People of the Night 5 (中壢夜市人像)

This is the fifth post in my People of the Night Photo Project that I'll be working on over the next few months. The point is to take street-style portraits at a night market and explain a little bit about what they do. This is going to be my last entry introducing the vendors from the Zhongli Night Market. I'm going to take a break for a few days after this post in order to post a couple of other blogs, then I will be moving on to post about the Rao-He Night Market (饒河夜市) in Taipei.

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If you haven't seen any of the other posts in the series the links are below:   

People of the Night 1 / People of the Night 2 / People of the Night 3 / People of the Night 4

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1. The Night Market Beautician (夜市美容師)

The Night Market seems like a weird place to get a manicure, but that doesn't stop people from doing it. In this shot we have a Taiwanese woman getting a manicure while the beautician's husband looks on. I can't really attest to the quality or the price of a night market beautician, but I'm guessing it is likely quite a bit cheaper than you would see elsewhere. What I am sure of though is that there is no other place where you can get a manicure and eat some stinky tofu at the same time! Multi-tasking! Yeah! 

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2. The Indigenous Chef (原住民廚師)

Taiwan has 14 recognized Indigenous tribes (and 11 more that are yet to be recognized by the government) who are of Austronesian origin and have inhabited this land for thousands of years more than the ethnic-Chinese. Their cuisines differ quite a bit from traditional Taiwanese fare and I'm not shy to say that while I love Taiwanese/Chinese food - Taiwanese Indigenous food is often the best culinary experience you can have here. The Indigenous peoples of Taiwan are masters when it comes to the grill, especially when it comes to wild boar. In this shot we have an Indigenous man cooking wild boar on a stone pan. You can buy a version that is fried up with garlic, onions and leeks and served hot in a box or have that mixture served in a fresh hot-dog like bun. No matter what you order, it will be awesome. 

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3. Pinball Boss (彈鋼珠遊戲老闆)

 There are all sorts of games that you can play at the night market. All the games are a form of gambling, but most are innocent in nature and fun for kids to play. In this shot some people are playing pinball while the boss watches. The point of the game is to get your pinballs to land in certain areas and however well you do, you will get a prize to reflect that. The prizes aren't usually anything special, they're mostly just candy for children or a can of coke, etc. The point is that it is a fun activity for kids.

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4. Fried Rice Noodles Boss (炒米粉老闆）

The Zhongli night market is most well known for its fried rice-noodles. There are several stalls selling inexpensive bowls of these thin and tasty noodles and as far as I can tell, this stall is the most popular. If you order a bowl of noodles or even a box for take out, they're always steaming hot and a somewhat healthier alternative to all the deep fried snacks you can find at the night market. 

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5. Stinky Tofu (簡師傅麻辣臭豆腐)

Stinky Tofu is a mainstay of the night markets in Taiwan. It comes in many different varieties and despite many foreigners apprehension in trying it, I love it. This particular company (簡師傅麻辣臭豆腐) has had such great business that they had to open their own restaurant (which is still at the night market, but not on the street like most vendors.) A year or two ago before they opened up the store, there was just this stall, and the lines were long to say the least. Now the stall isn't as busy as you can only order take out and that helps out a lot with traffic congestion. If you like spicy food, this is the place to go. Although I'd caution against ordering anything above mild spiciness.. 

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As I mentioned earlier, I'm going to make a couple of other non-night market posts and then I'll start posting shots from Taipei's popular Rao-He Night Market (饒河夜市) starting next week. I've already finished shooting all the night market and I'm currently working on getting shots from Taipei's Ning-Xia Night Market (寧夏夜市) and Taoyuan's new Hsing-Ren Night Market (興仁花園夜市.)  

The following is a slideshow of the collection of the shots I used in this series from the Zhongli Night Market with some additional shots that I didn't post.

The photos are also available on my flickr account by clicking here. 

I hope you've enjoyed this series thus far! There's more to come! If you have any questions or comments feel free to get in touch with me in the comment section below!   

People of the Night 4 (中壢夜市人像)

This is the fourth post in my People of the Night Photo Project that I'll be working on over the next few months. In this post, I am continuing to introduce some of the vendors at the Zhongli Night Market (中壢夜市), a large open-air night market near where I live. Each post will contain five shots and will introduce a little bit about what these people do for a living. If you haven't seen the previous two posts in the series click the following links. Thanks for coming and enjoy!  

People of the Night 1 / People of the Night 2 / People of the Night 3

1. Sausage Man (香腸老闆)

I remember when I was young and my mom put sausages on the table for breakfast I always thought "not again." Later on our family got into more gourmet kinds of sausages which made it a bit easier to start your day. Coming to Taiwan and seeing sausages everywhere at all hours of the was surprising until I tried one and fell in love. Taiwanese sausages are amazing. They come in different flavours and are always thick and juicy. They are often marinated in Taiwanese Kaoliang Rice Wine (高粱酒) which gives them an even more special flavour. When you buy sausages at the night market, they are often cooked over s grill and served on a stick. The vendors always have fresh cloves of garlic for customers to eat with their sausage.  This particular vendor sells pork sausages but also sells a sausage made of rice (米腸) which are often split in half and made into a sausage sandwich using the rice sausage as a bun of sorts. 

