The 2025 Lunar New Year in Taiwan brings good fortune for many – this year, it is the year of the Snake and one of the best places to experience Lunar New Year in Taipei is Dihua Street in the Dadaocheng Neighborhood.
The Dihua Street Lunar New Year Market for 2025 has been confirmed to take place from 13 January 2025 to 26 January 2025 (the 2026 Dihua Street Lunar New Year market dates are still to be confirmed).
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It is the biggest such temporary Lunar New Year market in Taipei and opens for two weeks before the actual Lunar New Year day (29 January) so people can buy gifts, charms and delicious Taiwan treats, sweets and snacks.
The prosperity and good fortune it brings was extended to us, as one of our previous visits to Dihua Street in Taipei, Taiwan coincided with all the Lunar New Year festivities, meaning we got to experience the best of what happens in Taipei during Lunar / Chinese New Year.
This article was originally published on cktravels.com in June 2019.
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2025 Lunar New Year in Taipei & Taiwan
As well as the temples being awash with red lanterns and the constant smoke and bangs of fire-crackers being set off, one of the best places to visit for Lunar New Year is Dihua Street (迪化街) in southern Taipei.
During Lunar New Year in Taipei during January 2025, this is very much THE place for local people to do all their pre Lunar New Year shopping.
You might like – Dihua Street in Dadaocheng, Taipei Guide + Photos >
2025 Taiwan Lunar New Year dates / Taipei Lunar
Lunar New Year in 2025 in Taiwan and Taipei falls on the 29 January 2025. Most Taiwanese and local people will be off the whole week from 25 January to 2 February 2025 and many escape the cities or leave home to celebrate with their families.
Taipei’s most famous Lunar New Year Market is the Dihua Street Lunar New Year Market – this year (2025 – the Year of the Snake), the Lunar New Year 2025 Market at Dihua Street takes place from 13 January 2025 to 26 January 2025.
If you happen to be in Taipei around Lunar New Year, the 2025 Taipei Lantern Festival in nearby Ximending runs from 2 February 2025 to 16 February, from MRT Beimen Station all the way to Nishi Honganji Temple.
Both the 2025 Lunar New Year market in Dihua Street and Taipei Lantern Festival are free to visit.
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What is the difference between Lunar New Year and Chinese New Year?
Incidentally, Chinese New Year and Lunar New Year are effectively the same thing but Lunar New Year is the preferred title outside of China, to reflect that it is celebrated in many countries.
For other January 2025 events in Taiwan and Taipei (not just Lunar New Year), check out our Taiwan January 2025 guide >
How to get to Dihua Street & Dadaocheng
Dihua Street is located between two MRT stations – Daqiaotou MRT station in the north on the orange line) or Beimen MRT station towards the south (on the green line).
Both MRT stations are around a 10 minute walk to Dihua Street. It is also a 20 minute walk from the main Ximending Entertainment District.
Also check Google Maps or the official Go! Taipei Metro app to see which is the quickest and best route for you.
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Visiting Dihua Street Taipei During Lunar New Year
During our first Lunar New Year visit to Dihua Street in Taipei, it is fair to say we were a little overwhelmed and taken aback by the sheer number of people crammed tightly into every nook and cranny.
Thankfully, the road is closed to traffic at night during the market (except a few errant mopeds) so once you squeeze in past the busy main entrances, you quickly get used to the hustle and bustle and start to enjoy it.
The road is adorned with lanterns overhead and both sides of the street have hundreds of pop-up stalls, running in parallel to the permanent shops.
This long retail stretch of road is part of the historic and well preserved Dadaocheng area of Taipei, which has been a hub of trading since the times of the Qing Dynasty.
You might like – Our guide to Taipei’s best shopping malls and districts including Taipei’s trendiest tech mall, Syntrend Creative Park
Dazzling Dihua Street at New Year
Although particularly special to explore during Lunar New Year / Chinese New Year, it can also be visited throughout the year, with the shops lining the street specialising in selling traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and tea, traditional wares plus linen and cloth.
Taipei’s Dihua Street is the busiest of all of Taiwan’s Lunar New Year markets, with an estimated one million local people visiting the street over the two weeks leading up to Lunar New Year.
There have even been stories in local newspapers in recent years about the exorbitant fees the traders are having to pay to open their temporary stalls (up to £8,000 rent for two weeks) but it doesn’t appear to have deterred them.
In fact, the Dihua Street Chinese New Year markets get bigger and bigger every year, causing the markets to now even branch out into the side-streets.
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Dihua Street Lunar New Market – our experience
We first visited Dihua Street for the Lunar New Year Market on a busy Saturday night and ate some local dishes from the amassed food stalls, including the infamous stinky tofu, plus grabbing some sweets from the incredibly busy confectionery stalls (a bit like ‘pick and mix’ sweet stores in the UK).
Arrive on an empty stomach as there is so much food to enjoy along Dihua Street – this is true any time of the year but especially during Lunar New Year in Taipei.
Dihua Street is busiest during Lunar New Year, but if you can’t stand massive crowds, you can also visit during the day when it is a little quieter (although most of the stalls open at night).
We returned the following morning to take some more photos and found it a lot easier to get around, and actually see what the stalls were selling.
As the neighbourhood dates back to around 1850, you will also find lots of old temples in and around the area including the local Xiahai City God Temple, as well as some of Taipei’s most renowned temples, including the Confucius Temple and Bao-An Temple.
If you are visiting Taipei during the Lunar New Year celebrations, then make sure to add Dihua Street to your Taipei itinerary.
As western tourists, we were fascinated by what we encountered here and would strongly recommend a visit to Dihua Street, even if your visit doesn’t coincide with Lunar New Year.
You might also like our guides to Taiwan’s best night markets including Taipei’s Raohe Night Market and Ningxia Night Market.
Taiwan checklist
We love using agoda.com and booking.com for researching and booking all our hotels, and Hostelworld for booking hostels.
For booking tours, transfers and SIM cards we recommend Get Your Guide, Viator, KK Day or Klook.
Tips for visiting
Given how busy it gets though, if you are visiting during the evening or a peak period, definitely pack light (i.e. take a small bag but with enough space for all the ‘goodies’ you’ll likely buy) as it will be heaving with thousands of people.
Also allow plenty of time as it will take up to two hours to get from one end of Dihua Street to the other. Above all, enjoy and embrace the festivities – it truly is a wondrous place to enjoy the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Accommodation near Dihua Street
Budget ($)
Beimen WOW Poshtel
Popular hostel with both dorms and private rooms, located a 10 minute walk away from Dihua Street. Check rates and availability on booking.com, agoda.com or hostelworld.com
Mid-Range ($$)
Royal Seasons Hotel Taipei ‧ Nanjing W
4 star hotel located within walking distance of Dihua street. Check rates and availability on booking.com or agoda.com
Luxury ($$$)
Palais de Chine Hotel
5 star hotel with outdoor swimming pool, gym, bar and 3 onsite restaurants. Check rates and availability on booking.com or agoda.com
Check out the best hotels in Taipei via booking.com or agoda.com
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