The midnight playground: Taipei’s 24-hour urban underground

We know what happens when a city powers off for the night. Storefronts and supermarkets close for the day, streets empty, people rest, the hum of businesses and bodies grows quiet. The predictable rhythm of daily life is maintained as the sun rises and sets, making regular patterns of our wakeful activity.  

A curious thing happens when these rhythms are disrupted. In a growing number of cities across the globe, the city has become a 24/7 cosmopolitan world. Urban life is increasingly populated by nocturnal animals, defying human history and biology, however temporarily. It is a unique thrill to exist in this midnight playground – where day can morph into night without a passing thought.  

New Zealand cities are not these kinds of cities. My hometown, Wellington, is a city of just 210,000 people. When 5:30pm hits, most major retail shops close. Supermarkets and restaurants hold out until 8-9pm and then retire for the day.  

 Nightlife has also been on the decline, with many of our most lively city centre streets near desolate by 10pm. Until the lanyard-clad public servants repopulate the footpaths at 8am, the city can feel like a ghost town. While Wellington has its own charm, it is certainly not an ‘always-on’ kind of city.  

 In September 2024, I planted roots in my new home: Taipei, Taiwan. Taipei is a sprawling, densely packed urban world of 2.5 million people. Something I cannot experience back home is this particular sense of urban vitality. Taipei’s vibrancy is one of my favourite parts of living here.  

Public park in Taipei where night owls flock. Image credits - Ruby Dalmer

I fell in love with Taipei City through its 24/7 environments. It is hard to articulate the sense of awe and wonder a girl from New Zealand feels at being able to go to a teahouse at 3am, shrimp fish at 4am, eat robot-served ramen at 5am, and then do it all again (not that this is my typical night out…). Time feels infinite and life glows with a bit of movie magic.  

 Here, I extend this curiosity and dive deep into Taipei’s midnight world, looking into what 24-hour cities mean for people. What makes them so special? And how does Taipei re-define the cliché of the city that never sleeps? 

How did we get here? A brief history of 24/7 environments 

To understand Taipei at its midnight hour, we must first zoom out – to the historical trajectory of nightlife itself.  

Since the nineteenth century, humans have developed a penchant for staying awake at all hours of the day and night. Before this point, our species was bound by the limitations of dusk and dawn.  

Learning how to make and sustain fire was a turning point – extending some of our essential activities after darkness fell. But still, this resource was precious and scarce, being used for things like prayer vigils, keeping guard watch, and military encampments.  

 Round-the-clock activity only became possible with the advent of artificial lighting and the co-occurring industrial revolution. In 1820, London’s Pall Mall became the first street to be lit by coal-gas. From this moment onward, human wakeful activity knew no temporal bounds.  

 The 24-hour city we think of today, however, didn’t really take shape until the late 1990s.  

 During the twentieth century, people commuted in and out of the city centre in increasingly large numbers. This meant that the heart of shopping and commercial life became deserted at night.  

 This trend changed in the 1990s, with many city-goers choosing to move closer to the centre. Economic, social, and cultural forces commingled to create an environment where individuals had more disposable income, fewer children, and lower marriage rates.  

 With this higher population of single, active young people, there was also a relaxation of licensing laws, a boom in cultural attractions, and a wider “urban renaissance”. This laid the groundwork for the kind of thriving cosmo-cultural worlds we see today.  

Defining the 24-hour city  

What actually makes a 24-hour city? Urban activist Jane Jacobs’ magnum opus The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) was one of the first to put words to feeling.  

 Jacobs detailed the unique social and economic benefits of a lively nightscape, focusing on urban vitality as the life force of the city. She argues that a vibrant metropolis promotes the peaceful co-existence of unlikely people, places, and things.  

 Without this nocturnal noise, we are at risk of the “great blight of dullness” – the sterile and dangerous impacts of not meeting each other – on our streets and in our cafes, bars, and event spaces.    

 A 24/7 environment then, is therefore not about a particular activity, time-span, or social group, but rather a blending and overlap of different routines and patterns. It is a scene where any person, at any time, could theoretically do the same diversity of activities they can do during the day, outside of office hours.  

These ‘always-on’ cities are also defined by their spontaneity. In these environments, people feel compelled to join in on activities because of their symbiotic proximity to each other. The city allows you to stroll through and be part of it – wandering from a cinema to a cafe to a street performance to a flower stall. It encourages flexibility, openness, and surprise. 

24-hour city recipe: the essential urban ingredients  

Not everywhere has the stuff to be a 24-hour city. The recipe relies on several ‘urban ingredients’ which make this up-all-night culture possible.  

 One key factor is diversity. Societies that have richer diversity – namely of culture, ideas and religion – encourage tolerance and experimentation. This attitude is friendly to different patterns of rest and activity, and creates the type of community necessary to sustain both.  

