While I’m in Japan, besides discovering more of what this beautiful country has to offer, I also wish to explore new destinations around Asia. For this year’s Golden Week I chose Taiwan! Golden Week (April 29th – May 5th) is a series of Japanese holidays aligned for a whole week, such as The Emperor’s Birthday, Greenery Day or Children’s Day. A lot of Japanese people travel during this time so that is why flight tickets might be a bit more expensive and many places in Japan get even more crowded than usual. I wouldn’t recommend visiting Japan during this time…

Although spring semester has just started, GW is a great chance for students to travel during the semester. I initially planned to stay in Taiwan for 5 days, but due to the unavailability of flight tickets, I could only get 3 days. 3 days were definitely not enough, and I plan to go back someday to see all the other beautiful places I have missed this time. But for now, here is my itinerary for 3 very intense days in Taiwan, two days in Taipei and one in Jiufen.

Accommodation

Taipei M Hotel – Main Station very convenient location, can easily get to the main points from here, delicious breakfast with a great diversity of food, nice, clean rooms and good service (got new bottles of water every day, never experienced this anywhere else, to be honest) and a nice garden with beautiful views on its 12th floor. So I have only good things to say about this hotel! Good value for money.

Transport

Mainly used Taipei Metro but also the Railway system for Jiufen and bus for National Palace Museum. I recommend getting the EasyCard! Getting around will be very easy with this card (hence the name) plus you get 20% off the normal fare. Getting around was so cheap! (compared to Japan) and I was impressed by the cleanliness (compared to Paris) and efficiency of the metro system.

Day 1

Din Tai Fung 鼎泰豐

Arrived in Taipei early in the morning so the first stop of the day was to have brunch at Din Tai Fung! The restaurant is famous and has branches in many places around the world (not in Europe so far, sadly). It specializes in xiaolongbao (steamed soup dumplings) and two of its Hong Kong branches were awarded Michelin Stars (wonder why not the original Taiwanese branch?). The original restaurant is located on Xinyi Road in Taipei and it can get very crowded so better go there early. The place opens at 10 am and there were already many people waiting outside at the time but luckily we didn’t have to wait for too long before entering, only around 25 minutes. Tried their famous pork dumplings and they were amazing. I keep thinking about them even now haha. Prices were pretty affordable as well (prices at the Tokyo branch are much higher T.T). Definitely, recommend it! And I was impressed by the fact that the staff was trilingual, they could speak Chinese, English, and Japanese!

Metro: Dongmen

Daan Forest Park

Not far from Din Tai Fung, you can walk to Daan Forest Park for a green oasis. The perfect way to relax and exercise after a yummy meal! Many locals were having picnics there and were enjoying outdoor activities in general. Unfortunately, as it was too hot, we couldn’t stay outside for too long so went to the next spot ->

Taipei 101

No visit to Taiwan would be complete without going to this famous skyscraper. Decided to skip the observatory due to the expensive admission fee (NT$600) and I actually prefer seeing Taipei 101 and similar buildings from a distance rather than seeing the city without them… I found that an interesting alternative to this expensive fee is admiring the view from the Starbucks located on its 35th floor. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that you needed a reservation, thought that just by showing up there was enough. Here is more info if you are interested, with the phone number and dress code details.

Metro: Taipei 101/World Trade Center

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall 中正紀念堂

I received a postcard of this place many years ago when I used to exchange postcards on Postcrossing so this was probably the place I wanted to see most in Taipei. Actually, the whole Liberty Square is very impressive, the architecture is so different from what I have seen so far in Japan and South Korea. It is interesting to watch the change of guards, every hour. On my way back to the station I received a book about Buddhism from a local monk, I was very happy, cannot wait to read it ^^

Metro: Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Elephant Mountain (象山, Xiangshan)

Haven’t slept for 24 hours, but as there was rain announced for the other day I had in Taipei, decided to do this hike on the first day. It was a bit tough but the beautiful view at the end was definitely worth the sweat. I remember seeing this view of Taipei and Taipei 101 as a child, especially on New Year’s with the famous fireworks. I had such a nice feeling of accomplishment seeing it for real. Might sound cliché but it was another dream come true.

 

After the tiring hike, went to eat xiaolongbao again but at a local restaurant this time. They didn’t speak English so it was a bit awkward at the beginning, trying to order what I’d like (the menu was all in Chinese also) but it was a nice experience after all and the food was delicious! I can now declare myself a xiaolongbao lover! I could eat them every day…

Day 2

Jiufen 九份

To be honest, I didn’t know about this place before coming to Japan. It is a popular destination among Japanese people and especially Hayao Miyazaki fans as it is said that it inspired him in creating the movie Spirited Away. Many Japanese tour guides were like “Here you can see Yubaba’s house” when showing the Amei Teahouse. In the movie, the building is a hot spring establishment but in reality, it is a beautiful and popular teahouse. Jiufen Old Street and Amei Teahouse are the most popular places to see in Jiufen but besides them, there are many interesting narrow streets, beautiful temples, and nice foods to try from the local vendors.

