Streetlife in Taiwan: Nightmarkets
Although Taiwan is an exotic destination with white beaches, green mountains beautiful sights with great places to sit down and enjoy the views. However, the beaches are not fully used and nightclubs are not widespread. Not even the karaoke-bars attract most people in the hot Taiwanese evenings. Instead most liveliness and interaction can be found at the numerous nightmarkets . It’s all about food – both inside and outside. Fruitstands and small food-stores are all over the place- next to the well known food-chains and the numerous 24hours convenient stores.
At the street markets groups of youngsters photograph themselves eating ice-creams together, grandmothers sell herbs and big man are stirring the hot pots with weet-smelling meat, while some women are preparing big, big fruits almost bursting out of their shells because they’re so mellow. Fresh, raw, boiled, deep-fried or steamed exotic food is prepared in various ways. Everything eatable is used and cooked in a different way; plants, vegetables and animals get a new dimension while knowing you can use every little part of them; green tea leaves and little fish shells appeared to be eatable and apparently lobster-blood is drinkable.
Sharp and sweet smells mount up in the humid air, slowly falling down and creating different aromatic trails . It creates an atmosphere in which people interact – regardless their status or background. Eating, walking and looking at how hundreds of other people smack, smell and chew. Chatting about ingredients, bargain about prices and sharing coconut-juice. Food doesn’t know barriers – different smells blend up in the air just as people mingle on the walking paths.
It’s sometimes said that most fights between people are because they are hungry. The peaceful and lively atmosphere down at the nightmarkets with hundreds of people seems to confirm the argument; while enjoying delicious and cheap food under the Taiwanese stars in flavoured skies who thinks about fighting really?
