Ximending, March 2010

Ximending, the place to be for young people of Taipei

I wrote about Ximending before and posted some photos, but those were taken in the evening. Yesterday I took the effort to return to Ximending at day time and see how it looks like. I must say it was pretty cool. And it's a huge pedestrian area, it's like a city on its own. Some parts are run down, but somehow that makes it special and cool. There's really many kids, from highschool to students, but also many adults, even elderly. You have cinemas, pubs, clubs, cafés, boutiques, few hawkers and a lot of restaurants, that can be in the upper floors and have some funny or cute themes. I saw one restaurant where people sat on swings, not chairs. That was interesting. Ximending is definitely a district, that needs a lot of time to explore, because there are so many hidden corners. Let me show you what I saw here today:

Step down at the Ximen Station and exit at Exit 6...



...and you'll find yourself in Ximending, where the cool kids hang out.



One of the main pedestrian areas of Ximending



It was a warm, but cloudy afternoon. There was a lot of young people that day.



All I thought was: Poor guy. What do you think?



The main pedestrian area from a different direction.



I thought: Wow, a blonde man like me... but then I thought: No, not really.



It seems that girls of Taipei love black stockings and boots, I've seen a lot of them.



Angel singing on the street. She seemed a but uneasy, it needs some courage, I guess.



Many elderly enjoy to observe the youngsters passing by.



This almost freaked me out! And not only the MJ puppet is freaky. Everything is!



When I crossed here, a cute girl said "Hello!" to me. I said "Hi!" and went on.



Ximending is a lot about street fashion. You can buy all kinds of clothes there.



Walking made me tired, too. But this time, I won't behave like the dog.

What's your impression of Ximending? Do you like It? Any observations?

[Main XIMENDING post][My TAIWAN page][All photos by MKL, 2010]