If you’re planning a trip to Taiwan for the first time, there are several areas worth visiting to get the most out of your trip. While there are several beautiful historic areas, the following are my personal favorites for traveling to Taipei. Feel free to use this as a kind of personal Taipei travel guide when planning your Taipei vacation.

  • Taipei 101

We start our tour of Taipei at Taipei 101. This is a skyscraper located in the Xinyi district. In 2004, it was listed as the tallest building in the world at 1,671 feet. It held that title for 6 years until Burj Khalifa in Dubai dwarfed Taipei 101 in 2010. The tower boasts 101 floors and features an open-air observation deck on the 91st floor like the Empire State Building in New York City. York, where beautiful views of the surrounding areas can be seen.

The lower five floors of Taipei 101 feature a luxury shopping mall with exclusive stores like Burberry and Louis Vuitton. In the 88th floor indoor observatory, you can see the 730-ton mass damper, basically a giant ball that acts like a pendulum to counteract the swaying of buildings during high winds. Without this shock absorber, people on high floors can suffer from dizziness due to the constant rocking of the building! Taipei 101 is a city icon that is visible from miles away from the city. Every New Year, Taipei 101 attracts tens of thousands of visitors to see its spectacular fireworks display.

  • ximiendo purchases

If you like shopping, you can’t go wrong with Ximending. This is the commercial area of ​​Taipei’s Wanhua District and is considered the fashion capital of Taiwan. On weekends, the streets of Ximending are closed to traffic and become a pedestrian mall. The area is popular with street performers of all kinds, and because it’s a hotspot, you can see celebrities hosting small outdoor concerts, album releases, and other events.

Ximending is also famous for its “Theater Street”, where there is a concentration of various movies along Wuchang Street. However, for history buffs, the most famous theater in the district is the Red House Theatre, which was built in 1908 during the Japanese occupation and is still a working theater with regular performances.

  • yangmingshan national park

If beautiful views are what you expect when you travel, then I cannot recommend Yangmingshan highly enough. It is the largest nature park in Taipei. Yangmingshan is great for hiking and has numerous trails that can take a whole day or just a couple of hours. Popular trails include Seven Stars Peak, which will take you to Taipei’s highest peak at 3,600 feet (1,120 meters) or see the impressive waterfall of the Juansi Waterfall Trail.

Every February to March, Yangmingshan is the site of the Yangmingshan Flower Festival, when various varieties of flowers, such as azaleas, camellias, and especially cherry blossoms, reach their peak of bloom. Every night of the festival, the cherry blossom trees are lit up for a particularly romantic sight. Visitors can also have lunch and dinner at one of the many restaurants such as The Top or Grass Mountain Chateau for spectacular views of Taipei below.

Between the beauty of cherry blossoms and views of the city, Yangmingshan is a well-known romantic spot for lovers all over Taipei. From April through May, when the lilies reach full bloom, you can pick your own lily flowers for just a few dollars at one of several flower farms.

Finally, don’t miss Yangming Shuwu, also known as Yangming Villa, the beautiful summer retreat of the late President Chiang Kai-shek. The house and gardens of Yangming Villa remain as they were when occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Chiang. The house is a two-story traditional Chinese house, with reception rooms and offices on the first floor and Chiang’s personal residence on the second floor where his personal paintings and photographs are still on display. The gardens are especially beautiful in the spring when the flowers are in bloom. As a curiosity, it has been observed that various bushes are planted in groups of five, to symbolize General Chiang’s “5-star” rank.

  • National Palace Museum

Next, we meet at the National Palace Museum, which opened in 1965. If you love history, this is the place to be! The National Palace Museum has a massive collection of 700,000 permanent exhibits of Chinese imperial history and artwork spanning more than 2,000 years, as well as prehistoric Chinese artifacts and artwork dating back to the Neolithic era, or better known as the “Stone age”.

The most popular item in his collection is the Jadeite Cabbage. Carved during the 19th century, it is a piece of jadeite that has been shaped to resemble a Chinese cabbage head and has a locust and grasshopper camouflaged on its leaves. Legend has it that the sculpture is a metaphor for female fertility, with the stem of white cabbage representing purity, the green leaves of cabbage representing fertility, and the insects representing children.

  • Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall

Another historically significant landmark on our walk to learn about Taiwan’s history is the Chiang Kia-shek Memorial Hall. This is a national monument that was built in honor of former ROC President Chiang Kia-shek. The monument marks the geographical and cultural center of Taipei. It is the most visited attraction by foreign tourists. The pagoda-style memorial hall has a presidential library and museum on the ground floor.

The main hall features a large seated statue of Chiang Kai-shek, much like the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC The memorial hall and surrounding Liberty Square span 60 acres and include many ponds and gardens. The square is also home to two of Taipei’s performing arts buildings, the National Theater and the National Concert Hall.

  • Beitou Hot Springs and Public Library

My favorite place to visit while in Taiwan is an area called Beitou. Beitou is a mountainous district north of Taipei City and is best known for its hot springs and magnificent public library. The mineral waters from Beitou’s many natural geothermal vents are renowned for their healing and therapeutic properties. An entire industry of hot spring baths and hotels offering aromatherapy, massage and hydrotherapy has sprung up in Beitou. There are many places where tourists can soak their feet in the hot spring stream. Be sure to visit the Museum of Hot Springs. When it was built in 1913, it was the largest public bathhouse in Asia at the time. Today, the museum offers a glimpse into the bathhouse facilities and the history of Beitou.

Next, visit the Beitou Public Library. Its wooden structure fits perfectly into its Beitou Park surroundings. Through the use of eco-friendly features and design, the library is Taiwan’s first “green” building. The library opened in 2006 and was built to reduce water and electricity use. To do this, the architects used large windows to allow natural light to enter and a roof made of solar panels to provide the electricity necessary for its operation. Additionally, the library collects rainwater to store and use to flush its toilets.

  • Tamsui Fisherman’s Wharf

Our last stopping point is Tamsui. Tamsui is on the western edge of Taipei and our favorite place was Fisherman’s Wharf. We learned that the restaurants that dot the Fisherman’s Wharf boardwalk not only offer the freshest seafood available, but also provide stunning sunset views. Fisherman’s Wharf still functions as a harbor for local fishermen and prides itself on providing a harbor for 150 boats. Our favorite walk is to cross the “Lover’s Bridge” footbridge, so named because it opened on Valentine’s Day 2003.

Its architecture resembles the masts of a sailboat. It was about a 3-minute walk across the bridge, which is magnificent at sunset. Lover’s Bridge is also a great place to see the annual fireworks show and concert that the city puts on each year to celebrate Chinese Valentine’s Day (which occurs in August and not February 14). Another way to experience Tamsui is to take a ferry from Tamsui Ferry Pier and disembark at Fisherman’s Wharf. The ferry is an inexpensive way to enjoy fabulous views of Tamsui’s waterfront. A one-way fare is just $2 USD and takes only about 15 minutes.

Although our vacation in Taiwan seems to be over in the blink of an eye, it was amazing! While there is much more to see, we think we made the most of our trips in Taipei. I hope your trip turns out to be as educational and comprehensive as ours.