Taiwan, Part II: Tainan & Taipei

Written By Eric Wheaton

Moving from nature to city.

Tainan

It is said that Tainan is the cultural capital of Taiwan. We would agree. If you want to learn about the island’s history, visit temples and historical buildings, and eat local food, then Tainan is the place for you. 

After the long train rides to get to there from Yilan, we had time to get dinner and dessert before calling it a night. 

As we were walking around, we noticed a long line outside of a ramen shop. We stopped to check it out and it looked good so we waited in line. Once inside, you order your ramen through an old school vending machine and give the ticket to the chefs to prepare it for you. 

Afterward, we tried a local dessert stall that was also poppin. You pick the starches (bean, peanut, mung bean, etc.) and it is put into a syrupy liquid followed by shaved ice on top. It was decent but all the starches tasted somewhat the same and the liquid wasn’t too flavorsome, in my opinion. But we did notice it was a popular dessert everywhere in Taiwan. 

While traveling around the country and especially while visiting the local landmarks we learned more about Taiwan’s complicated history, which Emily will share a bit about here.

There is evidence of indigenous people dating back to 3000 BC, but in the 13th-17th century the Han Chinese began settling on the island. Then in the 17th century the Dutch colonized the south part of the island, which included what is today Tainan.  In 1895 the Japanese defeated the locals and they began developing the country at their desire. It was ruled by Japan until 1945 following WWII. At that point China took control of the island. The Japanese and Chinese influences were evident throughout the country. However, Tainan was the only place that seemed to have some European influences.  

We knew there were several many landmarks to check out and learn more about the history of this region of the country. We first walked by Chikan Tower which was a former military fort of the Dutch. It was built in 1653 during the Dutch colonization. 

Later, we hopped on a bus and headed to Anping, the historic district of Tainan. We walked along Old Street and tried several local street food stalls as well as some restaurants - sausages, shrimp crackers, beef soup, shrimp and oyster rolls. Everything was really tasty!

One of our favorite places there was the Former Tait and Co. Merchant House, which today is a treehouse of sorts. It was built in 1867 and was a place of international trading since it is located right on the harbor. During Japanese rule it was used to trade salt. One of the buildings used as a storehouse for salt was abandoned when the corporation moved, so then the banyan trees took over and grew all up in it. Later, some architects constructed the metal structure to hold up what is now this popular treehouse attraction with stairs up and down to explore the trees’ intrusive growth. 

We made a quick stop at the Anping Old Fort and wandered down many small alleys with historic homes. 

We ended the night as always with another night market for a light dinner and beers before bed. 

On our last day in Tainan, we started by getting dumplings. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) we had a miscommunication when ordering and all the dumplings we ordered came in different soups. So we had way too much food to consume. In the end it was all quite tasty.

Of course we had to stop at another tea house for Emily. You could tell this place had been around for a long time. They had aged tea (up to 50 years!), which I had no idea was a thing, along with pages and pages of different tea to try. Behind the teahouse was a small zen park that we walked through. 

Here are some random photos on our many walks around the city.

For dinner, we tried the (self proclaimed) “crispiest shrimp rolls in Tainan”. They were delicious. And ended the night at another night market, Wusheng Night Market. It was almost exactly the same as the nights prior with even some of the same vendors. 

Taipei

And now for the main event!

Throughout our trip we knew we had Taipei to look forward to at the end. And boy it did not disappoint. Our initial impressions of Taipei: It’s a huge city with efficient transit that allows you to travel to all areas of the city and beyond; the streets are clean and the smell of food fills the air; and craft beer is literally everywhere. Compared to Thailand, it felt like a city from the future. 

We took the high speed train from Tainan to Taipei. The train itself was nicer than the others we had taken but it was a bit more expensive and only got us to our destination about half an hour faster. 

Upon our arrival in Taipei, Emily had arranged to meet up with some friends from Seattle. The couple, Becky and Kirk, were visiting their daughter in Taipei for the holidays. It was a crazy coincidence that we were both in Taiwan at the time, and even more amazing that our schedules lined up for about half a day.

We made a quick stop for some amazing pizza and enjoyed local craft beer. Then we took the opportunity to meet up with them at a cafe near our hotel. Emily enjoyed catching up with them about teaching during Covid and we both enjoyed exchanging travel stories. 

The first night in Taipei ended with dinner at an Indian restaurant that blew us away. 

We made sure to accomplish a lot on our first full day in the city.

