travelgasm®

As the most prestigious university in Taiwan, National Taiwan University (NTU, 國立臺灣大學) — often called Tai Da (臺大) for short — is well-known in Taiwan and throughout Asia. Although the university itself does not commonly appear on "must-see" lists of top Taipei tourist attractions, the amusingly named Drunken Moon Lake (醉月湖) on campus is a popular photo opp for Asian tourists.

This sector of the city is fairly trendy. The most popular nearby attraction is the Shida Night Market (師大夜市), which is named after the also nearby National Taiwan Normal University (國立臺灣師範大學) — or Shi Da (師大) for short. However, the Shida Night Market still is a bit more "local" feeling than the popular Shilin Night Market (士林夜市) in the north of the city. Most of the crowd in the area around these universities are local students and expats studying Mandarin rather than short-term visitors.

Wander Gongguan

The neighborhood to the south of Tai Da, specifically, Gongguan (公館), receives fewer tourists than Shida. At the time this travelgasm.com piece was written, not only is Gongguan not reviewed often on large tourist advisory sites, it was merely a stub on the English language version of the world's encyclopedia, as well. It still feels pretty local. It seems like the kind of neighborhood you would hang out in on a Friday night if you are a student and live nearby, whereas Ximending (西門町) seems more likely to be where you would go when your friends from San Francisco or Seoul are in town visiting you.

These warren-like neighborhoods are gritty and not nearly as attractive as the tree-lined people-only streets of Ximending, but they're fun and not only have street food and hundreds of inexpensive, local and international restaurants but also a huge number of inexpensive clothing stalls and shops with a focus mostly on young or young-at-heart women. There is some clothing for guys and a smattering of electronics and tech gear, too.

We don't believe that the alleyways of Shida and Gongguan officially are foot traffic only but merely are so full of people in the afternoons and evenings that those in cars generally choose to drive elsewhere. We've mapped out the main people friendly alleys below. Watch out for motorbikes, though. Motorbikes plow through just about everywhere in Taipei anytime their riders want to do so.

Listen to Live Music

Although a Western architect might appreciate the scale of the best of Shida and Gongguan, what we like most about these neighborhoods aren't the built environment, per se. It is the live music scene that comes to life at night and that flies under the radar of most tourists. Although music venues the world over tend to change names and owners more often than a backpacker changes socks, well-known venues in the area include not only places like Riverside and The Wall for the latest music, but also the Blue Note venue for jazz. Established in 1974, Blue Note was Taipei's first jazz club and it definitely is well worth a listen.

Live near Tai Da (台大) or Shi Da (師大)? Which music venue is your current favorite? Please share. 謝謝.

How to Get Here: Take the Green Line (Line 3, Songshan-Xindian Line) to Gongguan Station (公館站). The "heart" of the Gongguan (公館) district is just outside Exit 1. Although you easily can walk between the neighborhoods, Shida (師大) is one station away and closest to Taipower Building Station (台電大樓), Exit 3 (180 degrees over your right shoulder upon exiting will take you straight to the action). The main people friendly alleys in both areas are highlighted in green.

Cities > Taipei > Taipei Overlooked 7 > Next: (7) Stay Up All Night... Reading... >>

Like Shida (師大) or Gongguan (公館)? Tell your friends and frenemies on social media that you discovered it first:

Intelligent and good-looking readers of travelgasm.com like you also sign up for our free monthly-ish mailing list.

Live in Taipei? What's your favorite "local" thing to do? 謝謝. Spotted anything out-of-date or inaccurately translated? 對不起我是老外. Please tell travelgasm.com. Thanks!