Also important is the growth of both globalisation and the service industry. Globalisation relies on global trade, which serves to collapse the clear boundaries of time and distance that defined previous eras. On the other hand, the decline of the manufacturing sector and rise of the service industry has produced a resulting boom in the leisure economy.  

Beyond these more abstract factors, there are also a range of urban planning conditions that allow 24-hour cities to thrive.  

Most importantly, cities must be both accessible and population dense to sustain the 24-hour environment. Verhoeff (1993), for example, finds that the probability of attending performances halves for people who live 6 to 8km away compared to those residing within one kilometre. And Jacobs (1961) notes that the presence of people attracts other people.  

Accessibility also includes things like good public transport, affordable housing, and safe streets. Twentyfour-hour cities are rich with public space, including cycle paths, pedestrian-friendly streets, and well-lit alleys.  

Finally, climate plays a major role. Where cooler places make people want to hunker down in place, warmer climates encourage more round-the-clock activity.   

Temples stay open all night too here. Image Credits - Ruby Dalmer

Cities as a sensory experience 

The midnight world is a sensory world. As night-owls take the streets, the cityscape changes dramatically. Under neon lights, the city brings new smells, sights, sounds, tastes, and touches.  

Key to managing this clash of colour is proximity: city life must feel close enough to participate in, but not so close that it intrudes.  

This tension hits at the heart of 24-hour environments. The midnight realm’s sensorial nature is not clear cut, as the sights, sounds, and smells of food, culture, community, and jolly drunkenness also include those of pollution, vomit, sirens, and honking horns.  

What’s so special about staying up all night? 

Staying awake in a city into the early hours of the am is a special experience for many people. What exactly is it that we like? 

First, there is the novelty of walking down a street usually bustling in its daytime form. In the calm of the night, it feels like you can inhabit the city in a new way. It is tranquil and peaceful and all yours.    

 Throughout history, escaping into the night became a legitimate refuge for many people wanting to avoid daytime persecution, such as queer people and members of the street community. The night becomes an outlet.  

 New and important subcultures often evolve amongst these nighttime types drawn together by their shared unconventional habits. Jazz musicians, creative writers, philosophers, and ravers are examples here. 

The nighttime has historically been thought of as a place of crime ridden evil. In the seventeenth century, people were so scared that the “link boy”, or a lantern carrying companion for hire, became a popular defence against the dark.   

But this association is also what bonds these subcultures together. Interestingly, because people are more alert to strangers at night, once someone is judged to be worthy of trust, the sense of camaraderie is strengthened.   

 In 1978, sociologist Murray Melbin studied people’s helpfulness and friendliness in Boston, Massachusetts at different points in the 24-hour cycle. He measured this helpfulness based on people’s willingness to show positive behaviour in various contexts: asking for directions, consenting to be interviewed, turning in a lost key, and being sociable to a checkout operator in a supermarket. Nighttime scored consistently highest for sociable and helpful behaviour.   

 On our tightly wound schedules, the day encourages us to be productive and selective with our time. The night removes these constraints. So remarkably, this in some way leads to nighttime being a place of more sociable and helpful behaviour than daytime.  

FamilyMarts never sleep. Image Credits - Ruby Dalmer

24-hour Taipei  

Taipei’s 24-hour culture is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. Here are a couple of reasons why… 

 Firstly, because of the city’s general safety, the night doesn’t hold the same dangers as other places – particularly for women. You can experience that peace and tranquility without also having to fear for your life. That is unfortunately rare.  

This safety is also critical as fear is shown to greatly influence people’s openness to strangers at night. Being able to walk alone at night in a busy city is something we should never take for granted. It is a simple pleasure and an instant cure for a racing mind.  

Taipei’s midnight scene also defies some of the negative reputations of 24-hour culture. The scene is not just about hedonistic binge drinking and other vices; it comprises a very diverse and surprisingly wholesome array of activities.  

 Taipei’s late-night world is also uniquely punctuated by convenience stores (便利商店) stationed on literally every corner. Whatever you need, whenever you want, you can get. Ubiquitous convenience stores such as 7-11, Familymart, and HiLife alone act as interesting nighttime third spaces for a great myriad of people.  

 No matter where you are, you can always count on these convenience stores to give you a fun night. Some even have their own tap beer… 

Unique 24-hour experiences in Taipei  

All night bookstore 

In 1999, Taipei pioneered the world’s first 24-hour book store: Eslite Dunnan. This space became a late-night hub of activity for friends to meet in the middle of the night, for busybodies on the late-shift to quieten their minds, and for avid readers and amateurs alike to hunker down and get absorbed in story.  

