Taiwan

Taiwan (台湾) is an island east of China and south of Japan. It has hot and humid summers and very mild winters. The interior is comprised of beautiful mountains. Like Japan, Taiwan can experience significant typhoons, such as Typhoon Morakot, which hit in August 2009.

Visas

Many visitors don't require visas to visit Taiwan for stays of up to 30 days (Aus, US, Canada, Singapore, passport holders of EU countries). Japanese, British and Irish and NZ passport holders can stay visa-free for 90 days. South Africans must apply for a visa in advance.

As always, you should ensure that you have 6 months validity left on your passport.

Getting There

By Air

The main hub is Taipei, though it's also possible to fly into Kaohsiung from Singapore, HK, Macau and Japan (though expensive).

• Eva Air

  Flies cheaply to Taipei from Nagoya and KIX.

• Cathay Pacific

  Cathay are a fabulous airline and there are flights from Osaka and Nagoya to Taipei (direct).

• Jetstar

  A budget airline with a bit of a lousy rep for cancellations/delays etc. But they are cheap. Flights from KIX to Taipei.

• China Airlines

  A Taiwanese carrier, not to be confused with Air China. Flights from Nagoya and Osaka.

• JAL

• ANA

• Air Asia

  A budget airline based in Kuala Lumpur. They are a terrific airline with some very, very good deals. Not so useful for flights from Japan, but if you are in SE Asia, you may be able to pick up a flight to Taiwan from Kota Kinabalu, KL or Bangkok.

Getting Around

By Air

The whole of the "mainland" of Taiwan is easily accessible by bus/rail and internal flights aren't really necessary unless you want to visit the outer islands such as Kinmen, Matsu, the Penghu archipelago, Green Island or Lanyu. Whilst ferry service are available to these islands, the seas around Taiwan can be fairly tumultuous, so you may prefer to fly.

Main airlines flying to the outer islands are:Mandarin Airlines , Uni Air , TransAsia Air and Daily Air Corporation

Airlines such as Daily Air Corporation fly to Lanyu and Green island. Flights go from Taitung.

If you want to fly to Penghu, you can get there using Uni Air, TransAsia Airways, and Mandarin Airlines.

Flights to Kinmen are available using Uni Air and go from Taipei, Taichung, Chiayi, Kaohsiung and Tainan. Mandarin Airlines fly from Taipei and Taichung.

Flights to Matsu are (mostly) out of Taipei with Uni Air.

By Train

Taiwan is well connected by rail services travelling along the North coast, and down the east and west coasts, however services don't connect the east and west so well.

Check out Seat 61 Taiwan for more info.

By Bus

I used a couple of buses in and around Taipei. Some of the buses may have Roman characters on the front, but it's better if you know the Chinese characters for your destination. If there is a bus station, you should get your ticket in advance at a ticket booth, and on other buses, it's a mixture of paying when you get on/off. Watch what everyone else does.

By Taxi

I've no experience using taxis in the cities but if you want to hire a taxi for a day to show you around some otherwise largely inaccessibly places, it's reasonably affordable to hire a taxi. You could hire a taxi to get around the Taroko gorge (see below) for NT2500 or less. Talk to your hostel/guesthouse/hotel to help you organise this, or try your luck at negotiating on your own.

Borders

Taiwan is an island so only ocean borders.

It is possible to enter the country via ferry from China. See Taiwan Ferries for further information.

Money

Taiwan uses the Taiwan New Dollar. As of Dec 2010, it was roughly ¥100 to NT35. Check the latest on [www.xe.com XE]

ATMs are widely available in big and medium sized cities and many accept foreign cards with Cirrus/Plus/Maestro. Many Japanese bank cards will be useles - e.g. Hyakugo.

Bureaux de Change are not so common, even in Taipei, but you can change money at some post offices and at banks during regular banking hours. The Post Office at Taipei Main station is open til about 8pm in the evening. Hotels are also an option though for poorer rates.

Places

Taipei (台北)

• Floral Expo

  Until April 25 2011, Taipei is hosting the international floral expo - it's a massive event with a tonne of halls/displays to see. Based around the parks/exposition spaces east of Yuanshan Metro Station. Whole day passes are available with tickets after 1pm and 5pm significantly cheaper. Even if you aren't hugely into floristry, it's a great exposition and worth a look. Floral Expo.