The atmosphere resembled a lot that from the movie, especially the foods! They were also selling a lot of cute plastic souvenirs mainly with No-Face (Kaonashi). I couldn’t help it and got a few things myself, and I was especially proud of this cute small electric fan, very useful for hot summer days (unfortunately they took it from me at the airport saying its battery was dangerous ToT I almost started to cry lol).

I also found out that the town is called “the Santorini of Taiwan” and I could see why especially at sunset when a nice view could be seen from one of the many terraces there. And the crowds as well were similar to the ones in Santorini haha. One of the best experiences I had in Jiufen was the traditional tea time experience at Amei Teahouse, NT$ 300 per person. Visiting a teahouse in Jiufen is a must if you are there, and two of the recommended ones are Amei and Jiufen Teahouse, there is also Skyline Tea House with nice views over the town (and over Amei Teahouse, here is the spot to go for the famous Jiufen postcard photo) but unfortunately it doesn’t have good reviews on Google so decided to skip it.

All in all, I think a day trip to Jiufen is worth it if you are in Taipei. There are organized tours that also go to Shifen and Pingxi but if you want to organize everything by yourself, as I did, there are a few ways to get there. Either take a bus directly to Jiufen (Keelung bus 1062) or train from Taipei Main Station to Ruifang Station and then bus or taxi. We went there by train and also visited Ruifang for a bit before hopping on the crowded bus for Jiufen. On the way back, took the taxi as you could share it with other people and the price per person was really cheap.

Shilin Night Market

Taiwanese night markets are famous for their great atmosphere and delicious food so I had to visit one. I was not disappointed! I ate so much, like the pig parents in Spirited Away haha. So I tried Taiwanese sausages, spicy noodles with meat and cheese and eryngii mushrooms (this stall had a big queue so decided to give it a try). I also wanted to try stinky tofu but I was too full…Maybe next time!

Day 3

National Palace Museum

I called this day the “Culture Day”, went to the National Palace Museum to learn more about art in the East, and definitely became more “cultured” after this immersion. This museum in Taipei was really high on my list of places to visit as it shares its roots with the Palace Museum in the Forbidden City, which I also hope to get the chance to visit someday. The architecture of the museum is very beautiful, designed by Huang Baoyu.

The most important pieces of the museum are the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-Shaped Stone, according to public reviews. The room where they were exhibited was super crowded and had to wait in a huge line before entering which made me think of two pieces of art as the Mona-Lisa of the East. To be honest, at first I didn’t expect much from a simple sculpture of a cabbage but it was more than that! Having an audio guide helped me understand that the delicate sculpture actually stands for feminity and fertility, qualities desired in women at the Imperial Court during the Qing Dynasty. I don’t know what the Meat-Shaped Stone was supposed to symbolize but it was so realistic that I could almost smell pork meat! (or maybe it was because I was hungry but…)

Right next to the museum, there is a fancy restaurant, Silks Palace. Museum restaurants are always so beautiful! Went there for lunch and it wasn’t very pricey, just a bit more expensive than the average for Taipei. Wanted to try the famous pork similar to the sculpture but they didn’t have it because it was tea time… But tried a delicious beef soup, steamed buns and a milk pudding with mango sauce for dessert. Recommend this place if you are hungry after the museum visit!

Metro: Shilin+bus

Xinbeitou

From Shilin Station, we went to Xinbeitou station, where there are many places to see, perfect for a half day trip. There is the Thermal Valley, which unfortunately closes at 17:00 so it was closed when we got there… There are hot springs, both outdoors (where you can wear a swimsuit) and indoors, there is the Beitou Branch of the Taipei Public Library, that I remember reading about here and really wanted to see and there are many hotels with hot springs (some in Japanese style ryokan). I was surprised to learn that there are hot springs right in the city. Beitou is like a different world, not far away from the hustle and bustle of the city, you can enjoy an oasis of green and can soak in the hot springs.

Metro: Xinbeitou

I tried to squeeze in as many places as possible for just three days but there are still a lot of places I would like to see in Taiwan, both in Taipei and outside Taipei so I really hope I’ll get the chance to visit again someday.

Hope you liked this post! Thank you for reading 🙂