Back in 2017 I visited Taipei for about a week and took a look around while I had the time. That was my first time there. If you know anything about me, I hate planning my travels in detail. I'll do some cursory research just to see what the flavour of the destination is like, as in to see if it's safe or how much money I would need, and when I arrive there I would just wander.
Thanks to my ignorant wandering, I came across the underground mall. I was told after the fact that this mall is actually quite known. Cheerleaders and dancers had a space to practice here, and I actually sessioned with a guy that was animating (for the uninitiated, think robot dance) when I visited here the first time up on the street level. The rest of the mall had a very "street" feeling to it, with the walls of aged concrete through most of the tunnel and graffiti sprayed on the shutters of closed shops. To some, the place was dirty and unappealing, but to me it was a very interesting look into the street culture.
In the fall of 2019 I visited again. I was excited to visit the underground mall again, and I was flabbergasted at how different it was the second time around. The officials of Taipei had renovated the entire strip, and breathed a new air into it. It was a definitely a lot cleaner and there were no empty lots along the strip. None of the areas were shuttered, which was good for the standard tourist, but that also meant that none of the flavourful graffiti remained.
Look at the last picture. The floors are still polished at the time of the photo, the walls have a fresh coat of paint, and everything is open. Even though the ceiling was redone to have the appearance of completion, as opposed to the visible scaffolding from 2017, the area actually feels smaller in comparison. The ceiling, because of it was changed into a solid piece, felt lower than before. The new Zhongshang definitely feels more cramped, physically.
Interestingly, or perhaps, appropriately, they didn't change the small auditorium much where cheerleaders and dancers would go that was underground. I didn't take any photos of this area on my first visit, but it seems that the only thing they did here was give everything more polish. Evidently, it made the area more appealing for people to practice in.
Well, it was either the new polish, or the fact that the upper area had grass installed that made this lower area have more people practicing. You see, in 2017 the area directly above this pillared area was all concrete. It was directly accessible by escalators, and around the edges of the place there were covered areas where you could have some semblance of privacy where you wouldn't be as likely to be disturbed. As of 2019, the area had grass installed, and the edges of the area had cafe tables lining the outskirts. Unfortunately, I don't have a 2019 photo of this upstairs area, but for some reason I have a 2017 photo.
Now this is all from a street dancer's perspective. What about just for a regular, average tourist? What's inside the mall for the average traveller? The wares inside of this strip are fairly easy to overlook. There's some stalls that sell electronic auxiliary equipment for a decent price, and some drink shops. There are souvenir stores as well for all ages, and these ones are a bit pricier. If you're looking for souvenir shops, there are other places that would be more appropriate.
The most interesting point of this mall is probably its bookstores. There is quite a high percentage of them in this area, again with targeted audiences ranging from kids to working adults (but as far as I know not adult adult, if you know what I mean.) A quick scan of the shops' contents however showed a scant selection of English text. It's to be expected, as Mandarin is the local language. I you don't have much literacy in the Chinese language, you might want to pass up on this area.
To summarize, now that the whole place is renovated, the place doesn't have any street art, which was originally one of the reasons I would recommend this place to anyone. Now, I would only recommend this underground mall for three reasons: finding street dancers and/or a place to practice, buying Chinese books, or using it as a cooler, less humid walking route from Taipei main station to some other place.
Thanks for reading!
Like this post? Here's another one for Taipei's most popular hike. On the other hand, if you're visiting Tokyo and have a day to spare, you might be interested in this place.
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