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Shopping in Taipei’s East District is a lot of fun

“Shopping Central” in the city of Taipei is the East District. While the Ximending district on the far west side is youth-shopper mecca, the posh and sprawling East District caters to the dedicated shoppers of the white-collar legion who have plenty of disposable income and who consider a shopping outing a great treat rather than a burdensome chore. By Rick Charette

Taipei’s East DistrictWhere the Art of Shopping Is Serious Business

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SHOPPING

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Choosing a Taiwan-!avor souvenir

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Listening to the latest tunes

eslite bookstore

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SHOPPING

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I came to Taiwan over 20 years ago, just shy of my 27th birthday, making me instantly

“over-qualif ied” for Ximending. I thus can offer you only limited expertise as a Ximending shopping guide. However, my expertise on Taipei east-side shopping, despite the fact I am a sports-loving male, is impressive and of great value to you.

This situation has arisen because of four of the most important ladies in my life – wife, mom-in-law, and wife’s two sisters – whom I call the “four musketeers” of local shopping and who are among Taiwan’s f inest citizens. To them, there is no time better spent than that spent on group shopping forays, and the best times of all are spent in the East District. I am of ten volunteered to come along, as driver and as muscle as the purchases add up, my payment a free meal in one of the area’s countless attractive eateries. Over the years my database of east-end shopping knowledge has been steadily and relentlessly built up, and I here volunteer to serve as your East District shopping guide over the next few pages.

It all started with the Pacific SOGO Department Store, just east of the Fuxing/Zhongxiao road intersection.

Fuxing North/South Road is, roughly, the western boundary of the East District. Opened in 1987, the gleaming-white building was Taiwan’s f irst international department store, a Taiwanese-Japanese joint venture introducing benchmark bright and sparkling-clean interiors, international brands,

and pleasant “customer-is-always-right” service. At that time pleasure-shopping excursions were mostly to the Taipei Railway Station area, but Pacif ic SOGO launched an eastward migration, which was followed by a grand bloom of upscale retail outlets. Today, Pacif ic SOGO remains a favorite leisure-time rendezvous point, and the base of the shopping district on Zhongxiao East Road Sec. 4.

Just south of the Zhongxiao/Dunhua intersection is the former f lagship outlet of eslite bookstore, a home-grown enterprise that is Taiwan’s leading bookstore chain. Open 24 hours a day, and housing a chic café, this is an iconic book-lovers’ haunt. When the store opened in 1989 (the original outlet was next door and soon moved here in search of greater space), there was an immediate redef inition of Taiwan’s bookstore world, and of its retail world in general. From that time forth large retailers catering to an ever more sophisticated public had to have the fashionable visual appeal of a boutique. Go to the Taiwan Studies and Taiwan Travel sections, where you can hunt happily for English-language gems sometimes diff icult or impossible to f ind on shelves overseas.

Artist and entrepreneur Heinrich Wang is a renowned Taiwan f igure, a successful f ilm director who suddenly lef t the business to pursue glass art and whose work is now displayed in the National Palace Museum. One of the boutique galleries of his newest venture, NewChi, is across

Many of the island’s pop stars come to Wufenpu in the hunt for a unique look

Dunhua South Road from eslite. NewChi specializes in modernistic “white China,” a traditional Chinese porcelain type favored by the royal households of the Tang and Qing dynasties. The works, which seem to glow, are exquisitely delicate, and many of the smaller pieces, notably the tea utensils, have both artistic and practical function. All works are steeped in the classical symbolism of the Chinese culture.

On Zhongxiao just east of the Zhongxiao/Dunhua intersection is the venerable Ming Yao Department Store. Though I use “venerable” here, a thorough 7-month remodelling starting in spring 2011 has given it a brand-new cosmopolitan face and personality. The fortunes of this local enterprise are soaring with the setting up of the UNIQLO Global Flagship Store on the f irst four f loors. Taiwan youth are in love with this Japanese brand, which has a global footprint, and this has become its most prof itable outlet. UNIQLO in fact caters to all, f rom kids to adults, offering quality casual wear; think The Gap and Benetton.

