By Monideepa Banerjee Special to The China Post
If the sole idea of travel is to relax, enjoy and have fun, then shopping tops the chart, though some people may not agree. For to them I say, look at the hundreds of shopping malls and departmental stores cluttering the city's already crowded skyline. Step inside any of them and you will be amazed at the crowds, aimlessly wandering from shop to shop, their faces illuminated with a kind of relaxed contentment.
Many of my friends claim that they find solace after a hard day's work, in browsing through the latest styles and trends of fashion. "It brings back the childhood thrill of a treasure hunt" says one smilingly, referring though, to sudden discounts in prices. Be forewarned the treasure may remain as elusive as ever, creating a large hole in your wallet.
Here's a tip for both shoppers and travelers. Come to Wufenpu, a premier shopping area for clothes and accessories located in the eastern part of Taipei, to get value for your hard earned dollars. The literal translation of the name means "five parcels of open land".
In the pioneering days of Taipei's industrialization, the 60s and 70s people from Changhua County experienced in clothes-making rented large plots of land to begin their trade. In the traditional way, the first floors served as the storefronts and living quarters and factories were set on upper floors.
Soon the trade flourished and Wufenpu grew larger in size. The traders gave up the production job and concentrated on wholesale supplying and retailing. Today there are more than 1,000 individual shops crammed in that space which is now officially known as Wufenpu Garment Wholesale Area that begins near the intersection of Yongji Street and Zhongpo North Road and spreads up to Raohe Street.
The shops are stacked to the hilt with bargain booty with designs and styles that can rival of those famous designer brands, at a very reasonable price. In the last few decades wholesale trade has taken over, and many shops now prefer to sell to the wholesale customer, though some shops still cater to individual customers.
Don't be surprised if you find known faces from the morning or night markets you frequent. A majority of the street vendors prefer Wufenpu to stock up, due to its wide and diverse range in selection.
Bargaining is considered an art in Wufenpu. The wholesalers don't indulge in this art, and you too daren't as the prices really work out quite inexpensive if you don't mind buying the same kind of shirts or shorts in dozens. I have seen my friends doing the same and then distributing the stuff among others.
For the rest it's an interesting tussle where the buyers and sellers get involved amicably in a kind of word game. Don't worry; if you don't know Chinese, calculators can move back and forth.
Surely all the walking and haggling would make you ravenous. Visit the nearby Raohe Street Night Market for a sumptuous traditional feast. The entrance to the market is by the side of Ciyou Temple, one of the oldest Matsu temples in Taipei. In this short stretch of about 500 meters hundreds of shops are jostling for space, sparkling in bright neon and selling thousands of items. Red lanterns are hung everywhere to impart a traditional touch.
If the throbbing crowd around the food stalls is of any indication, then food is the prime attraction here. There are oyster noodles, barbecued meat, sausage rolls, traditional cakes and pastries and thousands of other delicacies that look highly tempting, so give it a try.
So what are you waiting for?
Happy Hunting.
How to go
Wufenpu is a few minutes' walk from the Houshanpi Railway Station on Banchiao-Nangang MRT line.