Taiwan Trip 2011 Day 5 Nanbin Night Market Hualien

 [ continued from Taiwan Trip 2011 Day 5 Taroko Gorge Scootering ]

Night View of Chi Shing Tan Beach 七星潭 (Seven Star Beach)

It was already dark as we headed back to Hualien from the Taroko Gorge. For some weird reason I took the seaside route and we ended up at the beach. We were going to visit this beach tomorrow so I won't say much except that the night breeze was pretty refreshing. Scootering on we reached Nanbin Night Market in Hualien, our dinner destination for tonight.

 Nanbin Night Market 南濱夜市

Parked my scooter right opposite the start of Nanbin Night Market. This is not a very big night market but its still full of fun. Just entering it you will be greeted by quite a few stalls selling fireworks. Damn.. its still legal to play with fireworks in Taiwan. Most tourist would pick up some fireworks and let them off at a nearby beach. However this time we were tired and hungry and thought maybe next time we do the fireworks.


Wife picked up a big cup of this. Chilli padi and soy sauce 'siput'. This is used to be a common seaside seafood dish in the olden days in Malaysia and S'pore. It's a kind of sea snail stuck to rocks, found at the inter-tidal regions, which can be harvested at low tide.

Red and bright candied fruits like those seen in period chinese martial arts movies/dramas. Quite common in Taiwan night markets.

Taiwan Fruit Tea

Picked up a cup of this fruit tea for the walk. It's tea with a variety to fruits in it like apple, guava, lemon, etc.. Very refreshing and healthy.

Then we came across this stall selling BBQ Corn. Many people lining up so we join the queue. The boss told us that he only sells a limited amount every day as the corn is harvested right from his own farm. Lucky us being there on a weekday, otherwise this stall sells out pretty quick.

 Every patient customer will get a mahjong tile with a waiting number on it! How innovative! :D

BBQ corn in action

You will have to wait a bit as it takes a while to grill the corn over the flame. They even have a machine to turn the corn constantly. Every once in a while they lather some secret sauce on the corn.

BBQ Corn on a stick

Wife gives this BBQ full marks. Totally sweet and caramalized to perfection.

 You can burst some balloons and win a fake angry bird for your girlfriend here..


Met some kids with pomelo hats. Kinda reminds me of the free king hats they give out at burger king.



From left : Gecko, Orchid, Giant Wasps, Snake. Alcohol preserved chinese medicinal stuff for sale.
Haha reminds me of vietnamese ppl.

At the end of the night market are a few stalls that cook food for you. Funny thing is most of the stalls had an adjoining area with a Karaoke TV set. Ordering your their dinner here and having some drinks and food whilst singing karaoke with friends seems to be a fun thing to do for the locals here.

Every stall had a big selection of wild vegetables and meats for sale. You just pick and they will cook.

These are young fronds from the Bird's Nest Fern we commonly see in our tropical rainforest.

 Fresh water snails. First time I had ever seen this type of snails. Though didn't get to try some.

Some weird mountain squash/pumpkin plant.

Another selection of wild species vegetables.

Hualien Poison vegetable

You have probably never seen this vegetable before unless you from some Hualien tribe. According to the lady stall owner, this was a special type of vegetable from a wild plant that only grows once a year. We were very lucky it was in season then (early october). It turns red when fully ripened, and that is when it is also poisonous to eat even after cooking. However the green/orange unripe version is totally safe to eat.

Non-toxic Hualien vegetables

We ask the lady to make us up a dish of this rare exotic fruit and crossed our fingers we survive the night while we ate it. Stir fried with some anchovies it tastes quite mild and had a soft / sligtly crunchy texture much like a lightly stirfried cucumber or squash.

Having had the corn and tea and the vegetables, we took the scooter and rode into the night. Well actually we rode straight into town. By some weird chance we drove past this dumpling store and decided to stop and try it out.

Gongzheng Street Steamed Buns

Gongzheng Street Steamed Buns

Opening Hours :24hr
+886 38 566560
No.199-2, Zhongshan Rd., Hualien City, Hualien County, Taiwan(R.O.C)

Haha I even got the full address for you! This is a must visit eating place if you drop by Hualien. A++

Well they gave us a little menu with a pencil like in Ikea and you just tick the items you want and how many servings you want. We had some steamed dumplings and pork buns with a bowl of sour hot soup(酸辣汤） What can I say, everything was so good, especially with their secret dipping sauce.

There is actually another shop beside selling the same stuff but I think not as good as this store as it was not as popular and had less customers sitting.

Warning : There is a long long long waiting line during the weekend nights. We found this out when we came back the next day on a Friday night.

Thus came the end of Day 5. Join me tomorrow as we scooter to Hualien's famous [ ChiShingTan 七星潭/ 7 star beach and Liyu /Carp Lake ]