The fun of wanderings along the lanes and alleys either side of Zhongxiao East Road, Sec. 4 comes from the serendipity. The East District brims with chic shops and boutiques, today competing with

aesthetically pleasing facades vying for your attention. I especially l ike Lane 205, Alley 29, known informally as “Handicraf ts Alley” because of the numerous places creating handiworks found nowhere else.

Figure 21 is suffused with the nostalgia-inducing aroma of f inely worked leather. You’ ll see the owner-designer team hard

at work at their stations, the display area brimming with handmade leather items themselves brimming with creative individuality. Close by, McVing is the name of both a shop and a brand, both the inspiration of a local who studied design in London; the product here is handcraf ted bags that are both unique fashion statements and statements of green-living commitment. Next, AtWill is the dream-made-reality of two young designers who give life to jewelry artworks that fuse rock-and-roll, retro, and free-wheeling ornate exuberance. They craf t personalized jewelry here, a service much appreciated and of t util ized by my Taiwan-family shopping pros.

Wufenpu

PACIFIC SOGO DEPT. STORE (太平洋百貨)Add: 45, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd. (忠孝東路四段45號)Tel: (02) 2776-5555 Website: www.sogo.com.tw (Chinese)

ESLITE BOOKSTORE (誠品書店)DUNNAN BRANCHAdd: 2F, 245, Sec. 1, Dunhua S. Rd. (敦化南路⼀一段245號2F)Tel: (02) 2775-5977XINYI BRANCHAdd: 11, Songgao. Rd. (松⾼高路11號) Tel: (02) 8789-3388Website: www.eslite.com (Chinese)

NEWCHI (八方新氣)Add: 1F, 5, Lane 252, Sec. 1, Dunhua S. Rd. (敦化南路⼀一段252巷5號1樓) Tel: (02) 8773-8369

MING YAO DEPARTMENT STORE/UNIQLO GLOBAL FLAGSHIP STORE(明曜百貨 /UNIQLO全球旗艦店)

Add: 200, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd. (忠孝東路四段200號)Tel: (02) 2777-1266 (Ming Yao), (02) 2778-3308 (UNIQLO)Website: www.mingyao.com.tw (Chinese), www.uniqlo.com/tw (Chinese)

FIGURE 21 (手工包房)Add: 1-6, Alley 29, Lane 205, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd. (忠孝東路4段

205巷29弄1-6號) Tel: (02) 8771-4498

MCVINGAdd: 5, Alley 29, Lane 205, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd. (忠孝東路4段205巷29弄5號) Tel: (02) 2559-6402

ATWILLAdd: 7-6, Alley 29, Lane 205, Sec. 4, Zhongxiao E. Rd. (忠孝東路4段

205巷29弄7-6號) Tel: (02) 2711-4609

TITTOT (琉園) LIULI GONGFANG (琉璃工房)Website: www.tittot.com Website: http.liuli.com.tw (Chinese)

YANG JIA HAND-DYED CLASSIC WORKSHOP (楊佳手染古典坊)Add: 17-1, Alley 11, Lane 443, Yongji Rd. (永吉路443巷11弄17之1號) Tel: (02) 2765-5038

ENGLISH & CHINESE

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Handicrafts Alley ⼿手⼯工巷

Heinrich Wang 王俠軍

Koji pottery 交趾陶

Loretta Yang 楊惠珊

Xinyi District 信義區

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SHOPPING

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The East District brims with chic shops and boutiques, competing with aesthetically pleasing facades vying

for your attention

This is in fact a wholesaler district, handling items sourced from all around the region, but everyone is set up to handle individual-item walk-in sales. My favorite shop, which the owner-couple tells me always grabs the attention of other foreigners passing by, is “Yang Jia Hand-Dyed Classic Workshop.” They sell one-of-a-kind clothing featuring the traditional designs of China’s various ethnic groups, adding practical modern twists (such as making traditionally baggy, airy apparel more form-f itting). Over the years I’ve bought many items for family members back home in Canada, and my sister, an artist, has f itted out her three children in Yang Jia items when tots and has framed favorite selections to create a display wall in her workroom.

