Hello Pals,

I went to Taiwan April 23, so i’m (a bit) behind on the updates and I am also really unsure on where the majority of my photos went for this trip? But hey i guessyou get what you get and you don’t get upset!

Taipei is such a beautiful city. It’s easy, full of history, kind people, great food and countless things to do.

If you would like to know what to see in Taipei. click ‘read more’

In this article, you’ll find: (click to be taken there)
The Basics: How to get there.
Getting Around: Transport Options
My Top Choices: What you should see.
My Recommendations: Where to eat & drink, What to listen to & read.
What I did: My diary entry.
Other Recommendations: Things we missed.

All my posts have a key:
⏰ Opening Hours. 📍Location 🕒Distance
💰Cost 🎫Ticket 📝 To note. 🎒What to bring.
♿ Accessibility 🌱Vegan / Veg Options. 🎧 Sensory.

  TO NOTE:

• Taiwan has more than 300 night markets!
• Don’t talk about the politics between Taiwan / China.

THE BASICS

Getting to Taiwan.

✈️ Fly

International:
Depending on where you’re flying from – it’ll vary hugely in price.

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GETTING AROUND

🚆 TRAIN / 🚌 BUS
You can get everywhere by an EasyCard / iPASS (you can also use this to pay for things at 7/11!) and costs NT$100 for the card.
Buy: at the airport, stations or 7/11.

👟 WALK
Once in the suburb of Taipai – it’s super easy to walk around and see things.

National Palace Museum

⏰ 09:00 – 17:00 | Closed Mon unless it falls on a National Holiday / Long Weekend,
📍 No. 221, Sec 2, Zhi Shan Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111
💰  $350 TWD | $12 USD | $18 AUD
* There are five free entrance days for this museum: New Year’s Day (Jan. 1), the Lantern Festival, International Museum Day (May 18), World Tourism Day (Sept. 27) and National Day (Oct. 10).

📝 English Signs
♿ Yes – Accessible Map 🎧 busy, bright lighting.
———-
I weirdly didn’t take one photo of the outside of the National Palace Museum (why???) After the Chinese Civil War, the remnants of the Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC), alongside many refugees, retreated to the island of Taiwan. The majority of the exhibits were brought over then. The Zhishan Gardens are traditional Chinese gardens featuring a pond with koi fish

Of Note:

• Jadeite Cabbage
  • Meat Shaped Stone
  • Pottery figure of a standing lady with painted colours
  • Planter with a coral carving of the planetary deity Kuixing

Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines

📍 No. 282, Sec 2, Zhi Shan Rd, Shilin District, Taipei City, Taiwan 111
⏰ 09:00 – 17:00 | Closed Mon
💰 $150 NTW | $8 AUD | $5 USD
>> combo ticket avail for $400 with the National Palace Museum
♿ Yes 🎧 often has groups of school kids.
———-
“The Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines is the first private museum dedicated to the culture and history of the Taiwanese indigenous peoples. The museum is divided into several sections: Man and Nature; Beliefs and Ceremonies; Lifestyles and Implements, Tools and Weapons and Clothing, Ornaments and Culture. There are almost 2,000 artifacts as well as historical photographs and an art collection. “

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

⏰ 09:00 – 16:00
📍100, Taiwan, Taipei City, Zhongzheng District
💰 Free
📝 Changing of the Guards: Hourly
♿ Yes

Created a year after Chaing-Kai Shek’s death in 1976 by his son who succeeded him. CKS was president of China on 1943 during WWII.
Chaing-Kai Shek was a military leader of KMT and lead China through three major events. There is some controversy over his reign, especially due to the martial law imposed in Taiwan.
READ: making narrative out of history: green island and the white terror

Lungshan Temple

⏰ 06:00 – 22:00
📍 No. 211, Guangzhou St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10853
💰 Free
♿ Accessible grounds
🎧 incense and crowds.
———-
Lungshan Temple was built in the 1700s during the Qing Dynasty (1738). It’s one of the largest and most popular temples in Taiwan. It worships the goddess of Mercy.