2. Taking a break to play a game of Mahjong

The vendors at the night market have not only made a living for themselves and their families out of their business, but have also forged friendships with the people who run businesses near their own little space. It's normal to see the owners of the business taking it easy from time to time and chatting with friends, drinking or even gambling. In this shot we see three vendors taking in a game of Mahjong (象棋麻將) during a time of the night when business has started to slow down.

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3. Fresh-Squeezed Orange Juice (鮮打柳橙汁)

When I first arrived in Taiwan, I had heard of the countries reputation as a kingdom of fruit, but I thought it was weird that you could really only find a couple types of fruit juice in convenience stores and super markets. Only after living in the country for a while did I realize that Taiwanese people always insist on their food being as fresh as possible. The reason why you don't find fresh fruit juice in stores is that people can buy it almost everywhere and it is always freshly squeezed or blended in front of their eyes. In this shot we have a young Taiwanese couple who recently opened a fresh orange juice stall and they do things the old way rather than using electronic juicers. They don't add sugar or water to the juice, so when you buy a bottle you are drinking 100% orange juice - something you often see on bottles, but know isn't really true.  

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4. Salted Chicken (鹽水雞)

Salted Chicken is a popular Taiwanese food. Most of the preparation by the vendor is done at home where they braise the chicken and all the other vegetables a salty soup. When you arrive at the stall.myou pick up a silver bowl and choose the ingredients you want. The vendor prepares the ingredients by cutting them and adding a bit of sauce to the mixture serving it to the customer in a bag. I come from the East Coast of Canada and it seems like our staple diet consists of boiling everything in salty water. This type of chicken therefore is a bit like something we'd eat at home and strangely enough reminds me of mom's home cooked dinners. 

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5. Steamed Corn (水煮玉米)

Steamed corn is another popular kind of corn available at night markets. There are various species of corn found in Taiwan and the particular species most often used for steaming isn't the yellow variety that westerners are used to. I'm used to sweet yellow corn that has been boiled in salt water and then marinated in salt and butter. To me, this kind of steamed corn is a bit bland and tasteless, but people here love it and it is a healthy begetarian friendly option for the people visiting this night market. 

People of the Night 3 (中壢夜市人像)

This is the third post in my People of the Night Photo Project that I'll be working on over the next few months. In this post, I am continuing to introduce some of the vendors at the Zhongli Night Market (中壢夜市), a large open-air night market near where I live. Each post will contain five shots and will introduce a little bit about what these people do for a living. If you haven't seen the previous two posts in the series click the following links. Thanks for coming and enjoy!  

People of the Night 1  / People of the Night 2

1. Fresh Fruit (新鮮水果)

Taiwan is often referred to as a fruit kingdom and to that effect, there is an ample supply of various types of tropical fruits with availability that changes with the different seasons. The variety and price of fruit here is amazing and as a way of being polite to guests, fruit is always offered. This specific vendor is a busy one offering up bags of freshly sliced fruit on the go to the people visiting the night market and no matter what you buy, it's always a cheap and healthy snack.

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2. Japanese Steak (火焰骰子牛)

One of the latest fads in the night market is a kind of Japanese steak which is cut into cubes and cooked extremely quickly over a BBQ grill, but also blow-torched to speed up the cooking time. Quite a few people in Taiwan don't actually like to eat beef, and of those who do like to eat it, the majority of them will only eat it if it is between medium or well-done. This kind of steak usually comes off the grill at medium and to me seems a bit too pink in the middle for most Taiwanese people, but since it is a popular new food, there are lines of people waiting to try it. 

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3. Rice Wine Snails (燒酒螺)

This stall is kind of a strange one to me. The vendor is selling various kinds of snails that have been left in rice wine for a period of time to marinate. They come at various levels of spice ranging from mild to very spicy and if you want to try them before buying, the owner will always let you try to choose the best flavour. They are usually eaten as a snack that goes hand in hand with drinking beer with friends - so if you buy some, you likely won't be eatIng them while you're at the night market. 

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4. Fortune Teller (算命者) 

This is another kind of traditional fortune teller, but this one uses more ancient Daoist methods to come to his conclusions. The services offered by this particular fortune teller are more for parents wanting to know if their child is intelligent, well-behaved, of good health and whether the child's name is suitable or not. In Taiwan, it is common for people later in life to actually change their names as their given name can be deemed unlucky later in life. This particular fortune teller advertises that if his predictions aren't accurate, that his service will be given free of charge. I should have consulted with him before opening this website!   

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5. Seasonal Clothing  (季節衣服老闆)

Night Markets are great for food, but probably even better for families with children looking to save a bit of money. You can buy clothes at the night market for a fraction of the price that you could elsewhere and the available of cheap accessories is also pretty useful. This particular stall sells winter accessories like gloves, hats and scarves and will ultimately change to summer accessories when the seasons change. I like this particular shot as the boss is looking off into the distance likely wondering when she's going to have to bring out her summer products now that Spring has arrived.