A Young Taipei Finds Its Groove

DECADE ago in Taipei, finding a decent cup of coffee would have proved a challenge. Now, there are all-night dance clubs and boutique hotels, MTV Taiwan and espresso bars.

Change is a constant in the city, the capital of Taiwan, which has been transformed significantly along with its cosmopolitan counterparts Hong Kong and Singapore. As a whole generation emerges - nearly a quarter of the electorate of Taiwan is under 30 - the culture is as much about playing hard as working hard.

"When I first came here, people just lived to work, and now it seems to be switching around," said Mark Lintott, 45, a Taipei-based British interior designer who arrived in the city 15 years ago. "Now, people are much more willing to spend money outside out of profit creation, and they seem to be genuinely having a good time."

Since 1989, when the government eased travel restrictions, particularly to mainland China (nonstop charter flights over the Chinese New Year's holiday, the first nonstops since 1949, were announced last week), Taipei has benefited from a steady stream of foreign visitors. A city where Mandarin Chinese is primarily spoken - as it is in Beijing and Shanghai - Taipei remains one of the most bustling and quintessentially Asian cities in the region.

Night markets can be found throughout the city, with vendors of discount clothes and other goods next to food carts selling such favorites as oyster noodles and stinky tofu, a fermented bean curd. Traditional cultural treasures like the serene Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Park and the National Palace Museum, north of the city, are some of the must-see landmarks. And with an emerging culture catering to young people, the city is becoming a cool place to visit.

About 2.5 million of Taiwan's 22 million residents live in Taipei. Its main axis is Civil Boulevard, which runs east-west and acts as a central artery to the city's major malls and shopping centers.

From more progressive shopping centers on the west side like Idée and Mitsukoshi to such megamalls as the Breeze Center and the Core Pacific on the east side, department stores are thriving as a result of a younger, more self-conscious generation of consumers, said the 29-year-old designer Robyn Hung.

"There are more TV channels reporting fashion trends from Paris, Milan and New York, and information gets around quicker," said Ms. Hung, who has a boutique on the second floor of Idée that primarily sells women's clothes by younger independent designers. She started her line four years ago after graduating from the London College of Fashion.

One of the largest symbols of shopping and consumption in Taipei is the Core Pacific Center. Opened in 2001, it is a 12-story sphere, with a building fitted around it. Designed by the Los Angeles-based Jon Jerde, who also designed the Bellagio in Las Vegas, it is home to brands like Hugo Boss, the Mira department store and, on the top floor, a nightclub called Plush.

As a response to the recent wave of large-scale shopping malls, the city has sprouted its first district primarily catering to 20-somethings. Nestled in a series of side streets and alleyways between Civil Boulevard to the north, Renai Road to the south and Dunhua South Road and Guangfu South Road to the west and east, this district has developed in the last few years. It is still a mostly residential neighborhood, but businesses have sprung up on the ground floors of apartment buildings and other structures that were not typically used as shops.

Walking around, visitors will come across Omni, a furniture store that carries a stock of midcentury and contemporary furniture by Verner Panton and Eero Saarinen. Billed as an "antique" store, it has an expansive glass facade that showcases its stock of modern and vintage chairs, T-shirts and travel accessories. Owned by the pop singer Jay Chou, Omni has become a popular tourist attraction for visitors hoping to catch a glimpse of the singer.

Before, the cool shops would be scattered around different neighborhoods, and now all the big department stores are on the main road," said Nancy Chen, 29, a graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York, who recently set up her graphic design office, Edible Sound Project, in an apartment building in this area. "But now, as the street is becoming overly commercialized, shops are developing as individual boutiques in the lanes and alleys."

Within this neighborhood, places to eat include the China Bar, Tea and DJ Restaurant, 1F, No. 24 Lane 205, Chung-siao East Road, Section 4, (886-2) 2772-7622, which serves an array of Chinese and other Asian food and where dishes like pork ribs and chicken curry are not out of the ordinary. The interior of China Bar resembles a store that exclusively sells used 1960's furniture, but the most notable feature is the large prints of Kama Sutra pages wallpapered to the bathroom walls. Dinner for two, about $25 (prices at 33 Taiwan dollars to the U.S. dollar).