ASEAN Square

Cluster of Indonesian, Filipino, Thai and Vietnamese shops and restaurants near Zhongli railway station

The ASEAN Square area on Zhongping Road, just south of Zhongli station, is one of the more interesting urban experiences in Taiwan. The covered mall and surrounding streets are packed with shops serving the Indonesian, Filipino, Thai, and Vietnamese workers who staff the local factories. Restaurants serve home-style food rarely found elsewhere in Taiwan: Indonesian nasi padang, Filipino lechon, Thai khao mun gai, Vietnamese bun bo Hue.

Sundays are extraordinary — pavements full of workers catching up over food, music playing, money being sent home through the rows of remittance agents. It is the best place in northern Taiwan to eat genuinely good Southeast Asian food at low prices, and a glimpse of one of the country's quieter demographic shifts.

things to do sight neighbourhood eating out
A story
Zhongli has one of the largest populations of Southeast Asian migrant workers in Taiwan, drawn to the factories of Taoyuan and Hsinchu. Around the railway station, a multi-storey shopping building called ASEAN Square has developed into a hub for the community, with Indonesian, Filipino, Thai, and Vietnamese grocery shops, restaurants, money changers, and karaoke bars. On Sundays — workers' day off — the square becomes the most crowded part of the city.