Taipei is a huge grey city, but you will always find some green and you are never far from the river. There are well preserved reminants of japanese colonial buildings, a lot of the housing stock is from the boom in the middle of the century and has not aged well, and the modern skyscrapers showing us what a developed economy looks like.
The most famous of all skyscrapers
Ningxia Night Market
Probably the most famous night market. It is always busy View on map
My favourite stall: Map. I had the tomato with the south Taiwan sauce — the freshness of the tomato complemented the sweetness of the sauce. The sauce has also a hint of ginger giving it an additional sour taste. I got 2 jars of this sauce, please get me another one if you make it there !
- Stinky tofu with duck blood (opposite the tomato stall) — a very Taiwanese taste. Go here if you want an original taiwanese taste. I thought a sewer had burst open, it turns out it was the tofu... It might stink but it tastes good.
- It is known for the oyster omelet. The Michelin oyster omelet had a huge queue; we went to this other stall and it was really good: Oyster omelet (map).
- Taro balls: Map
- Nostalgic Taiwanese snack with peanuts (don't bring it back to the office!): Map
Old school peanut snack
Duck block and stinky tofu
Taro ball
Unsure before the first oyster omelette
Hikes & Views
Hike up Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain). It's a short but steep hike (about 30 minutes) with awesome views of Taipei 101. It is safe to do it at night, and you will be rewarded:
For a more substantial hike accessible by public transport, try Yangmingshan (shan 山 means mountain). You can take a bus to the trailhead; there are often wild cows. It's close to Beitou so you can visit a hot spring afterwards or the National Palace Museum.
Don't get too close !
Rest area
Museums
The National Palace Museum has impressive jade stonework exhibits and a lot of porcelain. Most of the exhibits were brought in the 1940s when the goverment fled to island. Do not miss the gardens of the museum, they are very well kept. Map
Peaceful Museum gardens
Jade cabbage
Tamsui
Tamsui village is where the tamsui river meets the sea. It has a cute old street and preserved colonial buildings: Map
The highlight is cycling along the river in a dedicated lane and crossing a bridge above the mangroves — I have never seen mangroves before so of course i had to go there: Cycle route
Bike Way
Always blows my mind how good and cheap the uBike is
mangroves
Great place to watch the sunset; there are lots of small bars that serve cocktails: Sunset bars
Sunset by the river
Nightlife Areas
Area with a lot of bars:
- They prefer local ingredients, so i believe you will not find these cocktails anywhere in the world. I had the whiskey with makauy (an indegenous type of pepper) and whiskey with ozymanthus. Bar Mood
- The entrance is a fridge: The fridge bar
- Also recommended To Infinity & Beyond
Bar Mood - Classy cocktail bar
After drinking go for dou hua (豆花) — It is a traditional Taiwanese dessert. It is not too sweet, and offers a nice combination of textures. Get it with the ginger sauce in winter/ ice in summer. syrup or ginger: Dou hua (map)
Dou Hua
