Taipei is a pleasant city, appealing to city-slickers and nature-lovers. To be frank, it is one of my favorite cities. The food is fresh and relatively inexpensive. There are Western comforts, an expedient (and cheap) train system, friendly folks who speak English, and an endless source of neighbourhoods, parks, and markets to wander through. As a large city, Taipei is also surprisingly convenient.

In any case, here is the Innernational Travel guide of Taipei to take you beyond the typical list of tourist attractions:

Tip #1: Be ware of visiting during typhoon season (between July-September) and don’t come during Chinese New Years (almost everything is closed!)

If you come during typhoon season, stay tuned to the news and, if need be, stay indoors. The most dangerous incidents involve falling debris (and larger objects) from any buildings above. But rest assured, the city has literally been built to withstand typhoons (and the locals are used to it). If there is a typhoon, just wait for it to pass. You can still have a good time indoors.

With those in mind, let’s address what you can do during the rest of the year:

 

No.1 – Take a Gondola-ride to a Cup of Tea…and see a Giant Panda at Taipei Zoo

  • Maokong Gondola price: NTD 120 for adults (oneway from Taipei Zoo station to Maokong station)
  • Taipei Zoo entrance fee: NTD 60 for adults 
  • Time investment: 2-hours to Half-Day

Like many travellers arriving in Taiwan, you may be jet-lagged. To defeat that beast of inconvenience, take the city MRT-train to the Zoo station for a gondola ride over Taipei’s lush scenery. The fresh mountain air will bring much-needed oxygen to your brain and help keep you awake. The view from the gondola is spectacular. Seeing the thick, green foliage and the sight of tea farms below, it will be funny to recall that you were in a busy metropolis merely minutes beforehand.

Each gondola holds 4-6 people so, on a busy day, you may have to share it with other guests. That said, there are two different types of gondolas to choose from (though not advertised). You can insist on a gondola with a glass-bottom, which is obviously not recommended if scared of heights.

While en route to the top, there are four other intermediary stops where you can get off and sightsee various temples and attractions. You can also bring the gondola adventure to a close and take another gondola back down. If, however, you want to try Taiwan’s renowned tea, you will need to complete the half-hour ride to the peak where a plethora of tea shops await you.

There, everything is tea-related: Green tea ice-cream, Oolong candies, and so on. You can easily spend a few hours walking around. Afterward, take the gondola back down or take a taxi (there will be many). When you return to the bottom, the Taipei Zoo is nearby —an inexpensive fun way to spend another few hours. At the Zoo entrance, remember to get a free ticket to see the giant pandas!

Tip #2: Get Yourself an Easy Card and/or register to use U-Bikes.

At any MRT (public-train) station you can purchase an Easy Card, with a refundable $100 NT deposit. This card allows you to make purchases almost anywhere, including 711, Family Mart, Starbucks, etc., in addition to saving time when boarding buses and trains. You can deposit cash onto this card (and rid yourself of coins!) on the designated machines in any MRT (public-train) station.

You will need to have an Easy Card if you wish to register for U-Bike rentals (those inexpensive, orange-bicycles that you see everywhere).

 

No2. – See the famous Taipei 101 Building and Have a Mojito

  • Price: $500 NT ($20 CAD)
  • Time investment: 1-3 hours (Taipei 101 Building)

As far as tourist traps go, the Taipei 101 Building is one of the better ones. This is the iconic tower famous for being built in the image of a bamboo tree. At the time of this writing, it stands as the 10th highest building in the world. That said, for bragging rights, you can try the world’s second-fastest elevator. The elevator-air is pressurized to avoid your ears popping as a result of reaching the 89th floor in 37 seconds! Inside the tower, there is a giant golden “ball” hanging on massive golden-ropes, which allows the whole building to sway during earthquakes and typhoons.

After visiting Taipei 101, go for French Fries and Mojitos at the W-Hotel, where celebs like Lady Gaga have been known to attend. If being posh is not your thing, you are also not far away from hiking Elephant Mountain.

Tip #3: If you require a “Western” toilet, just swallow your pride and look for the Handicap washrooms. There are usually plenty to enjoy. If you really like western toilets, check out the Modern Toilet Restaurant. (photos above).

