Chenghuang Temple Night Market — Attraction in Hsinchu

This is one of the must-see attractions if you are in Hsinchu, which is not saying much. It is much like a night market except it only sells food, closes early, and has a temple attached.....But there are stands, small eateries and sitting spaces and the vibe is similar if you catch my drift.

It is a very cultural experience. They sometimes have events there like a Hakka pig butchering or a lion dance. It's wonderful and you can smell the sweet incense from the mall. The toilets are back there and they are clean enough as far as night market bathrooms go. You can get all the Hsinchu staples here, vermicelli, pork balls, squid soup, oyster pancakes, and crystal meat balls stamped with different red shapes depending on the stall or flavors.

They also have other specialty foods like fried black water caltrop, fried taro balls, fresh herbal tea....

We ate here en route to 清境农场 (Cingjing a.k.a. Qingjing Farm). Lunch venue was at this shop" 王家蚵仔煎" located in the vicinity of Hsinchu's City God Temple inside sort of an alleyway lined with food stalls selling the city's all-time favourite and old-time flavours such as Hsinchu rice vermicelli (新竹米粉), fish balls and pork balls (魚丸, 贡丸). The duck egg pancakes sold along the streets were also delicious. We bought 4 pieces for NT$30. The jam is home-made; there's chocolate, custard, lemon, red bean and plain as filling options for those pancakes. This night market operates earlier than most other night markets found in Taiwan but the stalls are not as many...

Must try their fried rice noodle/ vermicelli (炒米粉) which is their specialty and also you hardly can find this in other places in Taiwan. Besides, the meat balls also famous here and must try. Other than that, the rest of the food are consider common which can be found at major Taiwan night markets. This night market are consider small size and not complex vs others. Besides, also should try Taiwanese springs rolls, you should queue for 国家润饼which most favourite among locals. In short, try these : Liu’s Braised Pork Rice 劉家肉燥飯 Zheng’s Fishball 鄭家魚丸 Acheng Rice Vermicelli 阿城號米粉 Kuo’s Spring Roll 郭家潤餅 Lian’s Cuttlefish Thick Soup 連家魷魚羹 Wang’s Oyster...