Welcome to Wanhua District in Taipei, once known as Bangka. One of the oldest neighborhoods in Taipei, a walk around Wanhua is a wonderful way to spend half a day exploring traditional buildings and temples big and small such as Longshan and Bangka Qingshan.
Learn more about the rich history of Wenhua at the Bopiliao Historical Block and traditional U-Market, or eat well at several famous Taipei night markets like Huaxi and Monga.
We also share a Xinfu Market tour and cooking class we did with CookInn plus a very popular daytime drinking bar tucked away in an old market building.
Please note Ximending is also classed as part of Taipei Wanhua District and whilst we have included it, most of this Bangka things to do article centers around all the historical buildings, markets and shrines around the Longshan Temple area. Check out our more detailed Ximending things to do guide >
Here are our best things to do in Wanhua District – we last stayed here in February 2026 staying at the Caesar Metro Hotel.
This article was originally published on 14 August 2026.
Wanhua hotels in Taipei / where to stay
Caesar Metro Hotel ($-$$)
Possibly the best known hotel in Wanhua near to Longshan Temple, we stayed at Caesar Metro Taipei 台北凱撒大飯店 and turned out to be a great find!
We stayed in a ‘Superior Room’ with a double bed on the 26th floor which had great views of the city and mountains in the distance. Once the tallest building in Taiwan, this opened originally as a Hilton in the 1970s and became Caesar Metro Taipei in 2017.
For the money we paid and the age of the building, we were expecting a very average stay but this hotel was really good – our room was very clean and quite modern (as were the corridors) so it must have been refurbished recently.
Our room had a little lounge area and separate toilet cubicle from the shower / bathroom plus a large storage space for luggage – it is located next door to Wanhua Station and close to Longshan Temple MRT station.
The hotel has a popular buffet restaurant on-site plus a pool.
Check out Caesar Metro rates and availability on booking.com, expedia.com and agoda.com (use the agoda code TAIWANDERERS for a discount).
Ximending hotels
If you would rather stay closer to Ximen, check out our Ximending hotels guide >
Taiwan checklist
We love using agoda.com (use the code TAIWANDERERS for a discount), expedia.com and booking.com for researching and booking all our hotels.
For booking tours, transfers and buying SIM cards/eSIMs we recommend Klook, Get Your Guide, Viator or KK Day.
For booking rental cars visit Discover Cars. For private drivers and taxis, check out our Transfer guide >
Find safe storage spaces across Taiwan with Bounce (and get 5% discount).
For more recommendations, check out our Taiwan travel booking resources page >
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 >
Things to do in Wanhua, Taipei
1. Longshan Temple
Also known as Bangka Lungshan (map), this is Taipei’s most famous temple, renowned for its (en)chanting ceremonies.
Whilst not always serene (it attracts huge crowds of tourists and worshippers), it is certainly one of the most beautiful temples in the city.
With the original Longshan temple site dating back to the Qing Dynasty in the late 1730s, the shrine has been rebuilt several times over the years, most recently after the aftermath of WWII bombing in 1945.
If you plan to visit Longshan Temple in Taipei, be sure to try and coincide your visit with one of the three chanting ceremonies held daily – it is one of the most memorable and inspiring things to do in Taipei.
Find out more about Longshan Temple in our guide >
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2. Huaxi Street Night Market
Open daily from 4pm to midnight
When we first heard this was also known as ‘Snake Alley’, we were a little bit worried but this is merely a titular throwback to the more sultry side of the area years ago (a former red light zone) before it was gentrified and began to welcome tourists.
The Huaxi Street Night Market (map) now has lots of local family run restaurants under a covered canopy. Check out this Historic Huaxi Street night market food tour in Taipei >
We’ve also been on a food tour of the Huaxi Street Night Market / Monga Night Market area with TourMeAway – check out our video below.
You can book the tour on Klook (use our code CKTRAVELS for a discount when spending over $50 USD), or you can book directly on the TourMeAway website (use our code TAIWANDERERS to get up to 15% off).
3. Other Wanhua Night Markets
If you are visiting Huaxi Night Market, then also check out some of the other nearby street markets including Guangzhou Street night market (map) and Monga Night Market (map) both of which runs along nearby Guangzhou Street.
Starting at the street just across from Longshan Market, Monga night market (which some people refer to as Wanhua Night Market) has around 200 stalls selling everything from oyster omelette to stinky tofu and sugar cane.
Other Taiwan dishes and drinks we’ve eaten at Monga Night Market include winter melon herbal tea, deep fried marlin fish cakes and grilled chicken butt!
Right next to Longshan temple, there is also a local flea and night market called 西昌街觀光夜市 Xichang Street Night Market (map).
Very different from nearby Huaxi and Monga, this is more second hand items and cheap food stalls loved by locals – most of these stalls are centered around Xichang Street between Guilin Road and Guangzhou Street.
