Taipei

Overview: Taipei is a really alive big city. The downtown hustle and bustle, non-stop activity continues for miles and miles. Much of the city is less than 6 storeys high with the ground level all retail, with about 1 in 3 shops selling food of some description. Morning and night (although it slows around 11pm) the streets are filled with people eating, shopping, and going places. You get on the metro and 6 or 8 stops later, you get out and it is more of the same.

What to do:

Check out some of the neighborhoods -

Ximending (Ximen station) and surrounds: Trendy, young, bright and shiny, with a pedestrian mall, lots of girls in short skirts/shorts and colored tights. Cheap food galore. Further south, Kangding street is host to yummy beef noodle soup and hot pot joints. To the east, try Wuchang street for a happening market (alleys north) and a vegetarian buffet place called Xiangyi Vegetarian Heaven at #15. At the buffet, take what you want and pay by weight. The cashier gives you a cup for the communal tea upstairs. The market is a good area to buy local tropical fruit, including the delicious jujube and wax apple (see http://trade.coa.gov.tw:8080/catalog/showList.do?lang=e&cid=1052 for more info about Taiwan's fruit crops). We also liked the almond tofu in warm almond milk at Yu's almond tofu at 101 Hengyang road, which is quite close to the metro.

Datung (Shuanglian / Zhongshan station): we checked out the Contemporary Art museum, which offered a fun if not fantastic temporary exhibit (admission 60NT). The City God temple is not where it is depicted on the Taipei tourist maps - you run into it as you walk down Dihua street. This area is full of Chinese tea/herb/dried stuff stores, for those who like that sort of thing. We enjoyed a Taiwanese buffet recommended by the Lonely Planet - the Joy Yuan Buffet at 171 Changan road.

Da'an / Shida (Da'an or Guting station): Check out Yongkang street, which has a hip, slightly more upscale cafe / restaurant / shop scene, and the clear influence of nearby Taiwan Normal University. We had fantastic soup dumplings (xiao long bao) at Golden Chicken Garden #28-1 Yongkang street, thus avoiding the huge cue at Ding Tai Fengs. Ice Monster is also on this street, serving mango on ice and other deliciousness. Also recommended on the "hungry in taipei" website (see below) was Kao chi at 5 Yongkang.

Shilin: the most famous night market, remarkable for its sheer size and number of people. Lots of the food did not look that appetizing. We tried Ah-Chung flour rice noodle, which were good but not great, the Indian-style beef wrapped in freshly baked Naan (tasty, and better than the chicken), and some fried pork dumplings

Danshui: the last northern stop on the red line, a riverside town with a long colonial history. The museum at Fort San Domingo and the old British consulate was fascinating and well done (and 60NT admission) but the carnival street scene on Gongming road was not to our liking.

Beitou: (red line Beitou change to shuttle train to Xinbeitou): an ex-mountain resort famous for hotsprings, now swallowed up in metropolitan Taipei, this would have been fun if the public baths (40NT admission for multiple outdoor pools) had been open. Instead, we were left to find somewhere else to try the waters and ended up disappointed at Spa Spring Resort. They charged a ludicrous 600NT for admission to their hot spring complex, which included a sex segregated naked area, and integrated outdoor and indoor pools. Unfortunately, the facilities have aged badly and the owners are not reinvesting capital in freshening up the place. All pools with the exception of one outdoor pool were insufficiently heated, and the one pool of appropriate temperature was too acidic.

Admire a few temples and monuments:

Recommended temple spots include Longshan (Longshan station), and the Confucious and Baoan Temples (Yuanshan station). On the way from the metro to the latter two temples, you pass a coffee shop called CocoMo which does the nicest cappuchino we found in the city.

Parks/monuments worth visiting include 2-28 park (our favourite), Chiang Kai-shek memorial hall (fun for a new defunct revisionist history), and Dr. Sun Yat-sen memorial house (nice flowers and views of Taipei 101). We didn't love the Botanical garden or Taipei art park.

