The Richmond Night Market is completely what one would expect from a chinese market, except its catered to those folks who go out at night. So, one should expect a slightly more carnival feel to the market.
Upon entering into the market, one feels like they may have just snuck in the back door, but no, its really the entrance. There is no glorious sign exclaiming: “Welcome to the Infamous Richmond Night Market” in bold letters. Instead, you are greeted with the steady glow of excessive lighting, plastic filled stands, and people ever where.
It is very similar to a flea market, except there is no flea’ing. At the flea markets there are usually a few tables with new gadgets, each individually wrapped in their clear plastic shells; stuff you really don’t need, but are oohhh so cool. For instance, they had these tripods, that were mini tripods. Probably no bigger than a foot tall, fully extended. Something like that could really come in handy at times…
The real reason why people go to the market is the food, and let me tell you, it was splendid. I basically turned off all instinct to be thrifty and bought as much as I wanted. I ate squid, octopus tentacles, chicken, and duck neck to name a few. Before I knew it my cash reserves were nearly depleted, and we had to run to the bank machine to get some flow.
Parking was an interesting thing. If you drive right into the market, you can park for 5$ in their parking lots, or you can park before you turn onto the main road where the market is and park for free, but this comes with a walk that some aren’t willing to make. If you arrive after midnight, you can park right along the main street for free. One should be weary though, for this parking is known, and starts to fill up right as the clock strikes 12.
I’m glad that I finally made it to the night market. Although, I must say, I expected something similar to china town during the new years celebration, but instead, I was greeted with an expensive taste testing event, with random tables filled with random things that I really didn’t need.
If you haven’t checked it out yet, I highly suggest that you do, so that you can say you were at the world renowned Richmond Night Market, and this way you can judge for yourself how much you enjoy it. I would be really interested to hear how all of you find the experience!
