Douhua (Tofu Pudding)
豆花dòuhuā
- Vegan
- Sweet
- Light
- Nutty
- +1 more
Chiayi · Chiayi City center
Wenhua Road Night Market
文化路夜市
Chiayi's long-running night-market street for turkey rice, soy-milk douhua and claypot fish head
- Hours
- Daily 15:30–23:00
- Crowds
- Busy
- Payment
- Cash
- Nearest station
- Chiayi Station (528 Zhongshan Road)Taiwan Railway Western Line
The market
About Wenhua Road Night Market
Wenhua Road Night Market runs along Wenhua Road, a stretch of roughly four to five hundred meters. By day it is a two-lane street; from 7 pm to 11 pm it is closed to vehicles and given over to pedestrians. The street divides into clothing, snacks and fruit stalls, and the snack side covers turkey rice, guǒzǎi soup and claypot fish head as well as soy-milk douhua, traditional spring rolls and international dishes.
The Chiayi City tourism portal notes that from the Japanese era the shops of Zhongshan, Zhongzheng and Wenhua roads made this the busiest commercial district on the Chianan Plain. Many shops open from around 10 am and street stalls can run into the small hours, and the portal also mentions Dongshi oyster omelets that only start selling after midnight.
Best foods
What to eat
The signature dishes of Wenhua Road Night Market, with typical prices.
Typical price: NT$40–80 · per bowl (with toppings)
Oyster Omelet
蚵仔煎é zǐ jiān
- Briny
- Savory
- Sweet
- +1 more
Typical price: NT$70–120 · per plate
Eat your way through
One lap of Wenhua Road
A suggested order for an evening here. Share what you order and linger where the queue is longest.
- About 2 h
- 5 stops
Stop 1: Start with turkey rice
Begin near the Central Fountain and Central Plaza at the north end with a bowl of turkey rice: shredded turkey over rice with a turkey-stock sauce and fried shallots. Chinese Wikipedia lists 噴水火雞肉飯 beside the fountain; TVBS Supertaste gives its address as 325 Zhongshan Road; hours differ slightly between guides (open about 09:30 or 10:00, close 21:00 or 21:30, no rest day found), and OpenStreetMap marks it at the Zhongshan Road roundabout. Confirm the hours when you get there.
Stop 2: A bowl of guǒzǎi soup
Chinese Wikipedia lists 郭家粿仔湯 as a three-generation shop. Several guides put the Guo family's chicken rice, guǒzǎi soup and sticky-rice sausage at 148 Wenhua Road (OpenStreetMap marks it too) and give very long hours, from 9 or 10 am to 3 to 5 am (TVBS says 24 hours); the sources disagree. Guǒzǎi soup is a hot, brothy bowl that suits the middle of the walk.
Stop 3: Claypot fish head
Chinese Wikipedia names 林聰明沙鍋魚頭 as a standby of the area. The main shop is at 361 Zhongzheng Road, only about 100 m from the market's north end (OpenStreetMap, TVBS and several blogs agree on the address), so it is near Wenhua Road rather than on it. Guides disagree on hours (11:30 to 20:30, 12:00 to 22:00 and 16:00 to 22:00 all appear) and some give Tuesday as the rest day, so check first. A fish-head pot is better shared by a few people.
Stop 4: Soy-milk douhua at A-E
Chiayi's douhua often swaps syrup for sweet soy milk, which tastes more of soy, and the city portal lists soy-milk douhua among the street's well-known snacks. A-E sits in the lanes at the Wenhua Road and Yanping Street corner, opens in the afternoon and rests on Tuesday; peanuts on soy-milk douhua with a fried dough stick is the usual order.
- Douhua (Tofu Pudding)
- A-E Soy Milk Douhua
- Search on map(opens in a new tab)
Stop 5: A midnight Dongshi oyster omelet
A last stop for night owls: the city portal mentions Dongshi oyster omelets that only start selling in the middle of the night. We could not find which stall still sells them on Wenhua Road after midnight. Zhenzhen, long a favorite late-night oyster omelet and seafood congee stand, moved around April 2025 from its Wenhua Road roadside spot to a storefront at 151 Minzu Road and now keeps daytime hours (11:00 to 19:00, closed Sunday), with no late-night service. Confirm on the night, or order an oyster omelet at a regular hour instead.
On the lanes
Stalls worth finding
A few stalls we know, with tips for spotting them. Line-ups change, so treat this as a starting point.
1 stall
A-E Soy Milk Douhua
阿娥豆漿豆花
A-E is a well-known afternoon-to-evening douhua shop in the lanes at the corner of Wenhua Road and Yanping Street, beside the night market. The soft tofu pudding is served with sweet soy milk instead of syrup, the common Chiayi way, so the soybean flavor comes through; several guides suggest adding the peanut topping and a fried dough stick.
