Bo’ai Road Taipei, Taiwan
AKA
CAMERA STREET
Taiwan is famous for manufacturing electronics and therefore people assume Taiwan is a good place to buy any electronics. It is not. It is, however, a good place to buy cheaply made electronics or parts. But, if you buy cheaply made electronics or electric knick-knacks in Taiwan, they have a lifespan of maybe five seconds. Most name-brand electronics will be slightly cheaper than stores in the west, but not cheaper than getting the same item online. No one can beat B&H.
Still, the shopping experience in Taiwan is unique, especially in Taipei. Malls can span kilometers beneath the city or comprise 12-story Department Store buildings with interior ornate Japanese gardens and super helpful employees. You can walk the crowded night markets where food is always fried and you can buy anything from a silver suit to a live baby turtle. Stores in Taipei are also a testament to the phrase, one-stop-shop. Taiwan is famous for their Everything Stores where you can buy literally everything, except for a 9v AC adapter for your electric keyboard.
If you want clothes, Chinese herbs, or a duvet, you have to go to Snake Alley Night Market. If street food or heartburn is your fancy, go to Raohe Street Night Market. If you want electronics, you go to Guanghwa Digital Plaza. A tip for Guanghwa; stay out of the buildings. They used to be illegal electronics markets but the government cracked down and made them go legitimate. Today, the variety of merchandise is amazing and if you want to spend an afternoon playing with gizmos, it is worth the trip. Play, but don’t buy. Every gadget is name brand and expensive. Nevertheless, you can sometimes pick up items unavailable in the United States, and for that reason alone, it might be worthwhile to spend some money. If you are looking for the cheap stuff, peruse the stores on the street surrounding the two main buildings of the Plaza. I digress, if you are looking for cameras or camera gear, you must go to Bo’ai Road AKA Camera Street.
Directions: Take the Green Line to Beimen Station. Follow the yellow signs to Exit 1. You will find yourself before a chaotic intersection of many roads, walk south across the streets towards Ximen. Turn left when you get to the first crosswalk allowing you to legally do so. This street is Lane 9, Zhong Hua Road, Section 1. Walk east along this road and you will pass by an outdoor sportsware store named Aigle. I think they were going for Agile. Soon, you will find yourself at a fork in the road. In the middle of the fork is a red monolith with the words Camera Street at the top. One road is Yan Ping South Road, the other is Camera Street, Bo’ai Road. It is not hard to find.
I need to stress something here. Film Culture, I mean the old-fashioned way of capturing images, is in great shape on Camera Street. Most stores will be selling film or developing it. Film cameras and all the trimmings are available cheaply. Coming from an area in the United States where everything is digital, it is so refreshing to see Film Culture so healthy and affordable.
Digital does well on Camera Street, too. Most stores have a variation in stock, so if you go shopping there make sure to pop in, inquire about the price of the item you are looking for and then move on and repeat the process. Most stores will have someone who can speak English, but if you can go with a friend who speaks Mandarin, it saves some time and confusion.
Most of the camera stores are on Bo’ai Road, but there are many in the alleys that branch out from Bo’ai. These stores will be selling things cheaper and are more flexible when it comes to haggling, if you are into that.
There is one shop that is worth making the trip. I do not know the name because it’s shop name was in Chinese characters. What made this store special was it only sold Leica cameras and gear. If you like well made German or Swiss things, Leica is the camera company for you. I know their lenses are famous in the film industry and a Leica Prime can go for 90,000 US dollars. This store specialized in Lieca’s smaller film cameras, lenses, and binoculars. They are expensive, but they are also German and Swiss made. See a picture of merchandise below.
Camera Street is a refreshing change to the usual shopping experience in Taipei. It was not a one-stop-shop but a one-stop-street. One where I could find exactly what I was looking for in a variety of stores. Name brand items were slightly cheaper than online retailers. Make a day out of it, bring your own camera and try things out. Pick up a present for the shutterbug in your family and when people inquire of its origins you can say smugly, “This lens is from Taipei, from Camera Street.” Taiwan is not a good place to buy a name brand computer, laptop, headphone, cellphone, or MP3 player. It is a good place to buy a camera.