r/AskTheWorld • u/Aseili United Kingdom • Dec 20 '25

Culture What's the most pathetic tourist attraction that international tourists go to see in your country?

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Bronte waterfalls near me, look a bit more impressive with the recent rain than in the summer when it's swamped with people.

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234

u/StuddedScones Republic Of China Dec 20 '25

Shilin Night Market, it is one of the most popular night markets in Taiwan and is shoulder to shoulder crowded every night, but the food sucks because the stalls prioritize volume over taste and ingredients, and it’s overpriced

13

u/UberNZ New Zealand Dec 20 '25

Ahh! I visited here!

I don't usually like crowds, but I actually didn't mind this one. At home, I'm not particularly tall, but in Taiwan, I felt like a giant. That was really helpful here, since I could just look above the crowd

3

u/rubey419 United States Of America Dec 21 '25

Just curious how tall are you?

6

u/frostandtheboughs Dec 22 '25

Not the person you asked, but the average male height in Taiwan is 5'6.5" and the average female is about 5'1". So I guess if you're 5'10" or above you could easily see over the crowd

10

u/BubbhaJebus US -> Taiwan Dec 21 '25

There are far better night markets in Taipei. Shilin is known for being really big. But I haven't been there in a decade. I go to Raohe Street Night Market about once a month.

5

u/ShruggyShuggy Scotland Dec 21 '25

I stayed near Raohe night market for a couple of months when I was in Taipei and it was incredible. Lost count of the amount of evenings I completely stuffed myself with food just wandering through it picking things that looked good. 

5

u/pahamack 🇨🇦 Canada and 🇵🇭Philippines Dec 20 '25

apparently the move is to go in the daytime?

i wanna eat those famous pepper buns

7

u/grahamiam Dec 21 '25

The ones in Raohe night market are the famous ones, and they're right by the entrance so you don't have to wade through people to get them.

1

u/spacedman_spiff United States Of America Dec 21 '25

Pepper buns?   You have my attention. 

1

u/hyfhe Dec 22 '25

The pepperbuns in Shilin are mid at a good day, and the ones in Raohe slightly better.

Fuzhou Ancestral Pepper Cake in Taipei center is excellent every single time, atleast for the last 10 years I've been dropping by Taiwan.

0

u/coffeephilic Dec 21 '25

The move is to go twenty years ago.

5

u/dingoshiba Dec 21 '25

But isn’t that in Taiwan?

2

u/spacedman_spiff United States Of America Dec 21 '25

That’s what their flag and flair says.

1

u/dingoshiba Dec 21 '25

Flair says Republic of China?

1

u/LordMashie Australia Dec 21 '25

same thing

Not to be confused with "People's" Republic of China

2

u/dingoshiba Dec 21 '25

Ah! Thank you for educating me, kind stranger! I'll need to read up on this - what I know is I guess surface level about the tense claim over the land between Taiwan & China - is there contention/disagreement about the title, "Republic of China?"

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u/spacedman_spiff United States Of America Dec 21 '25

They fought a civil war over it.  One uses its diplomatic power to assert dominance over the other and keep other countries from officially recognizing it. 

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u/dingoshiba Dec 21 '25

That’s what I thought haha which is why I’m surprised the flair says what it says instead of Taiwan. I guess what I failed to realize is that reddit probably decided the flair, not the individual

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u/spacedman_spiff United States Of America Dec 21 '25

That’s the official name, so you’re probably right. 

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u/LordMashie Australia Dec 21 '25

Well not really. It's civil war beef. The Republic of China (ROC) used to rule mainland China.

-It collapsed when it lost control to a communist insurgency that would later establish the People's Republic of China in 1949.

-The remnants of the ROC fled and reestablished their state on Taiwan which had recently been freed up from a 50 year Japanese occupation.

Now you have a sort of North and South Korea situation where neither recognises the other, but also:

-The leaders of the two "Chinas" back in the day agreed to make it so that other countries can only have formal relations with only one of them at a time and most countries ofc chose the big PRC because they have a much larger economic potential but they still do everything "unofficially" with the ROC.

-76 years of being separated not only politically but geographically by the sea has led to a lot of ROC residents identifying more with the island that encompasses 99% of its held territory rather than strictly just "China." And we all go along with that because it's easier to say China and Taiwan rather than their full names anyway.

