Taipei At Night - 1959

Stev Pitchford sends along these photographs and comments:

Here are a few pictures of downtown Taipei at night from late-1959. As you can see, downtown was just as busy after dark as it was during the day.


















The two pictures below are in the area known as "Hagglers' Row" or "Ptomaine Alley," depending on whether you were just shopping or looking for something to eat.



















This was a group of shops and restaurants in little sheds that ran along both sides of the train track from near the Shin Sheng Theater back towards the train station. In July, 1960, over the July 4th holiday, an army buddy and I rode the train from Taipei to Taichung to visit his wife's family. When we left Taipei, all of the sheds were as busy as ever. When we came back two or three days later, they were all gone and both side of the tracks were bare. I guess that was urban renewal, Taipei style.