For malls and brands, go to Xinyi, around Taipei 101 and Taipei City Hall Station. For something you can only buy here, go to Dihua Street for tea and dried goods, and to the Huashan and Songshan culture parks for Taiwanese design. Ximending is for streetwear, Guanghua is for electronics, and Wufenpu is for cheap clothes. Spend NT$2,000 or more in one store with the tax refund sign on the same day and you can claim back part of the 5% VAT.
| Where | Best for | MRT |
|---|---|---|
| Xinyi malls | Department stores, global brands, food halls | Taipei City Hall (BL18), Taipei 101/World Trade Center (R03) |
| Eslite Songyan | Books, stationery, Taiwanese design, open all night | Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (BL17) |
| Chifeng Street, Zhongshan | Vintage shops, small boutiques, cafes | Zhongshan (R11, G14) |
| Dihua Street | Tea, dried goods, herbs, fabric | Beimen (G13), Daqiaotou (O12) |
| Ximending | Sneakers, youth fashion, street food | Ximen (BL11, G12) |
| Guanghua Digital Plaza | Computers, phones, cameras, games | Zhongxiao Xinsheng (BL14, O07) |
| Wufenpu | Cheap clothes from wholesale shops | Houshanpi (BL20), Songshan (G19) |
| Huashan 1914, Songshan Cultural Park | Design shops, pop-ups, gifts | Zhongxiao Xinsheng (BL14, O07), Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall (BL17) |
Xinyi: the malls
Xinyi is Taipei's mall district. The mall at the foot of Taipei 101 (台北101購物中心) has seven floors of shops and restaurants, from B1 to 6F. North of it, toward Taipei City Hall Station, the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department stores of Xinyi Place (台北信義新天地) fill four buildings, named A4, A8, A9 and A11. Breeze Xinyi (微風信義) and ATT 4 FUN are nearby.
- Taipei 101 Mall Sunday to Thursday 11:00 to 21:30; Friday, Saturday and the eve of national holidays 11:00 to 22:00. No. 45, City Hall Road
- Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Xinyi Place 11:00 to 21:30, and to 22:00 on the day before weekends and holidays. A11 is at No. 11, Songshou Road
- MRT Taipei City Hall Station (Blue Line, BL18), Exit 3 for Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, about three minutes on foot. Taipei 101/World Trade Center Station (Red Line, R03) for Taipei 101
→ Xinyi · Taipei 101
Eslite: the bookstore that never closes
Eslite (誠品) is Taiwan's best-known bookstore chain, and its stores sell far more than books: stationery, Taiwanese design, food and gifts. Taipei has had a 24-hour Eslite bookstore since 1999. The first was on Dunhua South Road, then the role passed to the Xinyi store, which closed on December 24, 2023. Today the 24-hour bookstore is Eslite Spectrum Songyan (誠品生活松菸店), in the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park. Its 24-hour bookstore passed 10,000 days of nonstop opening in July 2026, counted from Dunnan's first night.
- MRT Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station (Blue Line, BL17)
Zhongshan and Chifeng Street
For small independent shops, walk the lanes around Chifeng Street (赤峰街), behind Zhongshan Station. It used to be Taipei's "iron street" of auto parts dealers and mechanics; today a few workshops remain among cafes, vintage shops and small restaurants, and the linear park beside it is a pleasant walk between Zhongshan and Shuanglian stations.
- MRT Zhongshan Station (Red Line R11, Green Line G14), or Shuanglian Station (Red Line, R12) for the north end
Dihua Street: tea, dried goods and fabric
Dihua Street (迪化街), the spine of old Dadaocheng, is still a trading street: dried mushrooms, nuts, tea, herbs and Chinese medicine, sold from long restored shophouses, with cafes and design shops in between. Fabric is sold by the meter in the stalls of Yongle Market (永樂市場). In the weeks before Lunar New Year the street becomes a festival market for New Year snacks and gifts.
- MRT Beimen Station (Green Line, G13) for the south end, Daqiaotou Station (Orange Line, O12) for the north end
Ximending: streetwear and youth fashion
The car-free streets of the Ximending pedestrian area are Taipei's youngest shopping district: sneaker shops, youth fashion and street food, busy late into the evening. Go in the late afternoon and stay for dinner.
- MRT Ximen Station (Blue Line BL11, Green Line G12)
Guanghua Digital Plaza: electronics
Guanghua Digital Plaza (光華數位新天地) is Taipei's electronics market: floors of small shops selling computers and parts, laptops, phones, cameras, gaming gear, games and accessories. Compare a few prices before you buy, and check that chargers and plugs suit the country you are taking them home to.
