Must-see shopping in Taipei

Taipei's liveliest night market, and all the better for being local and less touristy. Food-wise there are steaks, sushi, animal-shaped biscuits,…

The oldest tea-selling shop in Taipei, dating to 1883. The current fourth-generation merchants are more than happy to talk tea and let you sample the…

Handmade lamps with painted dragons, bold flowers, bamboo and calligraphy, are solid red, and as big as a gym ball or small as a fist. There are also…

This popular mall is good for kids with the Donguri Republic store in the basement (selling merchandise from Studio Ghibli, of Spirited Away fame) and…

Visitors to this famous pineapple-cake maker are seated at a wooden table and given a complimentary tray holding a bowl of black tea and a wrapped cake…

A rabbit's warren of old gems. You'll find everything here from ornate furniture to kimonos, chinaware, plastic toys, dial-up telephones and rocking…

The rather ugly concrete structure, grafted onto a beautiful colonial-era facade adjacent to DaDaoCheng Theater, houses a huge fabric market on the 2nd…

Serving shoppers since 1973, this small mall is old school but aimed squarely at the youth. Four floors of jeans, sneakers, toys, games, bags and shoes,…

This giant market peddling jade and other semiprecious stones is under Jianguo Overpass. There are also beads, pearls, religious artefacts and copper…

Four floors of jade, ceramics, tea sets, jewellery, scrolls, Kinmen knives, Kavalan whisky and handmade soap are just some of the highlights of the…

This stretch of Guangfu Rd has a gaggle of Buddhist shops, and this is the mother of them all. Three floors of incense, statues, books, scrolls and beads…

Rich, moist chocolatey squares of heaven. It's always worth stopping off for a slice of the unusual. Their bestseller is Earl Grey, and they also have…

Housed in the new, sleek, sexy black tower is Taipei Nanshan Plaza, the only building (at 272m) to give Taipei 101 a run for its money in the height…

Just across from Taipei Arena, this shopping mall is one of the more pleasant branches of Breeze, less crowded and home to more individual smaller brands…

This funky fabric shop uses bold and bright designs in cotton canvas to make bags, purses, laptop cases, book covers, Japanese wall curtains and anything…

Yes, there are lots of Eslite shopping malls around the city, but this one is special because it's set in the gorgeous grounds of Songshan Cultural &…

Looking like a 1980s spaceship, Syntrend is a much-posher electronics mall than the scruffy Guanghua Digital Plaza next door. You'll find computers,…

In the funky loft space above a fusion restaurant in the Huashan 1914 Creative Park, you'll find this quirky, boutique design shop with a rich collection…

The place to get inexpensive boxes of pineapple cakes (NT$180 for 12 cakes), the standard gift to give people when you holiday in Taiwan. This small shop…

Spread over two floors, the Eslite bookshop here (open 10am to midnight) is one of the best in the city and has a fancy teahouse. There's also a great…