In kind of a last minute decision, I find myself potentially going to Taipei in a week from now and I’ll be staying there for a week. What are some must-sees, dos, and eats if you only have a week?
I only spent a month there, but I would say must sees are:
故宮 national palace museum
龍山寺廟 long Shan temple
孔子寺廟 Confucius temple
中正紀念堂 Chang Kai Shek memorial
國立國父紀念館 Sun yat sen memorial
象山 elephant mountain
淡水區 tan shui district
士林夜場 Shi Lin night market
貓空纜車 mao Kong gondola
Must eat:
Stinking tofu, find the dankest one possible.
Oyster noodle soup, not sure what they call it in Chinese but they have it everywhere
Beef noodle soup.
Mos burger.
Must do:
level up Chinese, make Taiwanese friends.
Use Line.
Buy Chinese books, dialect books and things hard to find in the west.
Get a seal stone with your Chinese name engraved in it.
Get a Taiwanese girl to drive you around on her scooter, I swear it will be one of the scariest experiences in your life.
Have fun, I wish I was going back in a week!
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Oh I forgot to add one of the best under must eat:
蛋餅 with the hot sauce is crazy
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Thanks! I’m hesitant about the 臭豆腐. They have it in LA and it tastes like wet horse hide IMO.
I actually have a blank seal stone, bequeathed by my late father-in-law. Maybe I should bring it to get engraved, but I don’t yet have a Chinese name (and maybe I should get on that)!
I’ve never heard of Line. Looks interesting, but I may have trouble with it because I’ve already committed myself to 简体中文。I assume this will also cause issues when looking for books?
Kind of a left field question: It’s my understanding that it will rain a lot while I’m there. I’d love to do a lot of hiking/walking, but I’m worried about my shoes getting wet. I come from the land of no rain (Los Angeles) so this is something I’ve never had to worry about before. Do you have any recommendations?
Yea, stinking tofu really isn’t my bag but it’s sort of a rights of passage over there.
As far as line goes, you can sign up in English. Everyone uses it there so when you meet people you can just add them on Line. Also, if you use t-mobile for your provider you will roam data and text for free. Plus there’s free wifi all over.
Books, you will find mostly in fan ti, but if I were you I wouldn’t let that stop you from grabbing a couple. Maybe some comics or something light. You maybe able to get some jian ti books that have imported from the mainland as well. There’s tons of awesome bookstores.
As far as rain goes, I went in October so there was only a few rainy days I was there, and the weather was humid but moderate. My guess it’s probably a lot hotter now and maybe more rain, not sure though. If I were you I’d just buy some cheap hiking boots/shoes and just be prepared to mess them up.
As far as seal stones go, there’s a guy near Taipei main station that has a cart on the street, you can get a stone and engraved for a good price. Try to do it at the beginning of your trip as I had to wait a few days for him to engrave it, he has a lot of customers apparently. There’s probably other people who can do it on the spot for you. And if you don’t have a Chinese name yet, you can also do a cool saying, chengyu or something on them as well. Maybe get someone to give you a name while your there? That would give your name a cool story.
Also, I’m going to ask my friend about this restaurant she took me to. It was literally the best food I had there and I forgot to take pictures/remember the name. All I know is it’s near gu ting station and they had the best food I had in Taipei. Reasonable prices as well. I’m gonna see if she can send me the coordinates on the map, cause if there’s anywhere you need to eat, it’s there.
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Oh and I also recommend going on conversationexchange.com and start trying to set up some language exchanges for when your there. I met all my Taipei friends from that website when I was there.
Yo here’s the location of the greatest restaurant in Taipei. Make sure to order the 雞肉飯
And cool enough it’s right next to the Taiwan Mandarin institute, maybe wanna check that out?
Haha, it’s fate. Thanks!