Huaxi Street Night Market

This guide to Huaxi Street Night Market in Taipei's Wanhua district opens with the live snake-butchering shows that once earned this covered lane its nickname, Snake Alley, and the promises vendors made about the drinks that came from them. It also traces the market's other history, a red-light district that thrived alongside the snake stalls until Taiwan outlawed prostitution in 1991. You'll hear how animal welfare complaints eventually caught up with the snake trade too. Listen for the vendors' calls as you walk the covered lane today.