Taipei City Government

The Markets Administration Office (MAO) joined hands with the Shilin Night Market Self-governing Association to organize the “Shilin Night Market Reboot: Let’s Tour the Night Market Together” press event on February 8.
 
Deputy Mayor Huang Shan-shan and Deputy Mayor Tsai Ping-kun also attended the press event.
 
During his address, Chairman Su Wen-shan of Shilin Night Market Self-governing Association pointed out that Shilin Night Market is among one of the oldest night markets in Taipei City. In earlier years, the site was an important trading hub, with goods and produce being transported here from nearby communities such as Bangka, Dadaocheng, Shilin, and Shezi. Given its close proximity to the Cixian Temple, the neighborhood continues to attract large crowd flows, which helps fuel the growth of the night market.
 
Shilin Night Market International Tourism Development Association Chairperson Lai Hsin-yu remarked that the large number of visitors and merchants inevitably gives rise to a number of disputes, such as overly expensive fruits, long-term occupation of public space by vendors, littering, street food stall sanitary quality, and other issues. These problems, combined with the impact of COVID-19, resulted in the loss of customers and closedown of several stores, leading to a downturn in local business.
 
Deputy Mayor Huang noted that in an effort to reverse the trend and bring back customers, the Shilin Night Market Association is working with MAO to implement a series of new measures seeking to strengthen the management of vendors. The measures cover aspects spanning land use to environmental hygiene to fire safety to organizational structure. The association also carried out improvement such as replacing public trash cans and adding food stall ventilation to maintain environmental cleanliness.
 
Economic Development Commissioner Lin Chung-chieh stressed that in addition to updated hardware, the night market association also plans to give away vouchers during future promotional campaigns and offer deals during the upcoming 2022 Taipei Lantern Festival when visitors flock to the neighborhood.