Get your geek on in Taipei – from PopMart to Pokemon, anime to gachapon, Taipei has geek chic galore.
Cute cartoon characters in Taiwan are very common and Taipei has a plethora of pop-ups, cool stores and shopping malls (like Syntrend Creative Park) – oh, and there are tonnes of themed 7-Elevens in Taipei and themed cafes.
From Animate to Kirabase, here is our guide to geek Taipei, awesome anime and cute Taiwan characters and collectibles.
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Taiwan checklist
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All set for Taiwan? Do one final check with our Taipei first timers guide and our packing list guide. Travelling with kids? Check out our Taipei For Kids eBook >
Syntrend Creative Park Mall / Guang Hua Digital Plaza
Syntrend Creative Park in Taipei has to be Taiwan’s trendiest shopping center and the number 1 place for Taipei geek gifts and shopping.
Specializing in technology, gaming, photography and electronics, Syntrend is a digital paradise and even has several e-sports and VR center located across its 13 floors of shopping and services.
Better yet, Syntrend is Taipei’s leading anime and Manga center, with two whole floors (6F – Game and 7F – Collect) dedicated to anime toys and collectibles including a Taiwan branch of Lashinbang, Japan’s top second hand collectible store.
Pop Mart, Gundam, Asia Goal and other top toy shops have branches here.
Syntrend Creative Park is packed full of cutting edge technology and features brands such as Republic of Gamers, DJI, Bose and more.
Reward yourself after in themed restaurants, cool cages or the basement food court.
The local area around Syntrend has lots of gadget, gaming and phone shops like Guang Hua Digital Plaza.
Whilst not as flashy or slick as Syntrend, Guang Hua Digital Plaza is home to lots of small independent retailers and is a great place to get your gadgets fixed or pick up spare parts.
Here is our ultimate guide to gaming and shopping at Syntrend Creative Park mall in Taipei >
You might like – 65 top things to do in Taipei >
Pop Mart Ximen Flagship Store
Famous for their cute collectibles and blind-boxes, Pop Mart’s Ximen branch is their flagship store and their third in Taiwan (and great if you are looking for Labubus in Taipei)*
It is an incredible building themed like a cinema, with Pop Mart figures and collectibles over four floors including a dedicated Mega Space Molly showroom. Seriously, the design of this building and the way all the toys are displayed is nothing short of superb.
The first floor is dedicated to exclusive Pop Marts and mystery / blind boxes, floor two is PopBean and various merchandise plus there is even a broadcast studio and VIP lounge on the third level.
There are huge Pop Mart dolls to pose with on every level plus a customizable area where you can create your own unique PopBean figurines or frames – the highlight for us was the Mega Space Molly floor which kind of felt like a modern museum.
Pop Mart Ximen flagship store is open from 11am daily until 10pm Sunday to Thursday, and until 10.30pm Friday and Saturday.
*PS Taipei Labubu stock drops sell out quickly so there are no guarantees you can get Labubus in Ximending (and look out for fakes on market stalls).
Please note there is a second smaller ‘Ximen Pop Mart Roboshop’ mentioned on Google Maps but it is a vending machine!
Read our floor-by-floor guide to Pop Mart Ximen here >
Check out the Pop Mart store on Amazon >
Ximending / the Wannian building
As well as Pop Mart, Ximending is home to lots of cool geek and gachapon stores, the best of which are housed in the Wannian building.
Whilst in Ximending we saw ‘gachapon’ galore – these are Japanese style vending machines where you put a coin into the slot to get a mystery capsule toy.
These can be found in dedicated gachapon shops and amusement arcades or even just in front of 7-Eleven and FamilyMart convenience stores in Ximending.
A myriad of market stalls and small independent shops, the Wannian Building is your go to place for gachapon stores galore, retro clothing and cool toy shops – it very much reminded us of our time spent in cool Tokyo neighbourhoods like Shinjuku or Akihabara.
The 5 storey Wannian Building market in Ximen is a good place to geek out in Taipei – there are amusement arcades, a huge collection of claw machines plus an entertainment centre (Tom’s World’s on level 5).
It has to be the largest concentration of gachapon stores in Ximending, if not Taipei. One of the most inviting stores we discovered was 8_n_bomb, chock full of play-things, models and fashion goods. 8_n_bomb also has another branch in Ximending – it isn’t on Google Maps, but it is located next door to Mask On (map).
You might like our things to do in Ximending guide >
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Taipei Studio Ghibli / Donguri Republic Taiwan
All aboard the ‘cat-bus’ in Taiwan!
Did you know there are 10 Studio Ghibli stores in Taiwan (called ‘Donguri Republic’), with mountains of Princess Mononoke merchandise, shedloads of Spirited Away souvenirs and tonnes of Totoro gifts?
Xinyi’s Donguri Republic / Studio Ghibli Taipei store is located on the top floor of Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Taipei Xinyi Place A8, handily next door to a huge children’s outdoor play area (which is incidentally is one of the best things to do in Xinyi with kids).
Better still, there is something to suit all budgets from glorious Studio Ghibli gachapon to huge plushies. The Xinyi Donguri Republic store even has a huge recreation of the My Neighbour Totoro cat bus which you can pose with and even go inside!
You might like our Taiwanderers guide to things to do in Taipei with kids >
Taipei City Underground Mall
Beneath Taipei Main Station lies a geek heaven and a cornucopia of cute collectibles!
This huge Taipei shopping mall is the largest underground street in Taiwan with nearly 200 stores, and runs all the way from Taipei Main Station to Beimen MRT Station.
