Sights in Taiwan
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Dihua Market
The several blocks that make up this market are Taipei's best-preserved examples of historic architecture. Building styles range from Fujianese to baroque to modernist. The area is sometimes called 'Grocery St', and for most of the year it's thought of as a good place for buying traditional Chinese medicines and herbs, bolts of cloth and sundries. If you're lucky enough to be in Taipei for the weeks leading up to the Lunar New Year celebrations, Dihua Market's true colours shine, as the area is considered Taipei's best for traditional New Year foods, party supplies and gifts of all kinds. During these weeks, a festive spirit of bonhomie descends on the market, manifesting…
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Hsitzuwan Beach
Hsitzuwan Beach is smaller than Cijin, but it's a calmer swimming beach and is also an excellent place for hanging out and watching the sunset. We prefer it to Cijin, as it has a cool tropical feel and a lovely mountain backdrop. The beach is on the grounds of Sun Yat-sen University so the whole environment on and around the beach is clean and well maintained.
To get to the beach, take bus 224 to the Sun Yat-sen University stop and then walk through the tunnel. You see signs for the beach on the other side. There are changing rooms and showers here too, as well as a café.
Both beaches are open all year round, and kept clean all year round, though swimming is only from May…
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Lin Antai Old Homestead
This is Taipei's oldest residential building. The southern Fujian style 30-room house was built during the years 1783-87, near what is now Dunhua S Rd. It was gradually expanded as this wealthy merchant family grew. The home reached its present size in 1823.
However, the city also expanded and in the 1970s this historic home was slated to be destroyed as the road was being widened. Thankfully, public outcry saved it; the building was painstakingly dismantled and, in 1983, rebuilt on this field across from Xinsheng Park. Today the house is notable for its central courtyard, swallowtail roof and period furniture. We're not sure the Lin family would have wanted their house…
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Matsu Temple
This lively temple once served as the palace of Ning Jin, the last king of the Ming dynasty. If you wish to confirm visually that a king's status is lower than an emperor's, count the steps to the shrine. There are only seven; an emperor would get nine.
Matsu is the most popular folk deity in Taiwan, with over 500 temples dedicated to her around the island. Some features to note at this particular temple (besides the nicely detailed wood carvings and paintings) include the 300-year-old Matsu statue, and, in the back, the shrine to Matsu's parents, in an area that used to be King Ning Jin's bedroom. Look up and you'll see the roof beam where the king's concubines hanged…
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Official God of War Temple
This is the oldest and most impressive temple in Taiwan dedicated to Guan Di (Guan Gong), a Han-dynasty general deified as a patron of warriors and those who live by a code of honour.
The temple's overall size and structure were established in 1690, although much splendid artwork and many historically valuable objects have been added over the years. For us, the long, deep-rose-coloured walls of this temple have always been one of its highlights. Other interesting features to note are the beggar seats built into the doorframe (so that the poor could beg alms from every visitor), the high threshold at the entrance (originally designed to keep women out!), and the…
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Eternal Golden Castle
Like many famous sights around Tainan, this fort goes by different names: Erkunshen Cannon Fort, Anping Big Cannon Fort and Eternal Golden Castle. The fortress was built in 1876 to shore up Taiwan's defences against the Japanese threat.
Not much remains of the original fortress; oddly, though, the intact arched front gate was built with bricks pilfered from Anping Fort. The reconstructed fort and the cannons make for good photo ops. It's possible now, and recommended, to walk to the castle from the other sights in Anping.
City buses 2 and 14 stop at the castle, as does tour bus 88. You can walk from Anping St along the harbour in about 30 minutes.
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Wufei Temple
When Koxinga's grandson surrendered to the Manchus in 1683, all hope of restoring the Ming dynasty ended. King Ning Jin, the last contender for the Ming throne, knew his time was up. However, before he committed suicide, he urged his concubines to 'get thee to a nunnery'. The concubines refused, claiming their honour was as important as the king's, and hanged themselves on a roof beam in the bedroom of his palace. The palace is now the shrine to Matsu's parents at the Matsu Temple and the beam is still in place.
The dainty Wufei Temple was constructed in the concubines' honour and now sits in a 2000-sq-metre garden park off Wufei Rd. Note that the real tombs of the…
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Kaohsiung Harbour
The opening of the harbour to the public is still a work in progress, but down by Pier 12 (the Love Pier), Gushan Ferry Pier (渡船站) and Fisherman's Wharf (高雄港漁人碼頭; Gāoxióng Gǎng Yúrén Mǎtóu) you'll find walkways, bike paths, cafes and beer gardens. Check at the train station visitor centre about harbour cruises.
The Pier-2 Art District (駁二藝術特區; Bóèr Yìshù Tèqū) is an old warehouse area that was renovated into art studios (following European and North American examples of similar urban-regeneration projects). Exhibitions and concerts are frequently held indoors and out. Check at the visitor centre for a schedule of events.
