Taipei Travel

Mayor Ko Wen-je attended the opening press conference for the 2017 Taipei Night Market Festival at Ningxia Night Market in the evening of July 21.The fame of Taipei’s night market food is known to foreign visitors, attracting tourists from around the world to come and visit. This year, the seventh Taipei Nigh Market Festival will span eight major city night markets, including Ningxia Street Night Market, Shuangcheng Street Night Market, Yansan Night Market, Liaoning Street Night Market, Huaxi Street Night Market, Wuzhou Street Night Market, Linjiang Street Night Market, and Guangzhou Street Night Market. At the start of the press conference, the event’s mascot “Yes Bear” appeared on the catwalk, followed by the heads of the participating night markets’ self-governing associations to showcase some of the well-known hawker entrees.

Finally, the mayor appeared with the 2017 Summer Universiade mascot Bravo to announce the start of the festival. During his address, Ko noted that according to stats from the Department of Information and Tourism, Taipei’s night market food is ranked among the top 3 items which leaves visitors with an impression. However, he believes that in the age of Internet, Taipei’s delicious cuisines can be marketed online. He recalled taking part in the online voting event for determining the top ten night market foods on his way to the press conference.In addition to the great taste, the mayor believes that it is also important to ensure that top standards for factors such as food safety and hygiene are adopted. This is why the government subsidizes Ningxia, Shilin, and Zhonglun night markets in the replacement of disposable and melamine dining utensils. He remarked that the city government has set aside budget this year to help public markets and vendors to switch from these utensils to more environmentally-friendly options.