It's not hard to get off the beaten track in Taiwan. The last thing any fresh-off-the-plane traveler needs is to be met by a noisy hoard of tourist herders, and that's one thing the tourist doesn't find in Taiwan. It's a hearty society for the visitor—big on smiles and small on tourist scams and crime.
The relative scarcity of Western visitors in Taiwan makes for a traveler's trail that is less formalized than elsewhere. Visitors often use the same means to get around as the locals do, and those who put in a little effort will come home with stories that nobody else has heard.
Finding the Pulse
To feel Taiwan's vibe, the first places to head are the night markets. They are bustling districts where stallholders set up shop around four in the afternoon and pack up sometime after midnight. Every big city has at least one—selling clothing, pottery, jade—and, of course, there are streets and streets of various foods.
The capital, Taipei, has many markets to choose from. Jingmei to the southeast has a wide range of handmade and factory-outlet clothing. Longshan Temple is great for pottery, leather, and other ornaments. Taiwan Power Building has delicious "small eats" (siao chrr). All are only minutes from a subway station.
The goods of Taipei's biggest night market, the enormous Shilin, to the city's north might not appeal to every visitor—streets and streets of clothing for trendy teenagers. But it is worth a visit for its crowded atmosphere, along with its famous crushed-ice deserts and a fantastic underground go-kart track.
Drop In for Tea
Well worth a visit is Taipei's tea-drinking Maokong district, located on the forested mountains to the southeast. Only a 15-minute trip on the S-10 bus into the mountains from outside National Chengchi University, near Taipei Zoo, and Taipei disappears from view.
Good-quality Taiwanese or Formosan tea is among the best in the world, and similar to the West's wine culture in the depth of mastery required to produce it. The best teas are also up there with the best wines in price.
The tea houses provide full tea-brewing apparatus, including a small terracotta pot, jug and teacups, plus a kettle that boils constantly on the side. Choosing from the tea menu isn't easy if you can't speak Chinese. Two of the most popular are Srr jee choon Oolong (Four Seasons Spring Oolong), a fragrant green tea, and tie guan yin (Iron Goddess) with a stronger, woodier taste. All in all, it will cost about US$3–$6 per person, plus the cost of the tea, usually $US9–$12 for a box with plenty left to take home.
Royal Visit
Another big location for tourists and locals alike is Taipei's magnificent Imperial Palace Museum. Considered one of the 10 best museums in the world, it has one of the world's largest collections of traditional Chinese jade sculptures, paintings, bronze works, and other artifacts, carried over from China in the 1940s by the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party) as it fled from the communists during the Chinese Civil War.
And for Relaxation...
When the city's dizzying vibe gets to be too much, it's time to head for the hills. Over two-thirds of Taiwan is covered by steep, forested mountains, the highest being Jade Mountain at almost 13,200 feet. Along the east coast, mountains come out of the ocean at a steep angle and can be admired from a two-lane ocean road cut into the sheer cliff face.
The drive offers broad ocean views in between harbor towns. About 15 miles out of the eastern city of Hualien is one of the county's major natural attractions—the steep marble cliffs and pristine rivers of Taroko Gorge National Park. While a little crowded during the weekend, the area's many hiking trails remain peaceful, winding past aboriginal villages and plantations, along the side of crystal blue-green streams and dense rainforest. Earth's geological forces are captured on the cliff faces, with marble folded and pressed into colorful patterns. Other national parks such as Taiping Mountain and Jade Mountain (Yushan) offer spectacular views of the country's central mountain range and snow-capped peaks.
Sun Moon Lake in the country's central Nantou Province is another popular destination, named this way because of two interlocking lakes roughly resembling a sun and a moon. A large lake of about 2 square miles around and 2,625 feet above sea level, the water is clear and brimming with fish, and surrounding mountains and forests are largely undeveloped but for two small towns. Sun Moon Lake Village offers restaurants cooking fresh lake fish and shops selling aboriginal handicrafts, while the main town has luxury hotels and guesthouses, a tranquil wooden boardwalk along the lakeside, and plenty of good food.
The best time to visit Taiwan is in spring or autumn, before or after (but not during) the summer months of June, July, and August when frequent typhoons offer the only relief from sweltering heat and humidity. If you don't speak Chinese you may have difficulty getting around, so this traveler recommends staying at a hotel that can help you organize your side trips and cuisine.
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