After 3.5 days there was still tons more to see and so many traditional dishes still to taste. Places for next time: Zhishan park, martyr's shrine and change of the guard, National Palace museum, Chiang Kai-shek Shilin residence park, Lin Antai old homestead, Yangmingshan National park...

Food for next time: scallion pancake (tsong yo bing), knife-cut noodle (dao xiao mien), hot pot, traditional breakfast with hot soy milk, and sweet bean on ice desserts

Information:

We used the Taiwan Lonely Planet, which was written by two expatriates who demonstrate passion for the subject. National Geographic Traveler Taiwan has pretty pictures to get you excited about the trip, and a slightly different slant. Get both of the maps available at the airport bus waiting area, one is called "Taipei map Hot in Taipei" and has the metro map on the back, the other is larger and has a red cover.

We found the food blog http://www.hungryintaipei.blogspot.com/ to be really helpful. Written by a girl who splits her time between LA and Taipei, she offers great explanations of dishes to try and where to get them.

People have different needs in accommodation. Look to Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor for recommendations.

Money:

The ATM in the international airport terminal did not accept our cards, which was annoying. The airport money changer charged unfortunate fees, but we had to get enough for the bus into town. Once in the city, there is an ATM in every 7-11, and there is a 7-11 on every block. The New Taiwanese dollar is colourful and at the time of our visit was 30NT = 1$US. 30NT actually buys you something in Taiwan, be it delicious snack food, a cup of milk tea or fresh fruit juice, or 2 metro fares.

Getting around:

Taipei's Metro system is spectacular, and in our experience the best in the world. It is unbelievably efficient, with trains running less than 5 minutes apart. Trains connect seamlessly with one another. It is clean, including the bathrooms located at every station. The system is intuitive, with easy-to-understand ticket machines (warning - these only take bills), maps, and signs. The "easy card" system is so great it leaves you wondering why every public transport system in the world has not adopted a similar system. You pay 500NT to get an "easy card" (100NT deposit, 400NT for fares). The card gives you 20% off listed fares and also free or reduced price bus transfers. You place it in front on the sensor and voila, the doors open. Some people do this through their purse or wallet. As you exit, it deducts the correct fare based on distance travelled. Short hops are 16NT, longer hops approach 30NT. We travelled all around the city, taking multiple trips per day, and the card lasted 3.5 days. When you leave town, you can get a refund of your deposit and any money left on your card. Each stop also has a listing on connecting bus routes and from where they leave. This is what public transport should be - New York should be ashamed.

Getting there and away:

Flight is about 1.5 hours from Naha International Airport. Many DOD/SOFA types park at Kinser (lot just to right once inside gate 1) and take a taxi which runs 1800-2500Y. Airport parking is 1000Y/day in the international and long-stay parking lots.

Note: the international terminal at Naha is tiny, with no good food. For food, head to the top floor of the domestic terminal. There is an array of restaurants there, including a particularly interesting conveyor sushi joint which is both creative and reasonably priced.
You fly into Taoyuan International, which is 50km west of the city, accessible (currently) by bus. They are building an MRT to the airport, which will be a huge improvement. To get the bus downtown, follow the signs for long distance buses, and buy a ticket on any line heading to Taipei Main station. The ride is about 1.25 hrs and costs around NT 130.

To get back to the airport, you go to the Kaoshing (spelling?) bus terminal which is one block west of Taipei main station on Zhongxiao road. Note that Taoyuan has 2 terminals, so note on your way in which one is yours.

General advice:

#When at a bubble tea shop, order bubble tea. Avoid fruit drinks as they are syrup based and not worth the calories.

#This is a city of people wearing comfortable shoes. It seems about half the female population wears Converse All-stars, and Adidas are the favourite on men. Don't be afraid to wear yours, be in order for your feet to blend in your shoes must be tidy.

#Avoid the temptation to eat only at food stalls. The higher cost of eating at some restaurants is justified by the quality of the food. The typical food stall rules apply regarding good technique, high cooking temperatures, and rapid turnover. We never saw a fruit auntie (lady selling chopped fruit) who met these requirements so we got our own fruit at the markets and prepared it ourselves. Always a good idea to bring a knife in your checked luggage for just this purpose.