We took the MRT (city train system) north to Beitou district. This area is known for their many natural hot springs. We started by checking out the hot springs museum! 

We found a hotel that had family friendly hot springs, since most hot springs are nude and gender segregated. The entrance fee was only $15 for a day pass with access to 9 different pools and tubs. Some hot, some hotter, and some cold. We spent several hours going in and out of each of them. It was quite relaxing and since we went early in the morning, we had most of the pools to ourselves. 

For the price, views, and overall experience, it was a great way to start our time in Taipei. 

Having spent several hours there, we definitely worked up an appetite. Before finding a place for lunch I wanted to take advantage of all the bakeries and almond croissants I do not easily find in Thailand. I was in love. They had amazing baked goods and very delicious almond croissants. We even tried a hazelnut and a pecan croissant!

Did we have a sugar rush? Yes. 

Later that evening we made a spur of the moment decision to do a night hike up Elephant Mountain for a beautiful view of the city lights at night. 

While the hike is short, about 20-30 minutes to arrive near the top, it is all relentless steep stairs. It was very cool to be doing a night hike in the city. It was definitely a place people went at all hours of the day/night. The view was incredible. The top of Taipei 101 went in and out of the clouds since it is so tall and it was a dreary evening. 

Because there wasn’t a clear end to the trail, (and in fact the trail sprouted into many other trails that would go on for kilometers) we ended up following a loop to get us back to where we started. The loop connected us back to the main trail, thankfully, but there were parts without lights and the maps were a bit confusing. The trail itself is worth it, but bring a light source if you go at night. 

On our way back we walked next to Taipei 101 and went to a Night Market. 

The next day was New Years Eve and since my feet were killing me from all the traveling and walking around, I decided to take the morning to rest while Emily went on a tea adventure. 

My Tea Adventure by Emily

I wanted to explore around the Maokong area which was the first place people started growing tea in Taiwan. Chinese immigrants from the tea growing area, Anxi, started farming tea there. It used to be one of the largest tea growing areas in Taipei. There are lots of teahouses and hiking trails that were formerly footpaths used to transport tea. 

It was quite simple to get there from the city, and soon after an MRT ride south and a lovely gondola ride up into the mountains I was suddenly outside the city in a green, quiet tea destination. 

I walked along the main road that takes you past many tea farms and cafes. I visited the Taipei Tea Promotion Center which is a museum and education center where they research tea, work to improve the farming conditions, and create new varieties. 

There are lots of trails to explore in the area, but I decided not to do much hiking off the road because it was quite rainy and chilly.

On my way back toward the gondola station, I stopped at Found Your Tea to enjoy a pot of local jin syuan tea. Despite the dreary weather, the view was lovely and I enjoyed the cozy warm tea.

Thankfully, one of the staff at the teahouse spoke English and kindly explained the tea making process. It was similar to what the man in Yilan had showed me, but this time I understood more because my teacher spoke English. 

It starts with pouring hot water through all of the containers (teapot, tea pourer, tea cup). I think it is in part superstition because the first time through is bad luck, but it’s mostly because the temperature of the water is relative to the type of tea you are brewing. Some varieties need to be very hot (100 C) so preheating the pot is important. Once you have rinsed the tools, you steep the small teapot with the tea leaves and then pour it into another pitcher then into a tiny teacup. Depending on your preference you can steep the tea for 1-2 minutes, or less. It was a soothing and fun process to enjoy while taking in the views from my seat. 

I enjoyed my tea with some fried rice with tea leaf oil and some steamed buns. It was a relaxing drizzly afternoon. 

Later, I took the gondola back to the station and then back to the city. I continued my tea adventure in the city by walking through Chaoyang Tea Park which has several tea houses surrounding it. 

Finally, I went to buy some tea to take home at Lin Mao Sen Tea Co. The staff were friendly and they spoke English. The man who helped me was super helpful when explaining the different types of Taiwanese tea that they sold wholesale. SO MUCH TEA! It was beautiful. 

And now back to Eric…

My adventure was going to an Indonesian restaurant for lunch and having the most delicious chicken I think I have ever had. 

By this point it was New Year’s Eve. To prepare ourselves for the fireworks at Taipei 101 at midnight, we checked out the neighborhood of Ximending. We heard it was a cool neighborhood to see but honestly it was way too fancy and flashy for us. Maybe it was just because it was NYE but it felt quite bougie. We found a dive bar away from it all and bought crispy milk donuts and drank some craft beer. 