Taipei Fine Arts Museum

⏰ 10:00 – 17:00 | Sun: 15:00 | Closed Mon
📍 No. 181, Section 3, Zhongshan N Rd, Zhongshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 10491
💰30 NTD
———-
While there is no permanent collection, the museum displays a good selection of contemporary and modern art. It’s also air-conditioned (!!!!)

Dihua Street

Dihua Street is a historic street that used to be a popular trading hub. Here you’ll find traditional street food, classes, temples and tea houses.

MY RECOMMENDATIONS

🥘 Three To Vegetarian Restaurant

⏰ 05:40 – 13:00
📍No. 23號, Section 1, Wuchang St, Zhongzheng District, Taipei City, Taiwan 100
📝 Buffet style vegetarian.
You pick what you wish to eat, the staff weigh the food and it’s about $150 NTD.

🥘 麥町吐司工房開封店. – TOAST

⏰ 05:40 – 13:00
📍No. 44號, Section 2, Kaifeng St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108
📝 English Menu
🌱
The staff are friendly, the menu is easy to use, and the food is cheap, traditional & delicious.

☕ Tonganess Tea House / 同安樂

⏰ 10:00 – 21:00
📍同安樂 103 Taiwan Taipei City, Datong District, Section 1, Dihua St, 235.
Enjoy traditional Taiwanese afternoon tea and pastries. It’s a family that came from Tong’an, Quanzhou, thus the name.

🥘 PIER 5 美食區

⏰ 17:00 – 00:00
📍103, Taiwan, Taipei City, Datong District
Similar to a night market but shipping containers are used. A huge range of food & drink so you’ll find something!!

We spent the time having a “Taiwan Beer Only 18 Days” in which we guessed what the 18 days meant, played cards (i probably won) and discussed what we’d be doing the following day.

🥘 Modern Toilet Restaurant

⏰ 11:30 –21:30
📍 108, Taiwan, Taipei City, Wanhua District, Lane 50, Xining S Rd, 7號2樓

I peer pressured my pal to come to the Toilet Restaurant and it did not disappoint me (it did disappoint him.) Was the food good? Not really. Was the atmosphere good? not really. It was a room that looked like a bathroom and everything was toilet-themed, including the food. We ordered a beer, which came in mini toilets and while my brain said “beer” it also said “is this pee” because it looked like pee in a mini toilet ???

READ: Ghost Town

Ghost Town by Kevin Chen.

Ghost Town follows the Chens, shifting between time frames and narrators to paint a complex and intricately woven portrait of a family plagued by loss, globalisation, and secrets. The catalyst for the story is the return of the youngest son, Keith, a gay man who returns to Taiwan during its Ghost Festival after spending years in a German prison for killing his domestic partner.

WHAT I DID

The game was that whoever got to the hotel first got dinner. I arrived to the hotel Papa Whale first, but left as it wasn’t check in time. There were some odd things about this hotel. Was it the mirror on the roof? The semi-transparent bathroom door? The fact it felt consistently 15 degrees? It’s hard to pick.

Once Jordan arrived, we checked out Dihua Street and the Traditional Tea House. We passed 岩筆模MBmore a local art gallery, and I picked up some quirky postcards.

Our second day consisted of the Shilin District and saw the Palace Museum, Museum of Formosan Aborigines and to save funds got some lunch at 7/11. I don’t understand how 7/11 slaps in every asian country yet here it’s just like ok meat pies and sangas. A lot of the time walking around Taiwan we would get whiffs of this smell… and it wasn’t until we got stinky tofu we realised THAT was the smell. It tastes as it smells, an acquired taste.

Before Lungshan Temple, we went to the Nishi Honganji complex which used to be the Nishi Honganji Temple until it burnt down in 1975. There’s a cute Japanese tea house nearby called Eighty-Eightea Rinbansyo.

While we didn’t buy anything on Herb Lane 青草巷, there are hundreds of medicines sold there with the shopkeepers keeping fresh stock from Taiwan.

Our final day was a coffee from The Excited Goat Coffee 啡啡羊咖啡店, a walk through the Fine Arts Park and cooling off in the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, where someone had left a bitten apple on a ledge. Was it art… or trash ?

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Have you been?
What did you see / eat / do?
Let me know below.
As always, stay cool.
– Sarah.

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