Guishan lists 42 businesses.
Eighteen for drinking. Twenty-four massage shops. Zero KTV.
Not one registered karaoke venue in the district. That goes first, because it decides how a Guishan evening has to be built.
One Alley, Four Listings
Aly. 14, Ln. 34 Wenhua 2nd Rd.
No. 23 is Nika Bar, 4.7 stars on 230-plus reviews, 03 318 2228. No. 22 is 鳥藏炭火燒鳥｜串燒｜日式燒鳥｜居酒屋｜清酒｜生啤酒｜林口美食｜林口宵夜, 4.5 on 60-plus, no phone registered here. No. 39 is 霧裡 Wuli bar, a perfect score on 40, 03 328 6520. Next to No. 1-2 sits 妮婼萱時尚美學spa館, a perfect score on 160-plus, mobile 0968 872 765.
Three places to drink plus a spa, same alley.
It’s the only spot in Guishan where changing venue costs no travel. Seats are limited at all of them — two people can take their pick, parties over four should call, and the ones without registered phones are online-only.
The A8 Side: Wenhua 2nd and 3rd, Fuxing 1st
The district’s two heaviest counts are both on Wenhua 2nd Rd., and one is a bar while the other is a spa.
No. 191-3 is 大排檔居酒屋（林口店）, 4.3 stars on 2,300-plus reviews, 03 327 1621. No. 67 is 慕谷 Villa SPA莊園 龜山 林口店, 4.9 on 2,300-plus, 03 397 1088. Two almost identical numbers, one an izakaya and one a spa estate — which is Guishan’s category mix drawn onto a map.
No. 130-1 Fuxing 1st Rd. is 日式居酒館 ABV Bar & Kitchen 林口長庚店, 4.9 stars on 1,600-plus, 03 397 9560, the one venue on this side strong in both score and volume. The same road holds ABar on the fifth floor at No. 2 with 30-plus; 璽合泰式spa生活館 at No. 328, 4.4 on 220-plus, 03 318 3699; and 心豐軒視障專業按摩 at 2F, No. 82, 4.8 on 140-plus, 03 327 8687.
Wenhua 3rd Rd. leans massage: 沐函美容spa on the eighth floor at No. 1, Ln. 81, a perfect score on 540-plus; 寬心園美容SPA館 at No. 379 on 160-plus; 欣意泰式按摩 at No. 13, Ln. 37 on 60-plus. For drinking, No. 406 is 酒串碳烤BBQ｜長庚店｜宵夜酒場｜居酒屋 at 210-plus and No. 47 is 福田商店 ふくだや ｜小酒館、食堂｜日式居酒屋｜林口美食 at 60-plus.
MRT A8 Chang Gung Memorial Hospital station sits in this pocket, about twenty-odd minutes from Taipei. A hospital, a university and an office population keep the footfall steady; the A8 area at night sorts it out by hour.
The Huilong Side: A Different Guishan
Sec. 2 Wanshou Rd. is the other world — a dozen-odd minutes by car from the A8 side, and a completely different tempo.
Here massage outnumbers drinking. No. 1195 is 舒淇越式洗髮SPA, a perfect score on 1,200-plus reviews, mobile 0908 628 787, the heaviest count on the road. No. 1315 is 正統按摩中心-30年老店, 4.7 stars on 360-plus, 03 319 4777, old-school acupressure with firm pressure and someone usually picking up during opening hours. No. 839 is 金妤頭部養生spa, 4.9 on 310-plus, mobile 0921 726 066, working the head and upper neck only. How the three divide up and how to book them is in Wanshou Rd. massage.
Drinking is thinner: No. 1280, Sec. 2 is 焰遇串燒BAR on 60-plus, 03 359 0877; No. 221, Sec. 1 is 市浬居｜樹林美食｜新莊美食｜碳烤｜串燒｜居酒屋｜生啤｜獨立包廂｜推薦 on 90-plus.
This is also where shift workers resupply late, with convenience stores open well past the shops.
The Scattered Ones
No. 181 Shanying Rd. is Bistro181餐廳 | 手作烘焙, 4.2 stars on 1,200-plus reviews, 03 350 0808. No. 43 Nanshang Rd. is 高砂串堂 桃園串燒 桃園精釀啤酒 炸物 沙拉 調酒 生啤酒 駐唱餐廳 桃園美食, 4.7 on 610-plus, 03 352 8916 — whether there’s live music on a given night is per the venue’s own notice. No. 108 Leshan 3rd Rd. is 初心．日式食堂 on 440-plus, No. 163 Leshan 2nd Rd. is 上班族串燒居酒屋 on 210-plus, and No. 38 Nanmei St. is 鐵男居酒屋 on 400.
The craft-beer pair sits out of the way: 湧金啤酒廠 Yongjin Brewery at 2F, No. 7-1 Dinghu Rd., a perfect score on 70-plus, and 龜啤王精釀吧 Craftbeer & FoodLab at No. 58 Mingde Rd., 4.9 on 40-plus. Neither has a phone registered here.
About the Singing
Zero in the district.
To sing, the MRT or the freeway puts central Taoyuan or Taipei about twenty-odd minutes out, with options on the Linkou side as well; Guishan and Linkou KTV compares them.
This is a structural gap rather than a temporary one — so an evening spent in Guishan should be built around dinner, a drink and a massage, not a karaoke room. How the 24 massage shops sort out is in Guishan wellness houses, with door numbers on Guishan massage and Guishan bars and bistros.
Kerb space in the Wenhua 2nd Rd. alleys is scarce, so park at a mall and walk rather than circling. The airport MRT has a last train, which makes the late ride home a taxi — and a designated driver if you’ve been drinking. Category breakdowns on Guishan.