I've written a post before this to summarise my trip in Taiwan during last CNY. In this post I'll be sharing about some places you can visit in Taiwan's capital, Taipei. In this guide, I'll also include the MRT lines you can take to get to those places, and also the stations where you get off on.
Liberty Square
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| National Concert Hall |
Located in Zhongzheng District, Liberty Square was built in the late 1970s and it serves as the gathering place of choice since then. Here, you'll see many tourists taking their jump shots for their next Instagram post. The National Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall is at the east end of the plaza, with the National Concert Hall on the north and the National Theater on the south.
On the left is the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall which is the most prominent historical landmark in Taiwan. It was built in honour of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the former President of the Republic of China while on the right is the main gate of the Liberty Square.
There are no entrance fees and it is opened daily. To get there, take the MRT Red Line or Green Line to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
Taipei 101
One cannot walk around Taipei without seeing this landmark skyscraper stick out from the others. It was the highest building of the world in 2004 until Burj Khalifa in Dubai took over in 2010. Located in Xinyi District, it's 509 metres and 101 floors above the ground with 5 basement levels.
The base of the building has a mall selling luxury goods and various restaurants. There's an observation deck on the top of the building where you can get a 360 degrees view of the city. You can buy tickets at the entrance on the fifth floor for NT$600 but we decided to skip that and get a city view from Elephant Mountain instead (I'll get to that later).
The observation deck opens daily from 9am to 10pm. To get there, take the Red Line (Xiangshan train) to Taipei 101 Station.
Din Tai Fung Restaurant
Din Tai Fung is known for their Xiao Long Bao and they have many restaurants across Taiwan. We went to their original branch which was opened in 1949 on Xinyi Road. There's also another Din Tai Fung in Taipei 101 but we decided to go for the original one instead. The queue was extremely long and we waited for about an hour until we got a table but the wait was definitely worth it!!
To get there, you can take the Red Line or Orange Line to Dongmen Station. After leaving Exit 5, continue walking straight and cross Yongkang St. and the restaurant will be on the right.
Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
We walked here from Taipei 101 since it wasn't too far. This memorial hall was built as a tribute to the founder of the the Republic of China. It displays Sun's accomplishments and historical relics of his life. The hall is now also opened to performances and exhibitions. There's also a park surrounding the hall called Zhongshan Park, named after Dr. Sun's popular Chinese name, Sun Zhong Shan. You can also get a clear view of the Taipei 101 from here!
To get there, take the Blue Line to Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Station.
Elephant Mountain
The best way to get a free view of Taipei is by hiking up Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan), a.k.a. Nangang District Hiking Trail. The best time to hike up here is during late afternoon as you can catch the sunset view of the city, but this also means that it'll be the most crowded time of the day. There are a lot of stairs to climb so be sure to wear comfortably! Many people say it takes 15-20 minutes to reach the top, but for people like us who don't usually go hiking or exercise much, it takes 30-40 minutes. It was really tiring to get up there but we got a stunning view of Taipei City so it was worth it.
To get there, take the Red Line to Xiangshan station and leave from Exit 2. Continue walking alongside the edge of the park. At the end of this road, take a left and follow until the entrance for Xiangshan Hiking Trail. There will be signs on the streets that'll take you there.
Shilin Night Market
This is one of the largest, most popular night markets in Taipei. Here, you can find a variety of local food, clothes, souvenirs and many more. There's also an underground food court that sells different kinds of Taiwanese street food, such as Oyster Omelet, Oyster Vermicelli, Stinky Tofu, Lemon Aiyu Jelly, Taiwanese Sausages and the list goes on!
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| Underground Food Court |
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Taiwanese Sausages
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| Lemon Aiyu Jelly |
Deep fried mini crabs on the left and popcorn chicken on the right
There was so much food that we didn't get to eat but we did get to try them in other night markets on other days. There's really too many different kinds of local food to try here. Most shops start their business in the late afternoon until midnight. It's better to go earlier so you get to try out more food and still have time to shop!
To get there, take the Red Line to Jiantan Station, not Shilin Station. After leaving Exit 1, diagonally cross the street to the left to enter the night market.
Shifen
Shifen Old Streets is located in the Pingxi area, along the railway track around Shifen Station. This place is super packed with tourists even on weekdays. You can see many visitors releasing sky lanterns with their wishes written on them on the tracks, which is a must-do activity in Pingxi.
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| Fried Rice Stuffed Chicken Wing |
There are shops along Shifen Old Street selling souvenirs, food and sky lanterns. Every shop sells sky lanterns for the same price and they offer free photo and video-taking services for their customers.
The train passes by every half an hour but it doesn't move too fast so visitors have time to move to the side to let the trains pass.
Shifen Waterfall is a 20 meter tall waterfall, 30 minutes walk away from Shifen Old Street. There are signs on the streets to guide you there. Some people may take the taxi but they charge quite expensive since it's a tourist attraction. I'd recommend walking as you can also enjoy the scenery on your way there.
