Now I've been to Snake Alley and Shilin market. That must mean I'm a Taipei veteran.
Shilin market is the night market of night markets. A maze of narrow alleys with door to door shops and food stalls, plus a throbbing crowd. My mate the hotel guard downstairs tells me I chose a bad day, because the heat tonight will have meant there would be less people. Really? I'd like to see it more crowdy than it was!
Something that caught my eye was a shrine/temple in the middle of the maze. Don't know who's being worshipped here, but it looked kind of cool in the middle of all the huzzle.
There were food stalls in front of it, and you might just make out the shop underneath the temple where the strong light is coming from in the pic below.
I find the contrast between mystical structures and commercial interest very fascinating. It's so against the ideas I've been tought about mysticism in the west. Jesus chasing out the merchants in the temple and all that.
