Follow the “Yellow-Green-Red” poles to find your way around Ximending!

▲ Ximending is known as the “Shibuya of Taipei” and is a top tourist attraction for both domestic and international visitors to Taipei. (Photo / fromWikipedia)

Tourism Center / Comprehensive Report

A must-visit spot in Taipei for foreign tourists, Ximending—known as the “Shibuya of Taipei”—is a popular shopping and sightseeing destination that attracts nearly 100,000 visitors daily. However, foreign tourists often struggle to locate their desired shops due to unclear signage. To solve this issue, Ximending has pioneered a “Yellow-Green-Red” color pole system, helping both domestic and international visitors easily find stores by following the color-coded poles.

Even with a travel guidebook or map, many foreign tourists still find themselves confused upon entering the Ximending shopping district. Not only do they struggle with reading Chinese, but small and unclear address signs make it hard to navigate. As a result, they often have to rely on the kindness of locals or shop owners for directions—or simply wander around hoping for the best. Many shop owners say that about 40% of their foreign customers come in asking for directions, but due to language barriers, they can only give vague instructions like “turn left or right at a certain intersection,” not knowing if the visitors understood. Some Taipei residents also agree that Ximending’s maze-like layout of narrow alleys makes it easy to get lost without familiar map landmarks like “Ximen MRT Station Exit 6” or “Watsons Plaza.”

To address this issue, the business district has introduced a color-coded pole system. Based on the three main streets—Hanzhong Street, Wuchang Street, and Emei Street—the poles are painted in “yellow,” “green,” and “red” respectively, allowing visitors to more easily find their desired shops by following the colors.

Hung Ming-tung, chairman of the Ximending Pedestrian Zone Development Promotion Association, also stated that starting in October this year, the official website will provide information in Chinese, English, and Japanese. It will include details such as the color and number of the light poles near well-known shops, and inform travel agencies about this service. The association hopes the city government will help promote it.