We were also blown away by the aging arcades where groups of old men were competitively playing Tetris on the street.
4. Bangka Old Street
We were lucky enough to visit Bangka Old Street 艋舺老街 (map) and Bangka Qingshan Temple (map) when were filled with lanterns during Lunar New Year – said to be one of Taipei’s oldest streets, this is where Bangka district first flourished.
Bangka Old Street is quite a small area and more of a place to walk along than say shop (it is quite different from Dihua Street) – look old for all the historic red brick buildings from the Qing Dynasty and the Japanese colonial period.
5. Bopiliao Historical Block
Located along Wanhua’s Kangding Road, this gorgeous traditional red brick building and complex dates back to the 18th century and is free to explore and wander around – we also noticed it is also a popular place for photo shoots.
Restored and reopened in 2009, Bopiliao Historical Block 網頁搜尋結果剝皮寮歷史街區 (map) has a preserved traditional old street as its centerpiece plus various rooms you can enter, many with old artifacts and interpretative panels.
We really enjoyed visiting the print room to learn more about local foundries like Chungnan Type Foundry and Ri Xing.
Onsite, there is an interesting Heritage and Culture Education Center of Taipei that also includes free Taiwan souvenir ink stamps – we also spotted some magnificent old manhole covers too!
Bopiliao Historical Block is open from 9am to 9pm Tuesday to Sunday. The indoor sections close at 6pm and the entire site remains closed on Mondays.
Visit the official Bopiliao Historical Block website here >
6. Taipei Market Cooking Class
We recently joined Cookinn’s founder Chelsea Tsai to take part in a ‘Taipei Market Cooking Class’ at Xinfu Market in the Wanhua District (we talk more about Xinfu Market later in this guide).
This morning tour starts at 9.30am every Wednesday and Friday – everyone is presented with their very own Taiwan LV / gaji bag which you can use to carry market ingredients and then take home as a lasting (and stylish) souvenir.
Chelsea took us around Xinfu Market and got to meet lots of local stall-holders and learn about traditional Taiwanese ingredients and dishes – we then went to several traditional shops and stalls in Wanhua trying herbal tea and other treats.
Back at the kitchen, we all cooked together to create several dishes using the ingredients we’d just bought and then ate them together.
Book your Cookinn Traditional Market Cooking Class here which costs $NT2,517 each when using our exclusive “TAIWANDERERS” discount code.
7. Xinfu Market Cultural Center / U-Mkt
We learned about this recently renovated old market as this is the location of the kitchen for the Cookinn Market Tour we just mentioned.
U-mkt (AKA) Xinfu Market Cultural Center 新富町文化市場 (map) is unsurprisingly an old U-shaped public market constructed around 90 years which has now been transformed into a free museum and pop up events space.
You can access it directly from Xinfu traditional market and best of all, there is a daytime bar here called 萬華世界下午酒場 / Wanderland (map).
Open from 10am until 6pm Sunday to Thursday (closed Mondays) and until 11pm on Friday and Saturday, Wanderland was bustling when we visited for some ice cold beers after our cooking class next door.
The izakaya style bar is located in U-Mkt and has a retro / nostalgic feel, right down to sitting on Taiwan Beer crates as seats.
It is popular as you can bring food to eat here from the nearby Xinfu Market as long as you buy a drink every 40 minutes. They also have a list of recommended market stalls to buy food from whilst you drink – geonbae!
You might like – Our guide to the best craft beer bars in Taipei >
8. Bangka Qingshan Temple
A short walk from Longshan Temple, Bangka Qingshan Temple 市定古蹟-艋舺青山宮 (map) might be less known (and much smaller), but it is equally beautiful.
Built in the 1850s, it is one of Taipei’s oldest temples constructed in honour of Ling’an Zunwang, often referred to as the King of Qingshan. It is also the starting point for the annual Bangka Great Pilgrimage Event.
9. Wang’s Broth 小王煮瓜
Looking to try a tasty traditional Taiwanese dish in Taipei Wanhua / Bangwa district – then wander over to Wang’s Broth (map) in the covered arcade along Huaxi Street.
This is some tasty Taiwanese chopped braised pork belly over rice, with braised cabbage and bamboo shoots – fill out the paper form as you enter and await this Michelin Bib Gourmand goodness.
Wang’s Broth also features on the Taipei episode of Netflix Somebody Feed Phil and the TourMeAway evening street food tour (use our code TAIWANDERERS to get up to 15% off).
10. Dongsanshui Street Market and Xinfu Market
For an authentic Wanhua Taipei experience, take a walk through Xinfu market (map) and Dongsanshui Street Market 東三水街市場_新富市場 (map), two combined daytime grocery and market places that are mainly frequented by locals and very close to Longshan temple.
With dozens of stalls to browse and some amazing smells, they are mainly selling fresh items like fish, vegetables and meats – it also seems to be a popular place for old ladies to catch-up and gossip.
