This multilevel shoppers’ dream is a good place to eat out and get special Taiwanese foods and gifts to take home as souvenirs.

The Zhonghe Global Mall in New Taipei City is a big mall with Taiwanese and international shops. Many of the major global fast-food and fashion brands are represented here, which makes the mall feel more American than Taiwanese in some respects. Come here for a few hours of browsing on a rainy day and bring your credit card to stock up on some traditional Taiwanese packaged goods to bring home.

The Global Mall is a chain of malls developed around metro stations, aimed at those who need to shop on the go. While catering to mainly commuters, the mall is also a family-friendly venue. You’ll find stores for toys, outdoor gear, electronics and ever-day household items practically everything a family may need. The kids will love the play areas and the crazy artwork that decorates the mall.

Like the other malls in the chain, the Zhonghe Global Mall caters to all budgets with an affordable food court and classy restaurants. Japanese restaurants and trendy sushi bars are particularly popular in this Global Mall.

The restaurants and shops are spread out over four levels and since very few signs are in English, your options are to either use your phone to translate from Mandarin, ask the locals to point the way, or simply keep browsing and happily get lost.

The mall is connected to Banqiao station along Zhongshan Road in the Zhonghe district of New Taipei. Global Mall runs a shuttle service from downtown Taipei with a bus stop outside. If you are driving here, you can pay to park under the mall itself.

The Zhonghe area itself is dotted with book stores and the New Taipei City Library is just across the road from the mall. Far more impressive is the National Taiwan Library, the oldest public library in Taiwan, which you can find in a park near the Yongan Market MRT Station.