Night markets are an integral part of the local Taiwanese culture, and visiting one is the most popular items on many tourists' "must see" lists. Most people think Shilin Night Market is the market to visit in Taiwan, but there are a number of other excellent and less crowded options.
One of those is the Liouhe Night Market located in the southern city of Kaohsiung, which just took the number one spot on a recent poll of the best Taiwanese night markets. The Liouhe Night Market beat out the world-renowned Shilin Night Market in Taipei City based on the survey conducted by the Tourism Bureau in Taiwan. The survey was launched in July and just ended on August 16.
Each of the night markets were rated on six categories, which included: most eco-friendly, most tourist-friendly, most charismatic, most organized, most popular, and of course, the best food.
The survey was designed to engage visitors and the government to take a look at the content and quality of Taiwan's night markets. Tourism Bureau Deputy Director-General Wayne Liu explained the voting breakdown to the local English paper, The Taipei Times.
The competition involved three stages. The first involved a group of recruited judges who selected 10 night markets from the 30 recommended by county and city governments. The second stage of the survey was the online portion.
"The first stage counted for 20 percent of the total score, as did the second stage. The remaining 60 percent will be given by seven judges recruited by the bureau to pay impromptu visits to each night market," Liu said. "They will include travel agents handling in-bound tours, gourmet and travel writers from abroad." The results of the third stage are set to be announced this week.
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Comments
Rather surprising. Have never heard of Kaosiung for culinary purposes...something that's worth going to take a look at!
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