- Hours 11:00 to 21:00
- Address No. 8, Section 3, Civic Boulevard (市民大道三段8號), Zhongzheng District
- MRT Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station (Blue Line BL14, Orange Line O07)
Wufenpu: wholesale clothes
The Wufenpu garment wholesale area (五分埔), opposite Songshan train station, is Taipei's garment wholesale area: lanes packed with clothing shops, where bargain hunters dig through the racks and bins. Prices are low; look closely before you pay. Raohe Street Night Market is just across the road for dinner afterwards.
- MRT Houshanpi Station (Blue Line, BL20) or Songshan Station (Green Line, G19)
Huashan 1914 and Songshan: Taiwanese design
The city's two culture parks are the best places to buy modern Taiwanese design: small shops, pop-up stores, exhibitions and weekend markets in old industrial buildings. Huashan 1914 Creative Park (華山1914文化創意產業園區) is a former winery, and Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區) is the old Songshan Tobacco Factory, with Eslite's 24-hour bookstore inside. The outdoor areas of both are open 24 hours; shops keep their own hours.
- Huashan 1914 MRT Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station (Blue Line BL14, Orange Line O07)
- Songshan Cultural Park MRT Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station (Blue Line, BL17)
What to bring home
- Pineapple cake (鳳梨酥): Taiwan's classic gift, a buttery pastry around a pineapple filling, sold boxed in bakeries and department store food halls.
- Oolong tea: Taipei's own teas are the tieguanyin (鐵觀音) and baozhong (包種) grown in Maokong. Buy them on Dihua Street, or up the hill where they grow. → Tea and coffee
- Dried goods: mushrooms, nuts, dried fruit and herbs from the Dihua Street shops, on a street that has traded since the Qing dynasty.
- Fabric: cloth by the meter from Yongle Market.
- Design and stationery: notebooks, prints and small gifts from Eslite and the culture parks.
Check your own country's customs rules before you pack food, especially anything with meat or fresh fruit.
Tax refunds for visitors
Taiwan's VAT is 5%, already in the price. Visitors can claim most of it back on goods they take out of the country, at stores showing the tax refund (TRS) sign. The rules, from the Ministry of Finance regulation and the official e-refund site:
- Who Visitors on a foreign passport (or other eligible travel document) staying fewer than 183 days
- Minimum NT$2,000 or more, tax included, at one TRS store on the same day
- Deadline Take the goods out of Taiwan within 90 days of purchase
- Fee 20% of the refund goes to the refund operator, so you get back about 3.8% of the price
- On the spot Spend up to NT$48,000 in one store in one day and stores that offer it can refund you on the spot (small-amount on-site refund), up to NT$120,000 in total per trip and NT$240,000 per year
How to claim. Ask the store for the refund paperwork when you pay, and show your passport. If you did not get an on-site refund, go to the airport three hours before your flight and, before you check your bags, scan your passport and receipts at an E-VAT refund kiosk or the refund counter. The system tells you if customs wants to see the goods. Take the refund in cash at the bank counter, or have it paid to a Visa, Mastercard, JCB or UnionPay card.
Urban refund. Designated refund counters in the city can pay your refund before you leave, if you are flying out within 20 days. You need an international credit card, which is charged a 7% security deposit, and you must still have your claim checked at the airport, or the deposit is kept.
Paying and opening hours
Malls, department stores and chains take major credit cards. Market stalls, small shops and night markets often want cash, so carry NT$100 notes. Malls and department stores open late in the morning, usually 11:00, and close around 21:30 or 22:00, a little later on Friday and Saturday. → Money, cards and other basics
Good to know: keep every receipt and claim the tax refund on the spot when the store offers it. It saves the airport queue, and the refund is the same.
→ All things to do · Neighborhoods · Food
Sources
Tax refund rules: the Ministry of Finance regulation, 外籍旅客購買特定貨物申請退還營業稅實施辦法, and the official e-refund site, E-VAT refund content and procedures. Mall hours: Taipei 101 and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Xinyi Place. Guanghua hours and address: Guanghua Market. Eslite: PTS on the Xinyi store's closing and CNA via UDN (July 2026) on the Songyan 24-hour bookstore. Wufenpu: Taipei Times. Chifeng Street: CNA. Dihua Street, the culture parks and payment: our Dadaocheng, museums and basics pages and their sources.
Checked October 2026.