man in a helmet carries a package past a translucent plastic wall that diffuses the scene behind him.

A scooter workshop with the garage door open to the sidewalk and street lined with scooters.

A chef cooks up meals at a fast fry restaurant. — A chef cooks up meals at his fast-fry restaurant, his mise-en-place set up perfectly to prepare some of the most incredible food in the world.

A building rises up from a sea of people with ads covering its sides.

A fruit market with a row of scooters in front of it. — Taiwan has many fruit markets with super-fresh local and imported fruit.

Three scooters line up with a fan of red, yellow, and green lights lighting up behind one of them. — The red, yellow, and green peacock lights indicate a betel nut stall. Betel nuts are an addictive, chewable, stimulant nut that stain teeth red.

A claw machine arcade has its doors open to the street.

A food store has things put away for the night, but the doors open to air out the place.

Two men sit at a night market stall sharing a meal and conversation.

A man in a pink shirt stands in the middle of two rows of pink claw machines.

A cyclist speeds down an empty street in front of buildings and two subway entrances.

Two women walk behind a plastic sheet that diffuses the light of the restaurant illuminating them from behind.

A dark building rises in the middle of Taipei.

A worker sits at a table in the far back of a restaurant closed for the night.

A small bus drives past a shrine adorned with lanterns. — Shrines and temples are easy to find throughout Taiwan, in both the cities and countryside.