Because so many people would be viewing the fireworks near the tower, we wanted to find a place a bit farther away but with a good view to avoid all the mayhem that would ensue. 

Before the countdown we made our way to Raohe Night Market and had the most delicious buns. There was a stall at the entrance of the market that had a long queue. They stuffed the buns with scallions and meat and like naan, stuck the buns on the walls of a heating chamber. They were crunchy on the outside and piping hot on the inside. Definitely one of the best tasting things we had in Taipei. Yes, we went back in line for seconds once we explored the market. 

During our time in the city, we noticed that it was often windy and cloudy, so Taipei 101 was frequently covered. We checked the weather to see what direction the wind would be blowing to try and hopefully watch the fireworks from a good direction. We chose to watch from the north side of the tower.

After the night market, we walked down a few streets until we found a decent view of the tower. As predicted half of Taipei 101 was in the clouds, despite our idea to see it from the north.

Sadly, the fireworks were underwhelming and the clouds made it worse. It only lasted about five minutes and most of the time you couldn’t see much. When we later saw the fireworks around Bangkok and other cities, we felt duped and jealous. But… life goes on. 

To start off the new year we wanted to check out one of the most iconic spots in the city, National Chiang Kai-Shek Cultural Center. The buildings were massive!

In the plaza there was a library, concert hall, a memorial hall, a bronze statue as well as large arches. It was a great outdoor space where events can easily be held. In fact, we saw them breaking down a stage which we presume was used for a NYE event. 

The monument and memorial is in memory of Generalissimo Gian Kai-shek who was the Chinese Nationalist politician, revolutionary, and military leader. He led in China until 1949 when he fled to Taiwan after getting defeated by Mao Zedong. Inside the memorial is a museum all about the struggle and life of this leader. It was interesting to see the perspective in Taipei. 

Afterwards, we ventured to the hip neighborhood of Da’an, and snacked on some delicious scallion pancakes. This was followed by a full meal at Jin Ji Yuan. 

When we travel, we often try to find local activities to take part in. We knew that baseball is really big in Taiwan but it was their off-season. However, I knew Dwight Howard had just signed up with a professional Taiwanese basketball team so I figured it was the right season. 

We booked tickets before we left to go see the Taiwan Beer Hero Bears play against the Tainan Ghost Hawks. No, Dwight was not on either team. That said, the away team had gigantic players towering at 7’5” and 7’3” alongside players who were 5’9” on the same team. It was wild to see up close. 

While not as dazzling as an NBA game, it was a blast to watch and there were some great plays made. The Ghost Hawks led most of the game but in the last few minutes our Hero Bears caught up and exchanged the lead several times on the last possessions. The Bears did win at the last second and the crowd went nuts. It was a great game but they really should get new referees. Often fouls were not called or there were discrepancies that never really panned out. 

With one day left on our trip, we wanted to make it count. We had a list of several places we still wanted to see and eat at. We wanted to check out some parks and have a nice day. Unfortunately, none of this would play out the way we had hoped. Let me explain.

New Years Day was on a Sunday which means that it would be observed the following day, Monday. This meant that while Google says many things are open, they certainly were not. 

In addition to this holiday shut-down of almost everything, we were down to our last New Taiwan Dollars. We literally had 800NT (or about $26) left. The banks were all closed and we couldn’t find anywhere that would exchange our money. Lessons were learned that day, for sure. 

With our remaining money, we prioritized getting a Taiwanese breakfast since we had yet to do that and we heard it was a must. It was a little odd eating a cruller inside of another dough type thing with only soy milk to dip it in but the place was OPEN and poppin, so we weren’t complaining. 

The rest of the places we wanted to check out were closed or too far away to afford the trip.

So we walked to the nearest park to enjoy one last stroll before heading back to Taipei Main Station to sort out our travel plans for the following day. Later, we chilled at our hotel, using our remaining cash to buy vending machine souvenirs for ourselves and friends, and getting one last meal in before packing up.

And with that, our trip to Taiwan comes to an end. From hiking up mountains, exploring Taroko Gorge, enjoying night markets, to riding trains, eating 100s of dumplings, and watching a professional basketball game and so much more in between, we thoroughly enjoyed our adventures exploring the island. 

Taiwan is a beautiful place that has so much to offer. The people we met were amongst the friendliest of any place we have visited and we hope to visit again soon. 

Eric Wheaton
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