• Taipei 101

  Currently the second tallest building in the world (after Burj Khalifa) at 508m (helped by a 60m spire). Its observation deck is actually 80m LOWER than that of Shanghai's World Financial Services Centre building, which to me, was much more impressive. Costs NTD400 to go up. Pretty impressive building with great views. There are a tonne of decent places to eat in the food court at the basement of Taipei 101 as well as some great shopping.

• Confucius Temple

  A beautiful temple that is slightly more sombre in style than many other temples in Taipei. They have occasional tea ceremony classes which are kinda cool. Check out info here: Tea Ceremony

• Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

  Set at one side of the same square that boasts the National Theatre and National Concert Hall. Here you can see a ridiculously large statue of CKS. There is a small museum underneath the monstrosity.

• Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

  Less impressive as a monument, but with a much more interesting museum. You can watch the changing of the guards here twice a day. The surrounding grounds are pretty lively - old men flying large kites, tai chi practitioners etc.

• Shilin Night Market

  Great place to sample all kinds of delicious goodies. Also some good bargains to be had. Stuff to try: chou dofu (stinky stinky tofu), bitter gourd (it's really crazy bitter), Taiwanese kakigori (nom nom nom), almond tea (for lovers of marzipan this is amazing!) and all sorts of interesting other stuff.

• Museum of World Religions

  A small but informative little museum with interactive displays. It looks at major religious traditions the world over and ties in the practices of different religious communities within Taiwan to those of the wider world. There is a small vegetarian cafe at the Museum which has great veggie "ramen" and "chicken" nuggets.

• Taipei Riverside Cycle-ways/park areas

  There are a string of cycle-ways around Taipei that pass through parks and run alongside the river. They are a fantastic place to get a sense of what Taipei-ers do for recreation. Early in the morning, particularly around the riverbanks of Zhongshan, is a great time to visit. Groups of people practising tai-chi, cyclists, runners, basketballers, dudes playing croquet, groups of ladies practising samba, rumba etc. Really worth the visit between 6-9am. I would actually say that this is one of my favourite places in Taipei.

• 2-28 Peace Park

  A nice enough park with a memorial to those who were killed in a massacre on Feb 28, 1947.

• Longshan Temple

  Perhaps the most famous temple in Taipei, it's bustling with activity.

• Ximending

  Lively shopping district to the west of Ximen station. Great place for shopping, eating and people watching.

• Tien-ho temple

  A small temple in Ximen. It's tiny but definitely worth a look if you're in the area.

• Modern Toilet Restaurant

  Why? Why not? It's pretty weird to have a toilet-themed restaurant and why on earth it exists I don't know...but it's a pretty bizarre experience. There are a bunch of them in Taipei and a few others scattered across the country. You sit on toilet seats around bathtubs as you eat your food served in toilet-shaped bowls. Yes. Bizarre. Modern Toilet

Hualien (花蓮)

Hualien is the biggest city in Eastern Taiwan and while it doesn't have a tonne of its own sites, if you are heading to Taroko gorge you will probably end up staying here a few nights.

• Nan bin Market

Might be a fair walk from your hostel (particularly if you stay at the rear side of the station), but is a small and lively enough market. The arcade type attractions next door are arguably moe fun!

• Chingszu Temple - Eastern Taiwan's HQ of the Tzu Chi Buddhist Organisation. Apparently you can do temple stays here for "free" - in exchange for helping with temple duties.

Jiufen/Chiufen (九份)

Is a village in the hills to the East of Taipei with traditional houses, quaint old tea-houses, shitloads of shops and panoramic views (on clear days) to the ocean. It's fairly touristy, but retains its charms nonetheless. Fairly easily accessible from Taipei via Keelung or Ruifang train station.

Yehliu (野柳)

If you want to see some bizarre geological formations along the coast north-east of Taipei, check out this place. It's pretty cool! Yehliu You can get a bus there from Taipei via Keelung.

Accommodation

check out Hostelworld to make bookings, or contact places directly.

Taipei

• Taipei Backpackers Ximen - it looks nicer than it is in the photos but it is a well located hostel, with friendly staff and adequate facilities. Beds are pretty solid (as rocks usually are), bathrooms are ok, they have a decent sized kitchen (which unfortunately doubles as a smoking room), a small library and free internet.