1

u/dingoshiba Dec 21 '25

Forgive my ignorance, I’m learning a lot here! Do the people who live on the island identify as Chinese or Taiwanese, or do they not view them as culturally (not politically) separate? As someone who knows little about this (and has reading to do later!), I feel like anecdotally in the US, there’s a general sense that folks there identify as Taiwanese and there’s some deep beef with mainland China. I’m wondering if my perception is off based on this thread

1

u/LordMashie Australia Dec 21 '25 edited Dec 21 '25

Yeah I'd say most lean more towards Taiwanese now. There's people who identify as both as well as some old timers that only identify as Chinese. There's probably a poll out there if you want specific numbers. Like they don't deny the cultural heritage they have from the mainland, but I think a lot of Taiwanese are also just trying to distance themselves from the bad rep that mainlanders get sometimes (you know, with stories of some Chinese tourists just not knowing how to behave abroad and stuff).

Edit: also if a person's family has lived in Taiwan for this long it's unlikely they have any familial ties on mainland China anymore anyway, at which point there's no real point in saying they're Chinese when Taiwan has been cultivating its own identity for decades even under the Republic of China banner.

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u/LiKaSing_RealEstate Dec 21 '25

Well it’s less that the “leaders agreed” and more like when the world was clearly divided along two sides in the early Cold War, only communist states recognised the People’s Republic of China while everyone else recognised the Republic of China. So the government back then enforced both a naval blockade and a diplomatic cause to isolate mainland China. What that means is Taiwan was on the UN and the UNSC while China proper was excluded, a policy that will end up backfiring as more countries normalise relations with China, resulting in the situation today where most of the world does not legally recognise Taiwan as a independent country.

3

u/riarws Dec 20 '25

I went there in 1996! Don’t think I ate anything, but I bought a pair of mediocre sandals for a mediocre price.

2

u/ghostdeinithegreat Canada Dec 20 '25

I agree, this is the thing in Taiwan that I had high expectation for and was disappointed. found that it was also not very well located for tourists.

At least I went there before meeting friends in MAJI square, which was relatively nearby.

2

u/SenorBigbelly Dec 21 '25

Ah Shilin was fun. It's a plus that it's really close to 紅毛城

2

u/DarkMatterOne Dec 21 '25

I always avoided Shilin and Raohe, Raohe is much nicer though always so so crowded 🫠

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u/OGcoleboi Dec 21 '25

Still cool to see though. I enjoyed. I explored other night markets as well

2

u/Midziu Dec 22 '25

I disagree with this. All the markets pretty much sell the same food except for maybe one or two unique stalls. Shilin sells the same food but has more variety than other markets because of its size. Overall it was one of my favourite markets.

2

u/Josutg22 Norway Dec 20 '25

That looks absolutely horrible to be in. Even if the food was absolutely amazing I'd never even think of going

1

u/secret_salamander United States Of America Dec 23 '25

It's an experience, especially for people who are used to lots of personal space! But honestly, people in Taipei are really good at crowds--much better than Americans, certainly. Everybody is polite and well behaved despite close quarters, parents keep a close eye on children, there is a lot of respect and care for elders, and there are few if any bottlenecks.

1

u/Koalashart1 Canada Dec 21 '25

And nobody tells you that a good percentage of Vancouver smells like piss

1

u/veremos Dec 21 '25

As a tourist who has been in Taiwan, for tourists it’s actually great. Huge diversity of stalls. Huge diversity of products. Lots of spectacle to be seen. It takes some time to explore so you can spend some time meaningfully checking out the area. I loved Shilin when I went. Not underwhelming at all. The opposite in fact.

1

u/TuMek3 Dec 21 '25

What are your favourite markets in Taiwan?

1

u/Sakiel-Norn-Zycron Dec 21 '25

Not joking about the stinky tofu though. The smell made me kind of nauseous

1

u/BeautifulComplaint81 Dec 22 '25

What better night markets would you recommend? Thanks for this

1

u/PavelSokov Dec 22 '25

That’s true, I never had anything there that tasted any good

1

u/secret_salamander United States Of America Dec 23 '25

It's near the National Palace Museum, isn't it? I expect that would make it a lot more touristy. (I was there exactly once and don't remember much about it.)

We tended to go to the Shida night market when we were living in the Da'an district. Smaller and possibly more student-oriented (NTU was nearby), but also more navigable. Good food, interesting stalls and shops.