 Though the iconic Dunnan branch closed in 2021, the legacy lives on in the new Songyan store in Xinyi District.  

All night tea house 

Yaoyue Teahouse sign. Image Credits - Ruby Dalmer

An all-time classic Taipei 24-hour spot is the Yaoyue Teahouse (邀月茶坊). This spot was a tea farm converted into a tea house over 27 years ago. It serves traditional mountain tea and delicious food round the clock. But its biggest draw is its magical location.  

Yaoyue is tucked away in the high hills of Maokong, behind National Chengchi University (NCCU).  

 Entering Yaoyue islike stepping into a magical fairy grotto. It is green, quiet, and tranquil, with softly glowing red lanterns adding to the cosy atmosphere. Misty green hills background rich wood seating while Taiwanese Tieguanyin tea 鐵觀音 wafts through the air.  

It has become an iconic hang for NCCU students, with many escaping to the tea house from sunset to sunrise, be it to cram for exams, chat with friends, or just relax.  

All night movies, manga, and karaoke  

Qtime in Taipei. Image Credits - Ruby Dalmer

Watching a movie in a cinema at 3am is a peak human experience – and one that Taipei can provide. LUX Cinema 樂聲影城 is one of these places. They host late-night screenings and AM movie marathons.  

 In a similar vein, U2 MTV is a 24-hour movie version of KTV where you can rent a private room with people and create your own cinematic experience.  

 There is also Qtime, the internet cafe/multi-entertainment hub where people go to read manga, watch movies, enjoy unlimited drinks, and even crash for the night.  

This category would be painfully incomplete without a mention of Partyworld 錢櫃, the 24-hour KTV complex that has become an institution in Taiwan. If those walls could talk… 

All night florist 

At the 24-hour florist. Image Credits - Ruby Dalmer

Whether you believe this to be a modern necessity or not, Taipei residents never have to go without fresh flowers. And that’s really special. Huahsin Florists 華新花苑 is the city’s 24-hour flower joint, offering bouquets, gift baskets, and wreaths at all hours.  

All night shrimp fishing 

One of the more niche 24-hour activities is shrimp fishing. Indoor shrimp fishing in Taipei is a must-do activity. It is a weird and wonderful local past-time, and a great way to learn more about Taiwan.  

In a room lined with claw machines, locals gather round a big pond and drink beer, smoke, and fish before barbecuing their shrimp loot and feasting on their shared winnings.  

Locations like Shilin’s Shrimp Fishing Centre stay open all night… 

24-hour shrimp fishing scenes. Image Credits - Ruby Dalmer

All night mahjong 

If you want to brush up your mahjong skills, a trip to one of Taipei’s many 24-hour mahjong parlours might do the trick.  

 Playing mahjong is about so much more than the game itself. It is also about the history, the cultural significance, the language learning opportunities, and the community you meet. Check out the ones in Ximen and Wanhua to get started.  

All night food and drink  

Big lazy suzan table at 24-hour shrimp fishing. Image Credits - Ruby Dalmer

Many cities have late night food and drink. But Taipei has some rare gems that make this a unique scene.  

 There’s 24-hour dim sum, 24-hour breakfast shops, 24-hour bubble tea, and 24-hour western-inspired diners. My personal favourite is the 24-hour unmanned ramen restaurants. The shops are self-service and all you can eat. Coming here in the early hours of the morning is a visceral experience.  

Grilling meat at 24-hour shrimp fishing. Image Credits - Ruby Dalmer

All night relaxation –  spas, shampoo, and hot springs  

In a hot, noisy, busy city, time to unwind is important. And if you can’t squeeze those moments into your day, Taipei has you covered. At the 24-hour Forest Spa, essential oils mix with massage and hot stone therapy to calm and indulge all your senses.  

Or target a more specific self care need – like your scalp. At V Sense Spa & Lounge, or Area Night Wash Salon, you can enjoy a midnight shampoo scalp treatment – using massage techniques and hair care to rejuvenate the mind and body.  

And best of all, there are the all-night hot springs. In Beitou, at places like Kintoki Spa Hotel and Nissho Kagaya International Hot Spring Hotel, you can escape into the warm, woodsy comfort of a thermal pool, 24-hours a day. 

Outside a 24-hour spa in Taipei. Image Credits - Ruby Dalmer

Up all night in a special city  

Taipei’s midnight hours dazzle and expand this already-vibrant city. The lively (熱鬧) atmosphere does not stop after dark. And it has something for everyone, whether you want to curl up with a good book, boozily cry-sing a heartbreak away at KTV, shrimp fish with some inexplicably well-dressed uncles, or shampoo your scalp, Taipei has the perfect urban ingredients and is serving up a delicious sensory experience for all.   

 -Asia Media Centre