 

No.3 – Be a Foodie

This should probably be number-one. Taiwan is a food-nerd’s heaven. For newbies, it could be described as an eclectic mix of Chinese and Hong Kong cuisine with Japanese influence, while also reinventing Western dishes with local ingredients

You can find almost anything to eat in Taipei, and most of Taiwan and eating-out is strangely cheaper than buying groceries. There is everything from fresh fish markets, daytime street-markets, all types of Asian restaurants, the usual suspects (McDonald’s, Subway, KFC, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, etc), and, of course, the renowned Taiwanese Night Markets.

In Taipei alone, there are over two dozen different Night Markets to stroll through, every day. The most recommended one for tourists is the Shilin Night Market (a minute away from Jiantan MRT-station), but the smaller, more traditional markets are just as interesting.

I prefer the Longshan Market for its “old-school” vibe: It is not exactly scrubbed-down “clean”, to put it one way. Rather, it is where you see groups of old men leaning over Mahjong game-boards…friendly ladies, behind food-stands, shout at you with a smile…where you can gaze down a random alleyway, and recall that the Red-Light district is nearby. You can even try a shot-glass of snake-blood or some other “peculiar” meat. That said, it is not too weird for most tourists and you should, at the very least, visit the Longshan Temple during the day. All of that said, most Night Markets are relatively similar, only differing in size.

Must-try foods include stinky tofu, oyster egg-omelette, Mango Shaved Ice, beef noodle soup, steamed dumplings, and bubble-tea. Strange —but common foods include chicken-butt (and chicken hearts on a stick), sugared-tomatoes, jellied pig-blood (again, on a stick).

As mentioned earlier, Taiwan is the Kingdom of Fruit, so indulge in nature’s candy. First off, you need to try a Taiwanese mango, often described as eating sunshine. Other must-try fruits include “Taiwanese Waxed Apple” (蓮霧), which I describe as a crunchy mango-pear, and a “Sugar Apple” (釋迦), something between a mango and pineapple. Neither is actually related to “apples”.

Besides Night Markets, you will notice that the most common meal for locals is hotpot. Similar to its Japanese and Korean counterparts, hotpot is served in restaurants, where customers boil their own vegetables and meats in a stainless steel-pot built onto their table. With virtually no cooking oil, hotpot is quite a healthy eating habit, in addition to being delicious. My favorite is Curry Hotpot.

Chocolate Lovers: Visiting Yu Chocolatier is highly recommended. This small chocolate shop, which offers specialty chocolates with peculiar Taiwanese ingredients, and Whisky, has been gaining lots of prestige in the European media, lately.

Commenting on Taiwanese food is an endless topic, so let’s conclude by mentioning the prevalence of particularly Taiwanese (unique) food-combinations: Taiwanese seem to mix milk with everything including apple milk, pumpkin milk, and my favorite, avocado milk. I also often see sweet corn sprinkled on everything from pizza, to even ice-cream. One famous combo, as mentioned, is the oyster egg-omelette. These are only a few examples of “odd” food-combinations. Don’t knock them until you try them!

 

No.4 – Take a Dip in the Hot-springs

If you get bored on a rainy day, or you find yourself in need of some downtime, head to the natural hot-springs. Price-wise, and for convenience sake, there are many good ones near Beitou MRT-station, including an outdoor, co-ed, public pool (for a mere $40 NT). However, there is a daily cleaning schedule at the public hot-spring, so it might be temporarily closed for 30-minutes, or so. Don’t panic.

What you need to know: Public hot-springs (and swimming pools) in Taiwan have strict rules that everyone uses a bonafide swimsuit (and not “beach shorts”). They will probably even ask to see them at the entrance. In swimming pools, a swimming cap is mandatory. Forget looking cool.

If you want to upgrade from the public hot-spring, there are also many private hot-springs located throughout the area that charge hourly —but many are not co-ed (so everyone’s naked). If you prefer privacy, you and/or your friends can get a private hot-spring.

In addition to Beitou, you can also take the bus to the Wulai area, which is a 40-minute bus ride from the Xindian MRT station.

 

NO.5 – Get a “Blind-Massage”

  • Price: $200/20-min-$600/hr NT ($4/20 min–$27/hr CAD)
  • Time investment: 15 min-2 hours

Getting a “Blind-massage” might sound weird, but it is not. There is an abundance of inexpensive massage-parlours with visually-impaired masseuses. And rest assured, there is always a “visually-abled” worker to take your money who can notify the worker that you may not speak Chinese (or Taiwanese). That said, “Blind-Massages” are good bargains. You will see these shops sprinkled throughout Night Markets, busy neighbourhoods, and especially near (or inside) public-train (MRT) stations. My favorite shops are the ones situated on the main road in the Shuanglian neighbourhood, as well as the ones located inside the Longshan Temple public-train (MRT) station. Feel free to communicate if they are massaging too hard! Don’t be a hero.

