3. Best night market: Keelung

The crowds account for 50 percent of Keelung night market’s charm.
Northern Taiwan’s largest port sees few tourists, which is just one of many reasons to make the short trip over.

The hill in Zhongzheng Park is a great place to start. It is a vantage point for surveying Keelung city and the surrounding ocean.

Zhuputan Temple at the top of the hill is the focal point of Ghost Month activities in Taiwan held in the seventh lunar month.

Next to the temple, you can enjoy the view from a slightly surreal Buddhism-themed children’s amusement park, which includes a 22-meter-high Kuanyin statue with stairs leading up to multiple floors inside.

In the afternoon, choose between a boat trip to the cliffs of Keelung Island, or a visit to Yehliu, a windswept cape featuring hoodoos and other rock formations.

Hungry yet? Finish up at one of Taiwan’s best night markets.
Named Miaokou, or “temple entrance” after the fine temple at its heart, this market is also one of the most visitor-friendly markets in Taiwan, with English signage indicating each stall’s specialty.

Complete with the crowds that make strolling in night markets one of Taiwan’s defining experiences, this is one of the best places to take part in “re nao” or “hot and noisy atmosphere” — a sure marker of a good time.

Getting There: Frequent trains depart Taipei for Keelung. A number of private bus companies also operate buses to Keelung from Taipei Main Station, or from bus stops along Zhongxiao East Road. Ferries to Keelung Island depart from Bisha Harbor and buses to Yehliu leave from near the Keelung train station.

By Nick Kembel 14 June, 2012 CNN