Fourteen million people move through Taipei's MRT every day. The system is spotless. Air-conditioned. Runs every few minutes. It connects a city that runs around the clock.
Xinyi district is glass towers and designer brands. Ximending is youth culture—street fashion, claw machines, bubble tea. Da'an is leafy residential streets, bookshops, coffee bars. Each district has its own personality.
Taipei 101 was once the world's tallest building. Go up at sunset—the city stretches to mountains in every direction. Then hike Elephant Mountain at dusk and photograph the tower from the ridge.
The National Palace Museum holds the world's largest collection of Chinese imperial art. Emperors, jade, bronze, calligraphy. Budget three hours minimum.
Night markets are the soul of Taipei. Shilin is the famous one. Raohe is smaller, better food, less tourist pressure. Liuhe in Kaohsiung. They run until midnight and beyond.
Sun Moon Lake sits at 762 metres in Nantou County. It's shaped like a sun on one side, a crescent moon on the other. Mist clings to the mountains in the morning. Rope ferries cross the water. The surrounding tea farms produce some of Taiwan's finest oolong.
Alishan nearby means sunrise trains, ancient cypress forests, and the famous sea of clouds. The forest railway climbs from 30 metres to 2,400 metres. Board at 3am for dawn at the summit.
Qingjing Farm at 1,748 metres feels like Switzerland transplanted to a subtropical island. Sheep wander meadows. The air is cool and thin. Taiwanese families drive up from Taipei for the weekend.
The high mountain road to Hehuanshan reaches 3,275 metres—the highest paved road in Northeast Asia. In winter, it snows. In summer, hikers tackle trails that cross the island's central ridge.
Taroko Gorge is Taiwan's most dramatic landscape. Marble cliffs plunge 1,000 metres. The Liwu River turns turquoise in sunlight. Tunnels carved through rock. Suspension bridges over abyss. Half-day walk from Hualien.
Hualien city is the gateway to the east. Small enough to feel local. Big enough to have good restaurants and places to sleep. The night market sells indigenous food alongside standard Taiwanese fare.
The East Rift Valley stretches south—flatlands between two mountain ranges, bicycles and rice paddies, small indigenous villages. Highway 11 follows the coast with the Pacific on one side and cliffs on the other.
Green Island, two hours south by ferry from Taitung, has prison history and some of the clearest snorkelling in Asia. Orchid Island is even further—the Tao people, traditional boats, flying fish season.
Taiwanese food is the best street food in Asia by common consensus. Beef noodle soup. Braised pork rice (lu rou fan). Scallion pancakes. Oyster omelettes. Stinky tofu—the smell is worse than the taste. Taro balls in Jiufen. Pineapple cake as a gift home.
Tea culture runs deep. Alishan high mountain oolong. Oriental Beauty from the north. Bubble tea was invented here in the 1980s. Every street corner has a tea shop. Order cold, half-sweet, no ice to start.
Longshan Temple in Taipei is the city's spiritual centre. Buddhist, Taoist, folk religion—all at once. Incense smoke, fortune telling, people praying genuinely amid the tourists. Free entry. Open until 10pm.
Jiufen, two hours north of Taipei, inspired Miyazaki's Spirited Away. Lantern-lit staircases. Tea houses perched over the sea. Taro balls at the top of the old street. Arrive before noon or after dark to avoid the crowds.