Youth, fashion and sub-culture mecca

Talk of the town: Taiwan's equivalent of the Oscars, The Golden Horse Festival, is held here amidst the half dozen movie theatres on Wuchang Street.

Word to the wise: The shops are open all day, but visit it in the evening to get the full neon-lit experience.

This is the place to flaunt your fashionable self; the night-time haunt of the Taiwanese youth, who strut down the pedestrianised streets in the latest, cutting edge clothes bought from the colourful shops. Street vendors selling trinkets and snacks - don’t miss Ay-chung's flour-rice noodles (8-1, Emei Street) - and pavement performers jostle for space alongside teenagers and young couples.

Constructed during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan, this has been a shopping hotspot since the 1930s. Most popular is the remodelled 1945 Red Theatre, now packed full of boutiques, cafes and bars, and the epicentre of LGBT nightlife in Taipei.