Other than food, you can also opt to shop for cheap stuffs over here. The whole area is filled with retail shops of clothes, shoes and etc. These items are all quite cheap. However shoppers would have to compromise in terms of the quality. Try not to make hasty decisions just because the stuffs here are cheap. Take a good look before you decide to but as some of the items here are in really bad shape.
I picked up a couple of T-shirts over here for just less than 10 SGD. So this is a must-go area for shopaholics.
Ximenting
Ximenting is a total different sight as of Shi Lin. In Ximenting you would not see as many street stalls. And the foods here are of an even wider variety. Not only you can find local food but also food from other cultures. The things here are not exceptionally cheap but if you spend some time walking around, you will still find shops that offer good price for some quality items. You can shop for souvenirs as well. There are shops that offer personalized souvenirs for you to bring home.
I think the most famous food stall over here is (it is a local type of vermicelli; it is very popular in Ximenting. Most of the time you would need to queue up for it). The "Bubble" Tea here is also a must-try. "Bubble" Tea is a special type of drink that originates from Taiwan. There is a long list of flavours for you to choose from. So take your time to try out the different flavours.
Please note that Ximenting is only alive after about 11.30AM. So avoid going there too early.
Jiufen
Jiufen is a place outside of Taipei City. It is not really simple to get there. You would have to take a train from Taipei railway station to reach 瑞方 (Ruifang) station. Then transfer onto a bus to reach Jiufen. Just approach the tourist information counters for help if you are lost.
Jiufen is more of a place for food than shopping. The local specialty here is the pineapple cookies and other Chinese-style cookies. If you intend to bring some cookies home, I would recommend that you place your order with the cookie stalls then start your sightseeing, as you would likely have to wait for 30mins to an hour for your orders. These cookies are freshly baked so I believed it is quite worth the wait. Other than the cookies there is still an interesting food called the 芋圆冰 (this is yam balls with ice.)
Danshui Old Street
There is a lot of food to try here but there are just a few local specialties. One of which is 阿婆铁蛋 (it is actually preserved egg). I did not try this as I do not fancy salty stuff. But my friend tried it and he said it is not very salty and the taste is not too bad. So if you like salty food maybe you can give it a shot. Other than the egg, another food I would like to recommend is 阿给 (the locals named it arcade. It is hard to picture it just by its name. It is basically beancurd stuffed with some kind of fillings and vermicelli.)
Danshui is not really a place for shopping as well. But you can find very interesting souvenirs over here.
Wulai
Wulai is situated at the outskirts of Taipei City, where the natives live in. So you can find really exotic food here. One food that I strongly recommend is the wild boar products over here. You can try out the wild boar sausage, it tastes really good. And if you are daring enough you can even try food like bees. Yeah bees, a kind of insects that collect honey. Haha... We tried the bees. Though it is not very appealing or appetizing from the sight of it, it tastes really good when we eat them. It is deep fried. So it turned out to be very crispy. You would not have a feeling that you are eating bees once they are in your mouth.
You can check out other products by the natives here. There are some other foods that taste really good as well.
Yong Kang Street
>This is the last place that I want to introduce. I must say that as compared to the places I mentioned above, the food here are relatively more expensive. However, you can expect a higher quality and service as the price get higher. The most famous restaurant here is 鼎泰丰, it is a restaurant serving Chinese cuisine. We did not manage to try it as it was extremely crowded when we were there. It was quite a pity. So I would recommend you call to reserve a place the day before, if not you might end up like us.
