Taiwan: Welcome to Taipei

We always said we would save a very long haul flight (I was imagining the flight to Australia, for example) until the kids were older. So I’m not sure how we ended up on a 14 hour flight to Taiwan plus two layovers, but here we are.

Thankfully, despite some dread leading up to the travel day, the flight was not nearly as bad as I imagined. It helped that we arrived in Taipei at midnight, where we could all immediately collapse into bed and begin the next day feeling a bit refreshed.

 

The island of Taiwan

Taiwan is a small island east of China and just north of the Philippines. It fits into a tiny portion of Canada (see below), yet contains half of Canada’s entire population. This puts Taiwan in the top 10 countries with the highest population density. And interestingly, most of the population is crowded into an even smaller area along the western coast as the entire middle of the island extending towards the east is composed of mountains.

Taiwan has an interesting history which reflects upon its current culture. Prior to the 1600s, it was a self-governing island, followed by some time as a colony of the Netherlands. In the late 1600s, China took control over the island and ruled it for two centuries. This ended following the Sino-Japanese War in 1895, when Japan acquired Taiwan as a colony. After Japan’s defeat in WWII, Taiwan was returned to Chinese control. When Chinese communist armies established the People’s Republic of China on the mainland, the Nationalist government fled to Taiwan, again leading to a separation.

Today, whether Taiwan is considered a part of China or not is a controversial issue. China feels it continues to hold jurisdiction over Taiwan, while many Taiwanese see themselves as a distinct and autonomous entity with their own democratic government. The two, however, remain closely connected in terms of economy and society. At present, there has been no official agreement on the reunification of these two.

The reason I note this is because there is much Japanese influence on the island, which at times feels like an interesting blend of both countries. I also mention it as Taiwan has a distinctly different feel from mainland China, some of which is political. For example, Taiwan has one of the most liberal democracies in Asia, with liberal policies on LGBTQ rights, freedom of speech and freedom of media.

 

Taiwan’s Capital City: Taipei

Taipei is the lively, bustling, sprawling capital city of Taiwan, and where we spent the first 5 days of our trip. The city feels like it spreads out forever. In fact, though we covered much ground on foot per day (over 20 000 steps), we still relied heavily on the metro to reach various sites across the city. Thankfully, the metro is impeccably clean (there are hefty fines for any eating/drinking/littering), organized (note the white lines on the ground to mark where you enter and exit), and efficient.

We arrived in late March with warm and humid weather. The temperature would reach high 20s in the daytime and low 20s in the evenings. This was perfectly pleasant for exploring. The only surprises in our day would be the rain – which was entirely unpredictable. The forecast would show a clear sky day and the radar wouldn’t show a blip, yet we’d get caught in a rainstorm completely unaware. We quickly learned not to trust the weather predictions and to leave the hotel prepared for various conditions.

 

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial

The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a grand 76-meter tall building located on a large plaza in Taipei, which also houses the National Concert Hall and National Theatre. The Memorial Hall is impressive from every angle and was built with much meaning – the blue and white colours of the hall with surrounding red flowers are meant to represent the colours of the Taiwan flag, the 89 steps leading up the hall to commemorate Kai-shek’s 89 years of age at time of death, and the eight sides of the building representing the Chinese lucky number associated with fortune and wealth.

The main hall houses a large bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek, the former first President of the Republic of China.

We mostly wandered the grounds and enjoyed the large open plaza for the kids to run around. Every hour there is an elaborate changing of the guard with twirling and throwing of guns.

 

Night markets & other food

Night markets are typically a collection of open-air street stalls which operate at night selling food, drinks and offering the occasional games. They originated from China, but have slowly evolved into a cultural phenomenon extending around the world.

The concept of the night market is for leisurely strolling and snacking. Because the space is crowded with non-stop flow of foot traffic, one must eat while walking. This naturally leads to browsing, which benefits vendors selling various goods. Snacking also means multiple purchases from multiple vendors to feel satiated, meaning no single stall can dominate all the sales.

From a tourist perspective, a night market is a fun, lively way to immerse yourself in the local culture and sample a variety of foods. On a larger scale, the night market is central to the local community and culture; it blends these with commerce, where a space can now support regional, small-scale businesses.

In Taipei, there are many night markets, some of which have evolved to be entirely for tourists. We explored the Raohe night market, which was on one single-street, making it fairly easy to navigate. The stalls sold various goods, including stinky tofu (a Taiwanese speciality), fried chicken, pepper pork buns, bubble tea and more. Our favorites were the sweet potato balls and pan-fried dumplings. Interestingly, there are several night market stalls which have received Michelin stars! As you can imagine, these always have long line-ups from those wanting to try.

 

Dihua street

Dihua Street is Taipei’s oldest commercial street, constructed in the 1850s. There are sections of the street that date back to the 1600s when Taiwan was under Dutch rule. Today, this shopping district remains functioning, with numerous stores selling things like traditional Chinese medicines and dried foods.

 

Ximending

Ximending, described as the “Harajuku of Taipei”, is a vibrant and lively district in Taipei lit with neon signs, billboards and big screens. It is full of theatres, shops and restaurants. It is also considered the centre of Taipei’s LGBQ culture, with a large rainbow crosswalk at its entrance and the location of many Pride parades.

Ximending was the first pedestrian only zone in Taipei, and remains the largest in Taiwan. It was nice to wander here with the kids without worrying too much about traffic (there is still the occasional motorcycle or car that finds its way in).

Next up, we will explore Taipei’s claim to fame: Taipei 101!