A short but sweet trip to Taipei, Taiwan

Hey all!

So, last Friday morning I headed to Shanghai Pudong International Airport early in the morning in order to catch my flight to TAIPEI, TAIWAN. I booked this trip a few weeks back as I’ve always had a desire to visit the one and only Taiwan. It was just a short two-day trip – but it was well worth it and I had a great time. So, I arrived (short flight time of two hours) into Taipei at around 10am. It was easy and efficient to take the metro to my hostel location. I remember my first impressions of Taipei being that it was in many ways, as compared to mainland China, much more civilised and everyone on bikes/scooters wore helmets! This was great to see.

So, I dropped my stuff, got some tips from my hostel who were pretty helpful and headed out to explore some of Taipei’s main sights. I headed first to the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall; a national monument in memory of the former President of the Republic of China. It was an interesting place to visit, learn the history and appreciate the galleries of art. It was also really interesting to witness the guard changing ceremony; which is clearly taken very seriously demonstrating the importance of Chiang Kai-Shek for the Taiwanese people.

After wondering through the beautiful gardens and area, I headed towards the National History Museum and botanical gardens. The weather was hot so it felt quite exotic walking around the gardens, in which there was lots of nature, a large lake with lotus and lily pads, trees and wildlife. I spent some time wandering around here and decided to skip the museum as I was wanted to stay outdoors.

After a standard Starbucks coffee stop, I headed to the Buddhist Lungshan Temple. I must have gone at the perfect time because, even though it started to rain, the temple was mesmerising in prayer. Everyone had a small book in their hands reading a prayer in unison. It was truly beautiful, peaceful and calming. I stood there for some time just listening, respecting and embracing my surroundings. I like visiting temples for this very reason; the peaceful and calming effect they have on me. I always leave feeling revitalised and spiritually refreshed.

From here, I headed, via metro, to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall; in memory of the Republic of China’s National Father. It had many similarities with the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial, and I witnessed another guard changing ceremony here too. I also enjoyed the informative museum on Sun Yat-Sen. He was such an intellectual and influential figure, it was interesting to learn more about his life and impact.

By this time, I was pretty knackered after walking and exploring all day! I headed back to the hostel to rest a bit, before I’d meet some friends I made at the hostel, and their local Taiwanese friend for a hot pot dinner. HOT POT was tasty! I ordered the spicy one, but I must be honest and say it wasn’t spicy for me! After dinner, one of the guys I met and I decided to head to Ximen nearby for a spot of shopping and exploring. Taipei at night lights up with awesome markets, shopping and buzzing life! We wandered and found good deals on socks and jewellery – in which I bought a lot of!

So, after covering a lot of the main sights of Taipei on the Friday, on Saturday I woke up early to begin my day-trip to Juifen. I headed to Zhongxiao Fuxing metro station, exit 2 and the bus stop was right there which would take me directly to Juifen within an hour and a half! I took bus 1062 at around 7:40am and got to Juifen at about 9am. It was really convenient and it was great because I made some young, Taiwanese friends on the bus so the journey flew by!

Juifen is absolutely beautiful. Its particularly known for its old cultural street, which is very clearly sign-posted when you arrive. It’s old, historical and lovely to explore – in fact you can still kind of feel the historical Japanese influence that has largely remained unchanged. I arrived quite early, so I spent the morning on my own SOLO exploration. I used maps.me to take me to Jinguashi waterfall. It was quite a hike (about 50 mins in intense, humid head) but very worth it! Juifen was so beautiful, natural and refreshing. I arrived to the waterfall, enjoyed the views and headed back to the old street for lunch and exploring. Juifen is renowned for its gold and mining resources and the waterfall had this gold-like colour to it that has stuck in my mind.

Once I got back (after lot’s of sweat and might) to the old street, I enjoyed and embraced the vibrant atmosphere, various local delicacies, souvenirs, shopping and the like. After shopping, wandering and having some noodles for lunch, at around 12:30 I felt content and ready to return to Taipei! You can definitely spend a day in Juifen but a morning was enough for me. I took the convenient 1062 bus back to Taipei and was back by 1:30pm!

When I got back to Taipei I kept it chilled, had some black tea at a cute café and then chilled at the Songshan Culture and Creative Park. It had a cute student, artsy and unique vibe there – also a beautiful lake in which I sat by and read my book. After chilling here for a bit, I slowly walked towards Xiangshan Station whereby I’d be meeting my new Taiwanese friend for sunset later. On the way, I passed through Taipei City Hall and it was so buzzing and exciting with lot’s of dancing, music and magic shows! I enjoyed the entertainment along the way and then arrived to Xiangshan Station, to head to Elephant Mountain for sunset.

This mountain consisted of lot’s of steps but as you walked up and up it was so worth it. The view was amazing of the city! Once we got to the top, we found a nice spot to sit and enjoy. I love seeing sunset, especially as I never see it in Shanghai. We sat there for an hour, watching the sun set and then the lights come on at night. It was perfect.

Afterwards, I had some scrumptious beef noodles and my new Taiwanese friend took me to an AMAZING bubble tea place. The bubble tea was so good – the mixture of the cold milk and warmness, with the bubble sweets was so good. From here, we went to meet some other friends from the hostel at Raohe Street night market at Songshan metro station. It was so vibrant and colourful with a whoppingly beautiful Buddhist temple at its entrance. You can wander along for ages at the various foods, drinks, souvenirs, games, cultural activities and things to buy! It was the perfect end to an amazing two days in Taipei. I'd made new friends, explored a unique island, tried new foods and learned lots! 

One amazing trip ends and another begins. TOMORROW night I’ll be flying to PENANG, MALAYSIA and then SINGAPORE for Dragon Boat Festival!

I’ll be in touch!

Sabrina Xxxx