Discovering Taipei’s tech district!

As every year, the writing of the Digital brought you the Computex show as close as possible to the action. But Taipei doesn’t need this huge IT show to show off its technophilia. If its multi-colored neon lights, its smart panels, its gigantic advertising screens dedicated to the tech gems had already almost completely convinced us, there is a place that perfectly crystallizes the geek soul of the Taiwanese capital.

The neighborhood we’re talking about here doesn’t really have a name, but it’s littered with small independent shops or those representing more or less well-known brands in the tech market. It’s located in the Zhongzheng district, nestled between the Zhongxiao Xinsheng and Songjiang Nanjing metro stations. When you visit the neighborhood, you’ll quickly see its two main attractions. Two huge buildings like the ones you find in abundance in Taipei, side by side, for a single heart of activity but two very different styles: Syntrend and the Guang Hua Digital Plaza.

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The Galeries Lafayette of tech

Let’s start with the newest one, the Syntrend Creative Park. If you have already taken a trip to the Lafayette galleries, you must imagine a building quite similar in its construction and layout, replacing branded clothes, watches, cosmetics and other luxurious items with tech products of all kinds. As in the department stores on Boulevard Haussmann, each brand has its own corner where she presents her latest releases. We come across Lenovo as well as Fujifilm, Dyson, Samsung and Intel.

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It’s simple, exploring the 12 floors of Syntrend is a bit like wandering through the sections of Digital. One floor for audio, another for home, for telephony… In addition, you can also come across spaces that are a bit more catch-all in which you can find products that you generally only buy on Amazon: cases, cables, pocket fans, etc.

Well, and since we are among geeks, we don’t forget to take a tour of the top floors, where pop plush toys, figurines, puzzles and board games rub shoulders, obviously embellished with the essential arcade room. In total, more than 8000 m² are made available to technophiles, enough to have a good time – and also lose a little money. It should also be noted that the prices in both buildings are quite close to European prices, don’t expect big discounts.

Guang Hua, another style

We cross a small footbridge and here we are at Guang Hua Digital Plaza. Forget the tidy and clean stalls, make way for a real bric-a-brac where you can literally find everything as long as there is an electronic component: graphics cards, neon lamps, drills, CD players or even endoscopic cameras! Many well-known brands are also present in the building, but in a different form from Syntrend since there are independent resellers here who rarely specialize in a single type of product.

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Guang Hua also has a more detailed history. Where its neighbor was built in 2015 by the Foxconn brand (Hon Hai from its little Taiwanese name), the Digital Plaza has its roots in 1973. It was originally a public market located under the bridge. Guanghua, which gave it its name. There were mainly second-hand booksellers there, some of whom have survived and are still present in the current building.

The market has changed location several times, gradually focusing on electronics, before settling permanently in the current building, built in July 2008. In addition to dealers, there are also repair shops, training rooms and offices. All this is spread over 12 floors, half of which are underground.

A neighborhood for photographers!

In short, if you are a true tech enthusiast, we cannot recommend enough that you take a trip to this area, and more specifically to these two rather unique buildings. This is not the only occurrence in Taipei. We could also talk about the “Camera District” in the Beimen district, where most of the city’s photo dealers are located, as well as some brands well known to specialists. Let it be said, Taipei is a city of technophiles!

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