Ximending

Ximending was developed as an entertainment district under Japanese rule and has stayed one, becoming Taipei's first pedestrian zone in 1999 and the place teenagers go: street performers, tattoo studios, cinemas, arcades and a dense grid of clothing shops. At its centre stands the Red House, an octagonal red brick building of 1908 built as a market, later a theatre, and now a cultural venue with a creative market and bars behind it.

What you actually see

• The Red House - a 1908 octagonal brick building, now a cultural venue.
• The pedestrian grid - Taipei's first car-free shopping streets.
• The street performers - buskers and crowds through the main crossings in the evenings.
• The cinemas - a long-standing cluster of film theatres in the district.

When to go

Year round; evenings and weekends are when it is at its liveliest and most crowded. Weekday mornings are quiet. Summer evenings are hot and packed.

Honest expectations

It is crowded and loud, and the shopping is fast fashion rather than anything distinctive. Touts and promoters work the crossings. The Red House is the only building of real interest.

Nearby

Bopiliao is south in Wanhua, and Longshan Temple is beyond it.