It’s been a long and happy day of exploration, and you are no doubt in need of a good meal and a good rest. Time, then, to move on to our Eat and Stay f iles.

OK shoppers, grab your credit cards and let’s get at it. There’s work to be done!

Further east along Zhongxiao, 10-15 minutes on foot, you reach the

new core of “Shopping Central,” in the Xinyi District. With the soaring Taipei 101 tower as its clarion beacon, it is f ramed by Zhongxiao East, Songren, Xinyi, and Keelung roads. Just 20-plus years ago this area was almost all open land; today it is a giant architects’ playbox, f illed with big, brash, bold architectural statements, boldest of all the sky-reaching Taipei 101, not long ago the world’s tallest building.

The many giant malls and department stores here include Taipei 101 Mall, Uni-Hankyu, Bellavita, ATT 4 FUN, and four separate Shin Kong Mitsukoshi buildings that look, to me, much like a f leet of aircraf t carriers l ined up and headed to sea. All are international and decidedly chic and upscale. In your search for a piece of Taiwan in consumer-purchase form, I recommend Shin Kong Mitsukoshi’s tittot and Liuli

Gongfang outlets. Both offer exquisite glass art heavy in local cultural themes. Tittot – surprise – is the child of Heinrich Wang, who we just met at NewChi, and Liuli Gongfang the child of Loretta Yang, a former actress. In fact, Wang was part of the original group of ex-f ilm industry colleagues who started Liuli Gongfang, leaving in 1993.

My favorite tittot l ine is Wang’s emulation of the extraordinarily bright color combinations that def ines Taiwan’s beautiful traditional koji pottery. I am, yes, a proud owner of a piece, a specially requested Christmas present from my wife. Loretta Yang’s fascination with dragons is on display at the Liuli Gongfang boutique, and I currently have my eye on a whimsical l ine of small cartoon-like dragons named “Little Singing Dragon,” “Little Ambitious Dragon,” and “Little Enlightened Dragon” (the last a reference to Confucius), that my Mom will love.

The Eslite Xinyi bookstore is another good option. This is the new f lagship store, much larger than the Dunhua facil ity, and the Taiwan Studies and Taiwan Travel sections have markedly more English titles. Also, near the in-house café is a boutique displaying branded Taiwan specialty goods such as native dried mushrooms, wasabi-coated black beans, sof t plum candies, dried papaya and mango, and burdock chips. You’ve maybe never heard of “burdock” before, but trust

me, these chips are tasty. Finally, I strongly recommend a visit to the OTOP Taiwan outlet in Taipei 101 Mall. “OTOP” stands for “One Town, One Product,” and on display here are the best of the best specialty products from 96 localities, ranging from arts and craf ts to teas and foods and on to dyed and woven clothes and items from Taiwan’s indigenous peoples.

Next, we take a short subway ride further east along Zhongxiao. Wufenpu is an amazing self-contained

warren of hundreds of small open-front shops sell ing good/high-quality apparel and a wide range of fashion accouterments, at prices so low that dedicated local shoppers salivate. Located just a few minutes north on foot from MRT Houshanpi Station, along the exceedingly

narrow lanes and alleys of this bustling night-market-style labyrinth you can buy attractive in-fashion shirts and blouses, for

example, starting at just a few hundred NT$. Proof of the quality, Taipei folk will tell you, is that many of the island’s pop stars come here in the hunt for a unique look – star-spotting has thus become a bonus attraction.

Happy shoppers

Taking a break

Window shopping

Modern shopping environment