Top Night Markets in Kaohsiung [高雄夜市推荐！]

Equipped with ever-friendly citizens and beautiful scenery, Taiwan has always been one of the top travel destinations for Singaporeans. When we are there, we will be sure to immerse in the night market culture aka 夜市文化.

While we are pretty much familiar with the night markets in Taipei (notably Shilin Night Market) and possibly Taichung (Fengjia Night Market), night markets in Kaohsiung deserve a mention too, as I have discovered on my recent trip to Kaohsiung in December.

Thanks to the good infrastructural planning, Kaohsiung’s night markets are easily accessible and there are lesser people in these night markets as compared to those in Taipei and Taichung (Note: We went to the Kaohsiung Night Markets on weekends). They are seriously too overcrowded. When I was at Fengjia Night Market, I find myself getting pushed along in the crowd. You wouldn’t have to go through that in the night markets in Kaohsiung.

So here is the list of top night markets that you should visit when you are there!

[No. 1 排名第一]

金钻夜市 Jin Zuan Night Market

This is undoubtedly the best night market in Kaohsiung. It is really well-managed and it is equipped with all the necessary night market stalls (i.e. the food, the clothes and the games).

There are signs starting from the R6 Kaisyuan MRT station (凯旋捷运站), guiding you how to make your way to the Jin Zuan Night Market and the Kaisyuan Night Market. The sign below reads that you can access the night market via Exit 2 and just walk for 700 metres.

Jj and I have planned to walk over there but when we walked out from Exit 2, we saw a mini bus with a sign that reads Jin Zuan shuttle bus service. And since it is free, we decided to just hop on! We were really lucky to spot the shuttle bus as the night markets turn out to be pretty far from the MRT Station. :s

After a 10-minute ride on the mini bus, we reached the night market! With Kaisyuan Night Market located right beside it, these two night markets are really big. It is a force not to be reckoned with. You can easily spend at least 2 hours walking around buying things and trying out the different night market food items.

What placed this night market at the top of the list is this non-night market looking toilet!

Never had I ever seen such pretty restrooms in the other night markets that I have visited (Having stayed in Taiwan for 6 months, I have visited countless night markets over there.) Good effort! This toilet is very clean too!

The night market goodies~ This is ice cream in a flower pot. Creative idea!

Who could have missed this little brand ambassador?

Jj and I spent around half an hour over here and spent about 1.5 hours over at Kaisyuan Night Market which is right beside it.

Estimated duration of stay: 0.5-1 hour

Operating hours: 6pm to 11pm (NOTE: Jin Zuan Night Market closes on Mondays and Wednesdays)

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 [No. 2 排名第二]

凯旋夜市 Kaisyuan Night Market

Kaisyuan Night Market aka Kai Xuan Night Market is located just beside Jin Zuan Night Market, separated by a row of barricades. You can easily cross over from Jin Zuan to Kaisyuan to complete your Kaohsiung Night Market experience. For directions to Kaisyuan Night Market, please refer to the information provided above.

Spotted this interesting stall named after the never ending Taiwan drama serial 夜市人生！

This is for all guava lovers! Guavas are called 芭乐in Taiwan and they are sold everywhere, even in 7-11. They are popular for their high Vitamin C content. 🙂

Just to share, as it seems that a lot of people didn’t know about this. Do you know that you can choose the degree of hardness of your guava at these night market stalls? For me, I dislike guavas that are rock hard but all guavas look the same for me so I wouldn’t know how to select. BUT these stallholders have so much experience with the guavas and they can determine just by looking! Next time you are there, be sure to submit your requests and you would be rewarded with the right guava that you want.

Yummy~ I love the guavas in Taiwan 🙂

There are loads of game stalls in this night market too! Jj decided to try his luck over here.

Look at how focused he is when he PK-ed with the stall holder in order to win me a duckling ❤

And yes, he actually won the stall owner at the hooping game and he got this for me!

Thanks Jj! This little duckling is now on my office desk. It is simply too cute! ^^

As you can see, we really had a lot of fun at these two night markets. The most important thing is that they are equipped with what night markets should have and they are not that crowded as well! Be sure to visit!

Estimated duration of stay: 1-1.5 hours

Operating hours: 6pm to 11pm (NOTE: Kaisyuan Night Market closes on Tuesdays and Thursdays)

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[No. 3 排名第三]

瑞丰夜市 Ruifeng Night Market

Rui Feng Night Market is located at R14 Kaohsiung Arena MRT Station （巨蛋捷运站）. You simply have to take Exit One, walk for about 5 minutes and you will be able to see this bright signage that reads 瑞丰夜市.

As you can see, there are more people at Ruifeng, possibly because of the location.

As a fervent lover of PAPAYA MILK, I was unconsciously led to this papaya milk stall. The papaya milk here is really good. Sweet milky taste and real papaya chunks~

There are other interesting stalls that we discovered along the way.

Overall, Ruifeng offers lesser variety of stalls than the two night markets above. The main focus over here is food.  So remember to keep your bellies empty before you travel to Ruifeng and be prepared for a feast! 🙂

Estimated duration of stay: 1 hour

Operating hours: 6pm to 11pm (NOTE: Ruifeng Night Market closes on Mondays and Wednesdays）

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[No. 4 排名第四]

六合观光夜市 Liouhe Night Market aka Liuhe Night Market

This night market is located conveniently at the heart of Kaohsiung. You simply have to take the train from wherever you are in Kaohsiung and alight at the beautiful Formosa Boulevard Station (美丽岛捷运站）. Take Exit 11 and you will spot Liouhe Night Market.

This night market is more touristy than the night markets introduced above so you will see stalls selling Taiwanese food packaged as gifts. Most of the stalls sell a type of milk candy named 牛轧糖which tastes like the Australian nougats. Jj and I bought around 6 packages for our colleagues. They are not as hard as the usual Australian nougats and has a strong milky taste. You should try it if you are in Taiwan! 🙂

Also. there are stalls selling exotic Chinese food (or rather, creations) over there. Some of which includes snake meat and duck’s tongue. Seems like Fear Factor!

Jj and I bought drinks and fried chicken chunks over there.

There was a pretty long queue at the fruit stall. Being a curious baby, I walked over to the stall and saw many people ordering the bitter gourd juice （苦瓜汁）. It turned out pretty sweet and it is definitely a very healthy drink. Here’s something worth trying at the Liuhe Night Market. ^^

And if you are a dog lover, you would find this pet shop that has loads of miniature doggies lying around. There are also one or two stalls selling clothes for your pet dog. Most of the designs are really cute! The police and firefighter doggy apparels really catches my eyes. 🙂

Attractions around the Liuhe Night Market are the Formosa Boulevard MRT Station, Nanhua Night Market and the Jhongshan Wedding Street.

Estimated duration of stay: 1 hour

Operating hours: 6pm to 11pm (Daily)

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Feel free to ask me if you have any queries or to share other night markets you have been to! 🙂