• Taipei Backpackers Hostel - this is different to the place aforementioned. Location is equally good, and particularly handy for buses to and from Taipei Airport (close to Taipei West bus station). Area isn't as interesting as the above-mentioned hostel, though it's only 1 subway stop away. The facilities are excellent, as are the rooms and the staff. Small kitchen, nice lounge area, free internet. I'd recommend this place highly.

Hualien

• JVs This hostel is ok. It's cheap and about an 8 minute walk from the back of the station, but it's pretty plain and characterless. The rooms are fine, as are the bathrooms, and there are kitchen and laundry facilities available downstairs, but it's just too far out of town! Though if you are just in Hualien to see Taroko Gorge, it's easy enough to get there by train, get a bus/taxi out to Taroko from the station, and leave again.

• Colourful Hostel We didn't stay here, but our friends did and it looked great! The room was very nice, though bathroom was separate and there were some problems with the plumbing at one point. Staff were lovely and were making chocolate mochi when we were there, which they shared with everyone. Nice lounge areas. Similar location to JVs hostel, but a friendlier, more homely choice.

Food

Vegetarians and vegans will appreciate the fact the array of vegetarian (and to a lesser extent) vegan dishes available, particularly in Taipei. According to the Taiwanese "Embassy" in the US, 1.7 million people in Taiwan are vegetarian. Vegetarianism in Taiwan

Taipei has some amazing restaurants on offer, and food is very affordable.

Some cool/interesting foods/drinks to try:

• Bubble tea - this is pretty hard to miss and is available all over the place - typically consists of tea, milk, sugar, tapioca balls and whatever flavour. Served with a fat straw through which you can suck the tapioca balls.

• Goya tea - wow. This stuff is healthy but unbelievably bitter.

• Hakka pestle cereal - an uber healthy, very earthy tasting cereal drink loaded with different grains. You can buy it at supermarkets and 7-11s.

• Fruit - there is an incredible array of fruit on offer at the markets. Go wild! Dragonfruit is a veritable feast for the eyes, though to me, it resembles bland kiwi fruit. Starfruit is widely available - tastes a little like peppers. Goya is available widely too, particularly at juice stands. It's very healthy, though incredibly bitter! Lychees are easy enough to find and delicious.

• Chou dofu - you'll probably smell this before you see it. It's pretty potent. The taste isn't that bad initially - just like a very chewy and rich-flavoured tofu. And then it hits your epiglottis. And there it stays for a long time. Give it a go. It's very good for you and certainly something different. You might even like it!!

• Scallion pancakes - available on the street and in the markets.

• Pinepple cakes - are ubiquitous and incredible. Great omiyage.

• Peanut mochi - delectable. Great omiyage

Some recommendations (courtesy of Happy Cow Taiwan include:

• Evergreen - Vegetarian Buddhist cuisine (also no garlic, onion) close to Zhongshan (中山) MRT station, this place offers an incredible buffet of veggie food for NT$450 for lunch and NT$550 for dinner. Food was delicious and the range was amazing. Go here on an empty stomach and enjoy the mind-blowing array of food on offer. Highly recommended.

• Xiangyi Vegetarian Heaven (读读条关于). About half way between Taipei Main Station and Ximen MRT station. This place has a fantastic lunch/dinner buffet that charges by weight. It's both varied and delicious. You can get a hearty meal for around NT$100, and positively gorge for a little more. It's another Buddhist veggie restaurant opposite a temple and is marked by a yellow sign with the Chinese, 读读条关于. It's at 15 Wuchang Street sec 1, 萬華區武昌街二段15號.

• Modern Toilet Restaurant - see above. Go for the experience, not the food.

• Muse Cafe at Museum of World Religions. A tiny little cafe on the 6th floor of the building that houses the Museum of World Religions - they serve vegetarian rice dishes and vegetarian "ramen", as well as mock-chicken nuggets. Super tasty and cheap.

• Floral Expo - until April 2011 - check out the vegan noodle stall in the food court at the floral expo. It's pretty amazing and very healthy.

• Shilin night market - see above.

See also

• Taiwan - Wikitravel