Does anyone know where I can find Teva brand sandals in Taipei (not generic brands, and not nightmarket rip-offs either)? THANKS!
Shi Da road. A sporting goods store on the main road with lots of shoes on its walls has Teva sandals.
Takashimaya at Warner Village, 4th floor. There are lots of outdoors shops there.
Also along the south side of Hsin Yi Road, Sec. 3, just east of Ta An Park, there are several outdoors shops that carry Tevas.
i.e. near the American Institute in Taiwan. That’s where I got mine. However, I found that despite being expensive, they’re actually not very comfortable. Next time I’ll go back to wearing generic Asian sandals from roadside stalls.
How much do they cost in Taiwan?
Mine were something like NT$3,000, but please don’t tell my girlfriend I paid that much money for a pair of sandals when the “generic” type can be got for well under 1,000!
Expensive, but these gotta beat night market crap:
chacousa.com/products/flashindex.html
I have a pair of Z2’s with Colorado soles that I’ve worn while hiking all over the place, from the Colorado River to Phuket to Hualien to the early-morning, wet-marble sidewalks of Taipei. These soles are pretty good, only problem I have is with mossy river rocks. I buy Chaco because even the best TEVA sandals are sorely lacking comfortwise, and these are very comfortable if a tad weighty. Friend of mine in Colorado has a pair with the aqua soles, swears by em.
You can get them here:
Juba is right, there are several stores on Xinyi Rd between Fuxing and Jianguo that sell hiking stuff, and they carry Teva sandals.
If you want Birkinstocks, I just saw a store in one of the lanes behind Sogo that had a bunch of them.
I’ve never worn either brand. I buy the really cheap ones, NT$ 199/pair.
There’s a Birkenstock store on Zhu Lin Road Yong He on your right about 150 metres up from the intersection of Yong He Road.
But remember, sandals and socks are a serious stylistic sin usually commited by poms and very old men. 
HG
[quote=“deanminns”]Expensive, but these gotta beat night market crap:
chacousa.com/products/flashindex.html
I have a pair of Z2’s with Colorado soles that I’ve worn while hiking all over the place, from the Colorado River to Phuket to Hualian to the early-morning, wet-marble sidewalks of Taipei.[/quote]
My Tevas have already slipped twice on those ridiculous polished marble pavements.
So it’s not just me and my funny-shaped feet, then.
I’m living proof of that!
I love my Tevas, never slip on marble sidewalks, and feel they are
great. People like me with wide feet appreciate being able to find any
kind of sandals in Taiwan.
Those cheap sandals only kill your feet in the long run. But everyone
has to decide what kind of pain they want to suffer: the pain of paying
for a good product or the pain of having sandals that you can not
stand in for long.
You decide. It is your money and they are your feet.
Also for Birkenstocks, there is a store on Chung Shan North
Road, Sec. 5, past McDonalds going towards the bridge. Has been there
for years. Also, the next alley south of the corner of Hsin Yi Road and
Chin Shan South Road has a store. It is on the left side of the street
if you are walking south on Chin Shan S. Road.
Yung he, Big Foot Harry shoe outlet
No. 5 Ju Lin Road.
Open 130-1030pm
Very, very good prices on samples.
Chaco’s for me too. I’m finally on my second pair (the first pair lasted 10+ years, so were well worth the NT$3,000 or so that I paid for them – in Sogo, I believe – and I still wear them for working in the yard).
The new pair are even better – better fit and heavy lugged vibram outsoles. I got them in the Mountain Hardwear shop in the alley almost directly opposite and a little to the right of where Hsinsheng S. Road meets Roosevelt Road.
Price is still around NT$3,000. Expensive, but they’ll last you a decade. They’re far, far better than any Tevas I’ve ever seen.
A new U.S. based company… amazingly comfortable, great quality. Available from R.E.I.