Snake Alley (Taipei)

For the street in Burlington, Iowa, USA, see Snake Alley.

Snake Alley
華西街夜市

Location	Wanhua, Taipei, Taiwan
Environment	Night market

Snake Alley entrance

Snake Alley (Chinese: 華西街夜市; pinyin: Huáxījiē Yèshì), also known as Huaxi Street Night Market or Huaxi Street Tourist Night Market (Chinese: 華西街觀光夜市) is a market in Taipei, Taiwan. The market is located near the Mengjia Longshan Temple as well as other night markets located on Guangzhou Street, Wuzhou Street and Xichang Street.

The Huaxi Night Market is a two-block long night market in Wanhua District, the oldest district of Taipei, Taiwan. It contains stands serving local snacks, and restaurants that serve traditional Taiwanese dishes and many delicacies including snake blood and meat, turtle blood and meat and deer penis wine, which are not normally found anywhere else. Many stands sell various snake delicacies and drinks, hence its nickname "Snake Alley".

Many Taiwanese have a negative view of Snake Alley, which was once a legal red-light district. Adventurer Charley Boorman visited and tried some of the delicacies such as snake penis and turtle testicles on offer during his television series By Any Means 2 in 2009.

History

The Huaxi Street Night Market has a history of over 50 years. Until the 1990s, it was a red light district, with pornography shops and strippers congregating along the two sides of these streets. Prostitutes could be easily found in the brothels in the area, where they waited for customers in plain view. In 1991 the Taiwanese government outlawed prostitution.

Food at the night market.

Transportation

The night market is within walking distance of Longshan Temple Station of the Taipei Metro.

See also

• List of night markets in Taiwan