Donganshui Market has been around for over 100 years and many of the food stalls have been passed on from family member to family member. Please note Xinfu Market is closed on Mondays.
11. Cando Quiche Cafe
We can’t recall many other quiche cafes in Taiwan so this one kind of lingers in the memory. We’d eaten our body weight in night market food the previous evening so we fancied something different for brunch.
We stumbled upon 肯都咖啡 Cando Coffee 自烘焙咖啡與甜點 (map) whilst walking around the Wanhua Neighborhood and noticed it was very well reviewed online – as we entered, we noticed it was full of local students, young couples and a few foreigners.
We went for the Cando Coffee set menu which includes a coffee served with a choice of quiche or dishes like duck breast and cheese quesadilla.
Personally, we thought the coffee was good but the food was quite average but it is a good way to escape the heat or have a sit down after lots of walking around Bangka.
12. Starbucks Bangka Shop
We discovered this retro redbrick Taipei Starbucks as it was across the road from our accommodation, Caesar Metro Hotel.
Honestly, this is possibly the busiest Taiwan Starbucks星巴克 艋舺門市 (map) we’ve been to, based over floors and in a beautifully preserved 1930’s historic building that used to belong to the Lin Family.
Literally, it was being used by all ages when we drank here, from large groups of Taiwanese grannies to swotting students and work meetings.
It has one of the largest collections of Taiwan Starbucks merchandise we’ve ever seen (including some harder to find items), plus we’ve also read there is a guided tour of Starbucks Bangka Shop every Tuesday and Thursday between 2pm to 4pm.
We feature Bangka Starbucks in our Taiwan Starbucks mugs and unusual stores guide >
13. Ximending Entertainment District
Taipei’s best known night-time neighbourhood and popular with tourists, Ximending is a must-visit when in Taipei at night.
From street performers to a small night market, late night shopping to tattoo street, Ximending is always fun to visit with plenty of bars hidden amongst the side alleys.
Watch the dancers, singers and performers in the heart of Ximending every night (free to watch but donations are appreciated) or just grab a seat in one of the upstairs restaurants and people-watch.
Some call it a tourist trap but it is never boring plus a great place for late night bites and neon nights.
You might like our things to do in Ximending guide or our Ximending at night guide.
14. The Red House
One of the best things to do in Ximending (both in the daytime and at night), the Red House (map) is a beautiful red brick building that has served many purposes over the years since it opened in 1908.
Ximending’s Red House now hosts cultural performances, a theatre, plus a fantastic two storey independent retail emporium, chock full of unique and one-off designs by local artists.
The stalls at the Red House change every few months to keep it fresh, plus during Lunar New Year in Taipei, it is home to lion dances and many celebrations.
Whilst shopping heaven in the daytime, Red House reinvents itself at night with an array of LBGTQ+ bars opening in the courtyard.
From crafts to clothing, bars to brownies, here is our ultimate guide to Red House Taipei >
15. Wannian Building
A myriad of market stalls and small independent shops, the Wannian Building (map) is your go to place for gachapon stores galore, retro clothing and cool toy shops.
Spread over several levels with a cheap food court in the basement (the Lao Shan Dong homemade beef noodle restaurant in the basement is so tasty), the Wannian Building market in Ximending is a good place to geek out.
There are amusement arcades, a huge collection of claw machines plus an entertainment centre (Tom’s World’s on level 5). Across 5 stories of shopping, you can get cool toys, smart looking sneakers, cracking comic book stores and much more.
16. Carrefour Ximending / PROSPERiTY PLAZA Guilin Store
2026 update – Carrefour Ximen is now rebranded Prosperity Plaza (萬家福)
Ok, this might seem like an odd inclusion in a Taipei Wanhua things to do guide, but weirdly, it is one of the most talked about activities in our Taiwan Travel Tips (TTT) Facebook group.
A trip to Prosperity Plaza / Carrefour in Ximending might (map) not be high on everyone’s to-do list, but it is a good place for cheap food and drink plus tasty Taiwan souvenirs like pineapple cake and Taiwanese tea – it is also open 24 hours and carries everything from luggage to toys.
The Ximending branch is one of the biggest Taiwan hypermarket branches plus the building itself has other big brand retailers like Decathlon plus chain restaurants like Sushi Express.
Check out our Taiwan Carrefour guide including what you can buy >
Our final thing to do in Taipei Wanhua / Bangka
17. Bangka Jiyi Temple
A quick mention of Bangka Jiyi Temple 艋舺集義宮朱池李三王府 (map), so beautiful and yet not many know about it (it only has a handful of reviews on Google).
A Taoist temple that is so photogenic (especially with the lanterns and red and green Taiwan postboxes), it is dedicated to the three Wangye lords – Zhu, Chi, and Li, and serves as a local center for worship with incredibly intricate interiors. You’ll find it close to exit 2 of Longshan Temple MRT station.
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