The mall is divided into three separate sections – cheap clothing, electronics and food.
The electronics part of the mall is known as the ‘Akihabara of Taipei’ and is an otaku lover’s paradise with many gaming, gashapon, arcades, manga, anime and kawaii stores! We recently spotted a new Pokemon Ga Ola arcade center in the mall too
Opening hours: Monday to Friday 11am to 9.30pm; Saturday to Sunday 11am to 10pm (although many shops close around 8pm).
You might like – our guide to Taipei’s shopping malls and shopping districts >
Pokémon Center Taipei
Time to go to the Pokémen Center in Xinyi, located in Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Taipei Xinyi Place A11 mall.
Opened in December 2023, Taiwan’s biggest Pokémon Center in Taipei ( 寶可夢中心台北) is packed full of all your favourite Pokémon characters including exclusive Taiwan merchandise, trading card games, Pokémon Ga Ole machines plus Pokédex, Pokémon App Gallery and more.
We joined the crowds and visited the new Pokémon Center Taipei. From all the cute merchandise to the awesome arcade machines, here is our guide to visiting the Pokémon Center Taipei in Xinyi >
Check out our things to do in Xinyi guide >
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Jin Art Taiwan
Looking for ‘blind boxes’ and gachapon capsule toys in Taiwan?
‘Jinart’ is one of our favourite collectible stores in Taiwan with three branches in Taipei (two in Ximending and one in Nanxi) plus others in Taichung and Chiayi – they also have an online presence plus a pop-up store in Bangkok.
We spend way too much money every time we go on stickers, stationery and general cuteness – our most recent (essential 😉) purchase was a cat robot gachapon – because, why not?!
We love shopping in Ximending on bad weather days in Taipei. Here are more rainy day activities in Ximen >
Kirabase Taiwan
A chain of themed cafes across Taipei, there are currently four themed Kirabase cafes located in Xinyi, Syntrend Mall, Zhongzheng and Ximending.
Akin to Japanese style cafes in Taiwan, these are quite similar to maid cafes with servers wearing costumes – the cafes often host different anime character pop-ups and no photography is allowed in the store.
Taking great inspiration from Akihabara in Japan, you’ll be served by ‘Star idol’ waitresses and an interactive serving experience where you sing songs and play games.
Visit the official Kirabase website here >
You might like – 10+ themed cafes in Taiwan >
Pop ups at Huashan 1914 Creative Park
Taiwan’s best creative park (and most bustling), Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei is packed full of permanent and pop-up shops and exhibitions, street performers plus craft beer bars and restaurants.
A former wine factory, Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei’s Zhongzheng district is home to cute cafes, music theatres plus incredible crafts and unique souvenirs.
It is also the BEST place for pop-up events and exhibitions – recent temporary exhibitions have included Hello Kitty, Snoopy, Doraemon, Crayon Shin chan and more
The historic site is also rather distinctive, with red brick buildings and warehouses all transformed into thriving business, a reminder of the previous industrial use – the banyan trees and their long roots encased in the walls and old plum brewery buildings also make for very picturesque backdrops.
One of the best things to do in Taipei and free to visit, here is our ultimate guide to visiting Huashan 1914 Creative Park >
Themed 7-Elevens in Taipei like Hello Kitty and Snoopy
Taiwan is themed 7-Eleven heaven! We all know that Taiwan is famous for its sheer number of 7-Elevens, regularly frequented by tourists and locals alike.
There are currently around 7,000 7-Elevens in Taiwan – now that is a lot of slurpees and ready meals!
However, unique to Taiwan, there are tons of themed 7-Elevens with famous cartoon characters or well-loved brands.
From Hello Kitty 7-Eleven to Snoopy 7-11 (plus even an airplane themed 7-Eleven), here is our guide to the best themed 7-Elevens in Taipei plus the best themed 7-Elevens in Kaohsiung.
Animate anime speciality store
One of Japan’s largest anime chain shops now has several branches in Taiwan, including one near Ximendong. Animate has around 130 comic stores and Manga merchandise shops in Japan but only a handful in Taiwan including Ximending and Kaohsiung Station.
Animate stalls are the best place for Kawaii Taiwan goods, from Demon Slayer comic books to Slam Dunk Manga novels plus gachapons, cute goods and more.
You might like – The best day trips from Taipei including Jiufen and Wulai
Bonus Taipei Geek Thing to do
Korean Photo Booths
Talking of selfies…one of the newest things to do in Ximending which seems to have cropped up a lot in the last few years are Korean photo booths – you can even find Taiwan’s first subway themed photo booth which opened in 2024.
In recent years, these photo booth stores have popped up in lots of vacant Ximending buildings that closed down during the COVID pandemic. On our last count, there were around 20 or so Korean photo booth shops in Ximending including Cut Cut, Snapshot and Kr4cut.
We recently visited Taiwan’s very first subway style photo booth located at Plan B Studio in Ximending. It has several themed photo areas including a laundry, tunnel and elevator sets.
We opted for the subway Korean photo booth as it seemed the most fun. Four images cost us NT$300 (prices correct as of summer 2025) and it is a unique souvenir from Taiwan, plus a great way to escape the rain in Ximending.
Most Ximending Korean photo booth shops are brightly painted and you can borrow clothes and props and then pose for selfies or take photos in the booths.
Check out our Taipei neighbourhoods guides:
Beitou >
Dihua Street and Dadaocheng >
Gongguan and Longquan >
Tamsui >
Ximending >
Xinyi >
Zhongshan >
Also check out our guide to the best neighbourhoods in Taipei >
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