Near the center of Hsinchu City there is an old indoor market called Dongmen Market. It used to be a so called wet market where people would go to buy groceries, clothes and other everyday items. The place has been on the decline for a number of years with more and more of the little vendor stalls and shops closing down. Lately however, a lot of young people have been opening little restaurants, cafes and bars in the old vendor spaces. Most of these businesses are only open in the afternoons and evenings, so during the day the place is still pretty dead.

I’ve been there with my camera a couple of times, both during daytime and in the evening, and I think the contrast between day and night is pretty interesting. So, here is a bunch of photos showing Dongmen market, dead during the day, alive at night.

Entrance of the market

Popular restaurant at night and day

This corridor is far more lively at night than during day

Another restaurant deserted at day, lively at night

Never mind the bar on the left that always looks closed, the restaurant at the end of the street looks completely dead during the day.

These are shot from different angles but it’s the same place. Deserted during the day, full of people at night

The owners of this restaurant spend the afternoon preparing for the night time crowds

Here’s the are around the central escalator. The tables remain empty during the day but fill up in the evening

Though there were no customers in this bar when I was there, at least it looks more inviting at night than during day

Different perspective so perhaps hard to tell it’s the same place. The tables are all occupied at night but empty during the day

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Mix of daytime shots, the only people here are the workers preparing for the evening

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Collection of crowd shots from the evening

The market is a pretty big building with several floors, but almost all of the restaurants are located on the ground floor. On the other floors most of the vendor stalls seem to be permanently closed. However, there are a few old stores here and there that are still open during the day time. On the upper floors there are even a few stalls that have been converted into living spaces. I believe it is very cheap, especially for the central location, but not particularly comfortable. While I wouldn’t want to live there myself I think these little makeshift homes are very interesting.

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Some of the normal stores that are open in the day time

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Collection of shots from the parts used as living spaces

For some reason there is street art in some of the public spaces in the building such as the elevators and stair cases, or on the metal shutters of the closed stalls.

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Elevator and staircase art

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Other random art from other parts of the building

While there has always been some activity in the building, some parts of it have clearly seen less use than others in the last few years. These parts have become extremely run down after years of disuse and neglect; especially the basement looks creepy.

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Small collection of creepy shots from the basement