Ever the opportunist, following a work trip to Hong Kong, we hopped over to Taiwan for three magical days – as I never made it there from Shanghai and always wanted to go. Taiwan is now top of my list of favourite places visited. I had heard from a lot of people on the mainland that Taiwan was like mainland China, but different – obviously the heritage and historical relics are similar, but it’s certainly more developed than the mainland. For one, it’s squeaky clean, the people are super friendly – even towards strangers (that’s not always the norm in Mainland China). Taiwan is small, it’s possible to get from top to bottom of the island in half a day – and the variety of sights and experiences on offer are unending. We only had 4 days, but would recommend at least 7-10 days to see everything we saw, and everything we would have liked to see (oh, yes – we’ll be back). I wholeheartedly recommend everyone visits Taiwan at least once in life.
Taipei Bucket List
We flew into Taipei on Friday morning and got a taxi to the hotel ( the hotels you can book on a budget are fab!). We were pretty early, so we just dropped our bags and off we went to the CK Sheik Memorial Hall (Red and Green metro lines, stop: CK Sheik Memorial Hall). This place is similar to to the forbidden city in Beijing, on a smaller scale, and also a quieter one. There are beautiful arches and traditional buildings with curly roofs, and there’s a museum detailing the history of CK Sheik and his fight for nationalism in China and independence for Taiwan – I’m not big on museums, but this was very insightful. The museum has a park surrounding it – take a stroll around to see old people playing chess and practising tai chi.
From here, we set out for Longshan Temple (metro line: Banqiao Line, stop: Longshan Temple). This is a really beautiful, ornate temple, right in the centre of Taipei. We stayed for a while, sitting, contemplating and people watching. (There’s also free wi-fi here 😛 ). Afterwards, we wandering around the bustling area and oogling all the street food, and got some bubble tea to warm up. We came across the Huaxi night market which is home to several restaurants and souvenir shops. I convinced himself to get foot massage with me (it’s always worth the low prices in Asia) Unlike Shanghai massages, these were anything but relaxing – but rather super intense and they insisted on working all of the knots out (Don’t think I’ll ever be forgiven for subjecting himself to that!!).
Next we headed to Shilin Night Market (Jiantan Station, between Dadong Rd, Danan Rd, Wenlin Rd, and Jihe Rd), Taiwan’s most famous and bustling night market, which is a must-visit. The street is lined with stalls and shops selling anything and everything. The delicacies on offer are a treat for the senses – the problem lies in deciding what to get. We went for steak, corn on the cob with some sweet sticky and sesame seed coating, sweet potato fries, and some local cakes made from hazelnut and nuts, handcrafted on the spot by a little old man. The market had funfair style games set up in areas, which were great craic (fun).
The next morning, we got up early and headed to Tiger Mountain to hike to the top for a panoramic view of Taipei – the hike was pretty easy and took under an hour – and was so worth it for the view. There are viewpoints and a big rock perfectly placed for snapping photos in front of the city skyline. My ideal time to visit here would probably be dusk – to catch the city in daylight and at sunset, and see it all lit up, but I’m a sucker for sunsets so that’s just me – really it’s better to keep an eye on visibility and the weather if you’re planning to go. Elephant mountain is supposed to be similarly impressive.
Stay at
We stayed at the Tango Hotel, which I booked using airmiles but prices per night are €120 per night. The room was huge and modern – with a gorge bath and enormous bed(warning: it’s very typically Chinese style, with a window into the bathroom from the bedroom!). The breakfast had good variety and the staff were very helpful, plus the location was pretty ok too – close to the metro.
Getting around
The subway system in Taipei is top class and very user-friendly – it’s a cheap and easy and fast way to get around. They even have breastfeeding rooms in the subway, where a jingle and disco of flashing lights signal the arrival of the metros. For national travel, the network of trains connecting the cities are super convenient and sparkling, with first class tickets available for a few dollars more – where the seats recline and cake and coffee is served to guests by cute waitresses. Worth the upgrade for the experience and comfort.
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