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| You'll have to walk over a suspension bridge to get to the waterfall |
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| Shifen Waterfall |
There are two ways to get to Shifen Old Street:
By TRA: From Taipei Main Station, take a northbound train (except Keelung-bound trains) towards Ruifang Station. Transfer to the Pingxi Line and get off at Shifen Station. (Be sure to check your train schedule and track number so you don't get on the wrong train like we did)
By shuttle bus: From Ximending Youth Shopping District, stopping first at Jiufen then Shifen
Raohe Night Market
Raohe Night Market is one of the oldest night markets in Taipei. Visitors usually come here after visiting Shifen or Jiufen since the train stops at Songshan Station, where the night market is located nearby.
One of my favourite street food I had here is the herbal pork bone soup which was so flavourful! They serve it with braised pork rice, also one of the popular Taiwanese food.
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| The Ciyou Temple at the eastern end of the night market |
To get there, take the Green Line to the terminal station Songshan, and leave at exit 5. The night market entrance is just to the right across the street next to the temple.
Jiufen
This gold mining mountain town was originally built by the Japanese. It's one of the most popular attractions in Taiwan and it's always very crowded even on weekdays. This picturesque town is filled with vintage atmosphere with teahouses, quaint streets and shops selling local delights and souvenirs. There are also many homestays around for visitors who want to stay over for a night to enjoy the night views of the town.
One of the must eats here is this bowl of taro balls from Lai Ah Po Yu Yuan. There's a mix of taro, sweet potato and green tea balls with green and red beans, you can choose to have it served hot or cold. There is also another shop higher up that is quite popular but we only saw that later.
There are a few spots in the town where you can get stunning views of the sea and mountains. This beautiful place inspired Hayao Miyazaki's famous film Spirited Away.
Ah Mei Teahouse, the icon of Jiufen Old Street.
This town is absolutely beautiful! We spent hours here just wandering around and taking photos. I'd recommend staying over for a night to see the beauty of this place at night when all the lights go on.
Two ways to get there,
By TRA: from Taipei Main Station take the train north to Ruifang Station. After exiting the station and facing the Wellcome supermarket, take a left and walk 200 metres down Mingdeng Road. Next to the police station is a bus station (named Local Residents Plaza) with routes 827 and 788 heading toward Jiufen. The bus stop next to the police station heads east toward Jiufen, and the bus stop across from the police station heads west toward Taipei. From here, the bus trip takes roughly 15 minutes.
By bus: from MRT Zhongxiao Fuxing, Brown Line and Blue Line interchange, leave from Exit 2 and from outside Sogo department store take bus route 1062 (Keelung Bus) to Jinguashi, alight at Jiufen. The ride is about 1 hour.
By shuttle bus: From Ximending Youth Shopping District, stopping first at Jiufen then Shifen
Tamsui Old Street
Tamsui Old Street is full of shops, carnival games, restaurants, and street snacks. We arrived during sunset and managed to catch the beautiful view at the waterfront area. We arrived a little too late so we didn't get to visit the Fisherman's Wharf and Lovers' Bridge which would've been really nice since it was Valentine's Day. We would have to take a ferry there and it was already dark so we skipped it.
We walked around the area trying out different food and shopped for some souvenirs for our friends back home such as nougats and teas.
To get there, take the MRT Red Line to the northern terminus station Tamsui. Exit the station and turn left, then walk along the waterfront.
Ximending Youth Shopping District
Also known as the Shibuya of Taipei, Ximending is a must visit place in Taipei. This place is always so packed with young people and tourists shopping and eating. There are also street performances and entertainment which keeps Ximending lively all day and night. There is so much to see and eat here we spent more than half of our day just walking around and enjoying the cool weather.
You can't visit Ximending without eating Ah Zhong Mian Xian (Ay-Chung Flour Rice Noodle) aka mee sua. It is served with soft and chewy pork intestines and it's no doubt the best mee sua I've had! The queue is long but the workers are very quick and efficient so you won't have to wait too long for your turn.
Another must-eat when you're in Ximending is Okinawa Japanese Style Grilled Mochi. It tastes so good and flavourful and you can choose from many flavours. We ordered peanut and Japanese soy sauce, both are the shop's best sellers.
A trip to Taiwan is incomplete if you don't try their famous bubble tea drink. Try typing Taipei bubble tea in Google and the first thing that pops out is this bubble tea shop, 50 Lan. It is the biggest tea shop chain in Taiwan which started in 1994. I ordered their signature earl grey pearl milk tea and their pearls are super chewy with a mixture of black and golden pearls.
We saw an extremely long queue at this fried chicken shop - Hot Star and decided to get in the line to try it. There are two of the same shops in Ximending, both are just as crowded. The chicken flavourful, crispy on the outside and tender on the inside but it's not really worth the 45 minutes wait.
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| Red House Theater, built by Japanese in 1908 |
This is one of my favourite places in Taipei and I'd love to come back again to try more of their food!
To get there, take Blue Line or Green Line to Ximen.
So that's all for Taipei, hope this helped you plan your trip to Taipei! I'll be writing another post for Taichung soon so stay tuned!
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