Travel guides insist that if you are taking a trip to Taiwan that one of the MUSTS on any travellers itinerary should be an evening at the Keelung Miaokou Night Market (廟口夜市) which is well-known for its diversity of Taiwanese delicacies and being so close to the sea - it's fresh selection of seafood dishes. The night market is jam-packed with Taiwanese and foreigners walking shoulder-to-shoulder every night of the week and it truly is a purely Taiwanese experience that shouldn't be missed while visiting the country.

Most people however are unaware that the name "Miaokou" (廟口) refers to a 'temple front' and that the popularity of the night market today is directly related to the importance of the temple from which the night market ultimately became an extension.

Today, whenever there is a temple celebration the festive carnival-like atmosphere brings with it countless number of visitors as well as vendors who set up shop and aim to feed the masses. If you visit ANY temple celebration in Taiwan, the vendors won't be far away and it is always easy to find something delicious. In the past this was also true of temple celebrations, but temples also tended to be more of a focal point of towns and cities and businesses always wanted to be as close as possible to a temple for both economic and superstitious reasons.

The Miaokou night market we see today is a direct result of this type of phenomenon as well as some pretty great urban planning that allowed the night market to become a permanent and very organized tourist attraction in the heart of Keelung's downtown core.