Check the day first
Many night markets, including all of Taipei’s, run every night. Others set up only on certain nights: Garden Night Market in Tainan runs Thursday to Sunday, Hanxi in Taichung four nights a week, Qinggou in Yilan only on Wednesday. In Tainan most of the big markets rotate, so the night you go decides which one you can visit.
Each stall keeps its own hours. Some open in the afternoon, a few famous stalls close early, and some take a fixed day off. Open tonight shows every market we cover that is scheduled on the day you pick.
Bring cash
Most stalls are cash only, so carry small notes and coins. Mobile payment is spreading but patchy: a Feng Chia University survey (2023 data) found that 37.9% of shops at Fengjia offered it, and most stalls at Hengchun Night Market take cash only (UpToGo, 2026).
Since April 2026, Ruifeng and Liuhe in Kaohsiung have been demonstration sites for TWQR cross-border QR payments, so Japanese visitors can pay with PayPay at participating stalls. Do not count on cards anywhere.
Queues and number tickets
A long queue usually means a famous stall, and some run a number system. At Fengyuan Miaodong you take a ticket for the water caltrop crisps and they call your number when your batch is fried. At Liang Ji braised foods in Linjiang Street you pick your items into a numbered basket and wait for it to be called.
Take the ticket first and eat elsewhere while you wait. Stalls that sell out, like the scallion pancakes at Dadong East, are worth reaching early.
Watch the traffic
Some markets are closed to traffic and some are not. Kenting Street is a highway, with cars, buses and scooters running through the crowds, and at Pingtung Tourist Night Market scooters ride straight into the lanes. At Taoyuan Tourist Night Market cars and scooters are kept out only from 19:00 to 22:00.
Every market page has a Know before you go list that says whether that market shares the road.
Toilets, seating, rain and trash
Toilets vary. Around Raohe, the city lists shops that let visitors use their toilets, and at Zhongli Tourist Night Market the public restroom at the entrance of Lane 167 has a phone charging point. Purpose-built lots such as Hanxi have restrooms, seating and parking.
Few markets are covered. The temple forecourt at Hsinchu City God Temple is mostly under cover, so it works in rain. Trash bins can be scarce, as at Kenting Street, so keep a bag for your rubbish until you find one.
Holidays and typhoons
Around Lunar New Year many vendors take days off, and some markets close or run with fewer stalls. When a city announces a typhoon day off, many night markets close or open with only a few stalls. Check before you head out.
Finding a stall
Stall signs are in Chinese, so our stall finder on each market page shows the sign text to look for. Some markets number their stalls and some stalls go by a house number, so check which one a guide is using. If you cannot find a stall, show the sign text to a nearby vendor.
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