What you should know: In addition to “Blind-Massage” shops, there are many other parlours (and spas) that do not employ visually-impaired workers. However, those are more expensive —though often very worth it. That said, there are also other massage-shops that offer other services (for men). Technically, those “special” ones are illegal but they are quite common. Some obvious indications may be pictures of pretty girls on the shop-window, suspiciously decorated “special” lights, or if all the clientele seem to be old men. Consider yourself warned.

 

NO.6 – Take the Hop-On-Hop-Off Tour Bus and go Shopping

  • Price: $600 NT for a full-day bus ticket ($26 CAD) between 9:10-20:00
  • Time investment: each bus route is a 30-40 min circle if you do not “hop off”

Like many cities around the world, the well known Hop-On-Hop-Bus franchise is available in Taipei. You will likely recognize the red double-decker buses, similar to the iconic ones in London. Like the name suggests, you can literally “hop on” a bus at pick-up locations and “hop off” whenever an area looks interesting. There are two routes to choose from. Together, they span most of the must-see areas of Taipei. English commentary is also available via headphones. Visit https://www.taipeisightseeing.com.tw/en and book online to save money. I recommend you execute each (blue and red) route on two separate days, to give yourself lots of wandering time. Refer to #7, for advice on what to do on the day you take the blue-route.

Taking a city-tour will, obviously, show you the shopping districts. The most appealing area for pedestrians, in my opinion, is the Da’An neighbourhood, which is always humming like a beehive with tourists. There, you can also get in line at the famous Din Tai Fung Restaurant (the very first branch in the world!), where celebrities like Tom Cruise have been known to attend.

Da’an is located between the Dongmen public-train (MRT) station, from exit 5 (or 7 or 8), and extends almost all the way to Guting public-train (MRT) station. If you are taking the Hop-on-Hop-Off bus, it is near the #4 stop (of the red route): Xinyi & Yong Kong Intersection.

The busiest and largest area for shopping, however, is Ximen. Just get off at any Ximen public-train (MRT) station and look for the crowd. You could walk towards Longshan public-train (MRT) station, or Beimen public-train (MRT) station, or just stick around Ximen and check out the infinitude of shops. If you are taking the Hop-on-Hop-Off bus, it is the #2 Bus-stop (of both the red and blue route).

Tip #4: Be aware that, due to a health issue in the 90s, Taipei is very finicky about garbage. You will notice a near-absence of garbage cans around the city, except in train stations and convenience stores. Taipei residents are expected to purchase government-stamped garbage bags and meet the garbage-man on his schedule. So…don’t get too excited if you hear the familiar chime of an ice-cream truck ~it’s not what you think!

 

NO.7 – Visit the National Palace Museum (from a Hop-On Hop-Off Tour Bus)

  • Price: $350 NT adult ticket ($15 CAD), 8:30-18:30 all year round
  • Time investment: 2-4 hours

The National Palace Museum is probably a must —especially if you’re a nerd, like me. There are often interesting exhibits with worldwide appeal, so visit www.npm.gov.tw to see what is cooking. In any case, the museum can easily keep you busy for a few hours. Many of its artifacts were literally rescued from Beijing’s Forbidden City amidst the Chinese Civil War in 1948, making this museum one of the tenth most visited museums in the world.

To cater to such crowds, it is the very last stop of the Hop-on-Hop-off bus (#9 of the blue route), which is the easiest way to get there, unless you take a taxi.

 

Other Notable Mentions…

In addition to the aforementioned 7 Things to Do in Taiwan, here is a smaller list of more random activities:

  • See a Hissing Volcano (and bubbling hot-spring puddles!) at Yangmingshan  National Park (photo below)
  • Have Dinner Atop a Revolving Garbage Plant (Incinerator Restaurant)
  • Take a Ferry-Ride from Tamsui to Bali
  • Sing Your Heart Out at a KTV (see An Outsider’s Introduction to Taiwan)
  • Check out the “Combat Zone” Expat Neighbourhood and Market
  • Fetch some Natural Mountain Spring Water  (photo below)(also, see Getting Jacked on Water)

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