Known forDouhua (Tofu Pudding)
How to find it: In the lanes off Wenhua Road at the Wenhua Road and Yanping Street corner; the Alon fish thick-soup shop is behind it. Opens in the afternoon and rests on Tuesday.
Plan your visit
Where and when
Find the market on the map and check the weekly hours before you set out.
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Wenhua Road, West District, Chiayi City 600
Opening hours
| Day | Hours |
|---|---|
| Monday |
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| Tuesday |
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| Wednesday |
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| Thursday |
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| Friday |
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| Saturday |
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| Sunday |
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These are the hours most often listed for the market as a whole (about 15:30 to 23:00 daily, from Google business-hours data repeated by TVBS Supertaste and Yam Travel; Yam shows Wednesday and Saturday running to 23:30). In practice each shop sets its own: shops on Wenhua Road open around 10 to 11 am and wind down around 10 pm; the road is closed to cars from 7 pm to 11 pm, when it is liveliest; and street stalls and late-night eateries run into the small hours (guides give Guo's chicken rice as open until 3 to 5 am), before breakfast and produce vendors take over. The Chiayi City tourism portal lists the attraction as open 24 hours a day. No official single schedule exists for the street, so the evening-to-night core is recorded here; check before you go.
Stalls set their own hours and close on their own days. Confirm before you go.
Know before you go
Visitor information
- Best time to go
- Arrive between 6 and 7 pm, when shops are open and the road has not yet closed to cars. The street is liveliest from 7 pm to 11 pm. The city portal mentions Dongshi oyster omelets that only start selling after midnight, but we could not find which stall still does, so confirm on the night if you are after a late supper.
- Crowds
- Busy
- Payment
- Cash
- Getting around
- The road is flat and pedestrian-only while closed to cars in the evening, but crowded; no official accessibility information was found, so check ahead if you need step-free access.
Good to know
- Vehicles are barred from Wenhua Road from 7 pm to 11 pm, so park on the outskirts and walk in.
- Chiayi douhua often comes with sweet soy milk instead of syrup; ask how the shop serves it.
- Street stalls mostly take cash, so bring small notes; fixed shops differ on cards and mobile payments.
- The city tourism portal singles out ginger-sauce tomatoes as a local snack you will not find in the north; try them if you come across a stall.
How to arrive
Getting there
- 14 min walk
Train
Chiayi Station (528 Zhongshan Road)
Taiwan Railway Western Line
The market's north end at the Central Fountain lies east of the station, about 0.9 km in a straight line (calculated from coordinates), roughly 12 to 15 minutes on foot (not walked).
- 5 min walk
Bus
Central Fountain stop
Chiayi city bus Zhongshan trunk line (Green Line)
Stop name is from the city's tourism portal. The market starts near the Central Fountain and Central Plaza at its north end, a short walk from the stop; confirm current routes and frequency.
- 2 min walk
Bus
Wenhua Road intersection
Chiayi city bus Guanglin Wo-Jia Line (Yellow Line)
This route passes Chiayi Railway Station; the stop name is from the city's tourism portal.
High-speed rail
Chiayi HSR Station (Taibao)
The HSR station is in Taibao, Chiayi County, outside the city; take Chiayi BRT routes 7211 or 7212 to the Chiayi City Transfer Center behind the railway station, or a taxi.
History
A little history
According to Chinese Wikipedia, the market ranked eighth in a 1995 vote for Chiayi's 'new eight scenic spots' and, in 2010, was a finalist among Taiwan's top ten night markets and was named the 'most characteristic long-established night market,' the same year the city government chose an official logo. These claims come from Wikipedia and no single official history was found, so read them as 'is said to.'
Keep exploring
More night markets to explore
Night market- Tainan
- Thu–Sun 17:00–00:00
Known forOyster Omelet · Stinky Tofu · Taiwanese Sausage in Glutinous Rice (“Small Sausage in Large Sausage”)
Food streetYizhong Street
一中街商圈
- Taichung
- Daily 12:00–22:00
Known forStinky Tofu · Taiwanese Fried Chicken · Mango Shaved Ice
Night market- Taichung
- Daily 16:00–02:00
Known forTaiwanese Sausage in Glutinous Rice (“Small Sausage in Large Sausage”) · Egg Crepe (Danbing) · Stinky Tofu
Photo credits (8)
- Wenhua Road Night MarketPhoto: Mk2010 · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab)
- Wenhua Road Night MarketPhoto: Mk2010 · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab)
- Wenhua Road Night MarketPhoto: Mk2010 · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab)
- Douhua (Tofu Pudding)Photo: 阿道 · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
- Oyster OmeletPhoto: Morgan Calliope · CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab)
- Garden Night MarketPhoto: Sun Taro · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab)
- Yizhong StreetPhoto: Lordcolus · CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab)
- Fengjia Night MarketPhoto: Chensiyuan · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)