Jade and Flower Market Hidden Beneath the Highway 建國假日花市，玉市

Beneath Jianguo road, a major north-south arterial road in Taipei, there exists two famous markets that open only on the weekends. On one end, there is the Jianguo Holiday Jade Market, where jade sellers can book tables to sell their precious jewelries and other goods, and on the other end, there is the Jianguo Holiday Flower Market, famous for selling diverse types of plants by grown by local planters.

As you can see, right above the markets, there is the concrete structure that supports Jianguo Road. The picture shows the front entrance of Jianguo Holiday Jade Market. The market is always very crowded, so when you enter, it is advised that you hold your important belongings close to you to prevent potential robbery. :D Although I have never been robbed there, haha.

Inside the Jade Market, there are many tables covered with jades and crystals of every color. Walking through the crowd you can hear people bargaining , and sellers introducing their products to buyers. The price of the jade here varies from as cheap as $10 USD to more than $3,000 USD. Cheaper jades are usually scattered on the table and piled into a little jade mountain. More expensive jades are often placed in velvet lined boxes.

Tips Tips 
How to identify a good jade:
1. For jades found in water (translucent): you hold up the jade with a string, lightly strike it with a coin, and listen to how long it resonates. For real jades, there should be longer sound and resonance as compared to a fake jade.
2: For jades found on the mountains (comes in many shades of colors, such a green): shine a light through the jade, for real jades, different light should show different shades of green, but for fake jades, the light difference will only make them look blurry.

It is always fun to look around. The jade market is a good place to explore different types of jade and buy little jade or gemstone jewelries as souvenirs and gifts.

If you want to buy precious jades, it is better to look if the seller has certifications for their jades.

The jade market is very long, after walking through it, I think the estimated length is about 500 meters (~550 yards)?
We spent about an hour and half browsing through all the stands in the jade market, and here we are at the flower market.

Right across from Jianguo Holiday Jade Market is the Flower Market. The flower market has a big walkway in the middle for people to walk through, so it is less crowded than the jade market. On the sides, there are many types of plants to look at.

Lotus flowers

>100 Years old tree 

The prices of the flowers are usually around $5~20 USD per pot. The sizes of the plants can also be very tiny, which suits the modern apartment life of people living in Taipei.

Tiny Pot Plants

Taiwan is famous for growing different kinds of orchids. In the Flower Market, you can also find orchids of different sizes, shapes, and colors.

Orchids can flower for about one month during the summer. After orchid's flower withers, you can just cut the flower off the plant, and it will flower again very soon.
Because it is so easy to take care of, we about a few orchids at placed it in our house. :D

Looks nice, and makes our house smell fresh all the time!

Jianguo Holiday Flower & Jade Market open hours:
Sat 09:00-20:00、Sun 09:00-18:00,Closed:Mon.-Fri.

Dihua Street

"Dihua Street Commmercial Loop" Sign

Dihua Street is located in Datong District of Taipei City. The street is one of the oldest streets that are still well-preserved. Built in 1850s, Dihua Street was well known for being the commercial center that gathered goods from northern and southern Taiwan, such as tea, Chinese herbal medicine, dried foods, wood crafts, and cloths.

Dried Shark Fin: 600g for about $320 US dollars

Dried mushrooms sold in big plastic bags each bag for about $40

Other dried goods 

Dried plums and fruits

Dihua Street is about 800 meters long (2624.67 feet). Before World Ward II, the wholesale business has an average yearly gross income of 3 billion US dollars.
As Taiwan was occupied by Japanese during war time, many buildings on Dihua Street has adapted the baroque styled decorations that was trendy in Japan.

Now, the streets are still occupied by wholesale stores, yet it is not as prosperous as before. People now days come to Dihua Street during New Years for Lunar New Year goods shopping.

Dihua street also became an area for young Taiwanese to open vintage and fusion cafes and boutiques that incorporates western foods with traditional Taiwan foods.

Fleisch- Fusion Restaurant on Dihua Street

The restaurant that I ate at is called Fleisch. Fleisch serves western food such as stea, and risotto, yet their menu items always have traditional Taiwan elements fused in it.

Bread with Homemade garlic-lime butter

Roasted Chicken with Peeling Chili Salsa
Side of seasonal vegetables including tomato, eggplant, corn, sweet potato, and bitter melon

Pan-fried Pork with Scallion Vinegar Sauce

Breast & Cream Risotto with Mushrooms

Cafe Latte in a Ceramic Bowl

Tat-Kuan-Yin Tea / Iron Buddism Tea

Iron Buddhism Tea Latte

Brown Sugar

Fleisch also has a very interesting cocktail menu, incorporating traditional teas and seasonal fruits. Drinking age limit in Taiwan is 18 years old, so if you are younger, please do not order or drink from this menu.

Roselle Mojito
Roselle with mint, soda, and lime wine

Other stores on Dihua Street:

mini size tea blocks
P'uli tea/Puer Tea blocks
One block can be used to make 500-600ml of tea
each color= different flavor

Peach shaped tea cups

Retro postcards $1 each

Tea blocks, original size 

Dihua Post office 

bookstore

books about Taiwan

From Frog Cafe (located on Dihua Street)

Tourists taking pictures of the cat resting in Frog Cofe

Travel information
Address: Sec. 1, Dihua St., Datong District, Taipei CityPublic Transport: 1. Take the THSR to Taipei Station; continue by MRT to Shuanglian Station. Taiwan High Speed Rail

2. Take the train to Taipei Railway Station, continue by MRT to Shuanglian Station.