It definitely started as a weather thing--there's a reason they're called "night markets" in Taipei: after the sun sets is the only time its sensible to go outs

It definitely started as a weather thing--there's a reason they're called "night markets" in Taipei: after the sun sets is the only time its sensible to go outside in the summer. A lot of times the markets are actually closed during the middle of the day.. which is not that dissimilar to the situation in southern Spain, for example. But you're right that it's mostly cultural, and I wish we in the west had a culture of keeping family activities open outside of normal business hours.