Xinyi: Downtown Taipei

Xinyi District has only been downtown Taipei since the 1990s. A century ago, downtown Taipei was Dadaocheng on the west bank of Tamsui River. As neighbourhoods filled up, downtown moved east: to Ximending, then Dongmen, then Fuxing Rd, and finally to Xinyi.

A building boom followed: Taipei City Hall was completed in 1994, Taipei 101 in 2004, and Taipei Dome in 2023. In addition to civic landmarks, there is a convention centre, several department stores, and numerous five-star hotels.

Attractions

Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (Songyan) • 松山文創園區（松菸）

The Songshan Cultural and Creative Park was once the site of a government-owned tobacco factory, hence the nickname Songyan — short for Songshan tobacco. Taipei City began to redevelop the site starting in the early 2000s. The factory became a cultural and arts space; the remaining land became Eslite Hotel and Taipei Dome.

Songyan has four main areas, A6 O (Office Building), A7 W (West Factory), A7 E (East Factory), and A7 S (South Factory). There are also five warehouses that serve as event halls, named A1 through A5.

On weekends there are usually craft markets in the event halls or the pavilion outdoors. There are also always at least a few anime exhibits kicking around. Check Songyan’s Chinese website for the latest news.

Website

Here are some of my favourite areas in Songyan:

Design Pin

A shop run by the Taiwan Design Research Institute, whose offices are in Songyan. Design Pin sells stationery, accessories, and home decor. Many items have won design awards so they can be a little pricey, but they are worth admiring in person.

Website

no photo no life • 谷口写真企画室

A store for analog camera lovers, with a small selection of cameras and films. They also have merch like film canister keychains. (Those who seriously want to shop fancy analog cameras should go to their main store closer to Taipei 101.)

Website

Songyan Style Gallery • 松菸風格店家

Stalls here are rented to various Taiwanese indie brands. Long-term tenants include Thirdfloor Studio, dried plant accessories & workshops; 臺東鹿野 紅烏龍合作社, a Taitung cooperative for light-roast oolong; and chocolatier Chomeet 巧遇農情, who won a competition held by Eslite for the space.

Make sure to grab one of the real fruit juice popsicles from the icespring fridge in front of Tao Jiu Bar 討酒吧.

Current Tenants

Taiwan Design Museum • 台灣設計館

Also run by the Taiwan Design Research Institute. The museum is split across four adjacent rooms in the West Factory; to enter any room buy a ticket online or from the ticket machine near the factory entrance.

Ticket Website

Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall • 國立國父紀念館

The hall is closed for renovations as of early 2026, but you can visit its grounds.

Website

Taipei 101 • 台北101

Once the tallest building in the world™, comes with luxury shopping and fancy eats.

There is an observatory on the 89th floor if you like heights — I don’t. The famed hack to avoid paying for the observatory is to patronize Simple Kaffa Sola on the 88th floor. This café only opened in 2023 so I don’t know how long this hack will last. Also apparently the lines are crazy.

In a hurry and need food to gift? The 1st basement floor caters to exactly those needs. SunnyHills To Go sells one of my fave pineapple cakes (although I prefer going to their standalone store for the vibes).

Website

Snacks

Gakuden • 樂田麵包屋

Taipei bakery chain with both baozi and bagels. Their traditional pastries are flaky but not too oily. Good for affordable breakfast take-out.

Department Stores

Xinyi has about five too many department stores. Most are only worth visiting for the restaurants, though I do need to call out Bellavita which a rich dad built for his shopaholic daughter. Anyway, here are some Xinyi department stores I actually frequent.

Breeze Center Xinyi • 微風信義

Not to be mistaken with the two other Breeze Centers within a five-minute walk. If you need a Japanese drugstore brand and can’t find it at Watsons or Cosmed, check matsukiyo (B1F).

Breeze Center Website

Eslite Spectrum Songyan • 誠品生活松菸

This department store across the plaza from Songyan has Taipei’s current reigning 24-hour Eslite Bookstore (3F). Its lower floors feature many smaller accessories and home decor brands.

What I care about is the Eslite Stationery on 2F. More upmarket than other Taiwanese stationery chains, they carry a lot of Japanese and European stationery and are stocked during Hobonichi season. The Caran d’Ache display is my personal Waterloo. They have a walled-off fountain pen & ink section mainly featuring western brands, though I’ve seen local brands like Lennon Tool Bar and Artex Pen before. There’s also lots of stickers, pens, and stamps for the stationery normies.

Website

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Xinyi Place • 新光三越信義新天地

Four buildings of department store. Each building has a slightly different focus: A4 on eyewateringly expensive luxury, A8 on children and home goods, A9 on golf, and A11 on young adult trends.

Most Asian luxury beauty brands with a presence in Taiwan have a counter here. Additionally, beautySTAGE (A11 B1F) carries smaller Asian beauty brands like &be, hince, AM Fairyland, and Kaibeauty. Also check Vecs Gardenia (A11 B1F), a Taiwanese skincare brand for sensitive skin.

For cute clothes, try Taiwanese brand E-Wear (A11 B1F) or Japanese brands Lowrys Farm (A8 B1F) and earth music&ecology (A11 B1F). Want something cute and huggable? There’s Sanrio (A8 5F), and Donguri Republic どんぐり共和国 (A8 4F) for official Studio Ghibli merch.

Looking for edible souvenirs? Check Hsin Tung Yang 新東陽 (A11 B2F) for traditional gifts; or Aunt Stella 詩特莉 (A4 B2F) or Gelovery Gift (A8 B2F) for more modern options.

Once your legs have given up, there are a number of restaurants and dessert shops in the complex. Stop by Comeme (A11 B2F) for egg tarts with croissant shells.

Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Website

• ← Previous
  Best Taiwan Bubble Tea for Toppings 2026