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Tien-Ho Temple
More proof that good things come in small packages, the Tien-Ho Temple seems, from the outside, but a narrow (though exceptionally ornate) storefront in the busy Ximending district. But walk through the narrow gate and you'll find one of Central Taipei's most beautiful Buddhist temples, complete with statues of Matsu, ancient Chinese generals, a bell tower and a small dragon-shaped pond filled with huge carp.
The original temple was built during the mid-Qing period and demolished during the last years of Japanese rule to make way for a roadway. The current temple was built in 1948 and holds several ancient statues brought over from mainland China hundred of years ago.
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Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall
Occupying an entire city block, this hall serves as a cultural centre (concerts, performances and special events), a large public park and a museum of the life of the man considered the founder of modern China. A huge statue of Dr Sun sits in a cavernous lobby facing the park to the south. It's guarded by two implacable sentries – watch the changing of the guards (twice a day), an intricate choreography with much spinning of bayoneted rifles and precision stepping. Morning visitors practising taichi on the grounds provide another kind of choreography.
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Ximending
Like Tokyo's Ginza, Ximending is the ultraconsumerist heart of Taipei's mainstream youth culture. This eight-branched intersection dates from the Japanese era and is now chock-full of shops selling fashion, fast food, sneakers, sunglasses, scarves, Sanrio, Sony and spaghetti. If it's young and trendy, it's here. The pedestrian streets northwest of the main intersection (between Chengdu Rd and Wuchang St) is more or less the epicentre, but for the full Ximending experience you'll really want to explore the smaller alleys. It's here you'll find the edgier side of Taiwan's youth culture, the places they hang out and the stores in which they work and shop.
There are…
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Meinong Folk Village
The village is an artificial recreation of an old-fashioned neighbourhood. It's definitely touristy but you can still watch traditional crafts being made, sample Hakka pounded tea (擂茶; léi chá) and other tasty traditional snacks, and purchase well-made paper umbrellas, fans and bamboo baskets.
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CKS Shilin Residence Park
Once upon a time this multifaceted botanical garden was part of the sprawling estate of Generalissimo and Mrs Chiang Kai-shek. They ruled the gardens with an iron hand, overseeing the pruning, weeding and other daily gardening tasks from their palatial home overlooking the estates, all the while dreaming of their inevitable triumphant retaking of mainland China. When the Generalissimo died, Madame Chiang (who never cared much for Taiwan), wasted no time in moving her official residence to America. For decades the estate and the surrounding gardens were closed to the public.
In the late 1990s, then-mayor (later president, later still prisoner) Chen Shui-bian decided to turn…
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City God Temple
The city god (Chenghuang), officially the Lord of Walls and Moats, and protector of towns, also tallies this life's good and bad deeds after we die. Hence it is not unusual that his image appears in the Dongyue Temple, dedicated to the underworld, nor that these two temples sit in close proximity to each other.
When you enter the City God Temple, look up for the two large abacuses used to calculate whether you have done more good than bad in life. And check out the gold scripted plaque: it translates roughly as 'You've come at last', meaning death escapes no one.
In the worship hall look for pink slips of paper on the altar. They're from students asking for help to pass an…
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Botanical Gardens
A beautiful oasis in Taipei's funky west side, this park has greenhouses featuring a vast variety of lush plants, literature- and Chinese-zodiac-themed gardens and a marvellous lotus pond. Taipei's Botanical Gardens are also considered one of the best places in the world to see the rare Malaysian night heron, making the park a major stop on foreign birding tours. That such a rare bird can be seen so close to, let alone inside, a major urban centre is quite amazing, or so our twitcher friends tell us. The Botanical Gardens are where you'll find the National Museum of History. Housed in an elegant Japanese-era building, Taiwan's first museum is still an anchor of local arts…
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Cijin Island
The island makes for a pleasant half-day trip from the mainland. Attractions include the seafood street (hǎichǎn jiē), a centuries-old Matsu Temple (Tiānhoù Gōng) with excellent relief and pillar carvings, and an old lighthouse with great views over the ocean and harbour. There's also a long sandy beach where you can swim in summer (there are free changing rooms and showers) and stroll in winter (the city keeps it clean all year round, a rarity in Taiwan).
To reach the island, take bus 248 to the ferry terminal. The ferry (around NT$10, five minutes) runs every five minutes.
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Lady Linshui's Temple
For generations, women have come to this temple to ask Lady Linshui to protect their children. This is demanding work and the goddess employs 36 assistants (three for each month), whose statuettes can be seen in little glass vaults around the inside walls of the temple.
In addition to offerings of incense, you'll often see flowers, face powder and make-up left at the temple. If you are extremely lucky you might see the unique southern-temple spectacle associated with Lady Linshui called the Twelve Grannies Parade.
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Ciyou Temple
Right across from Songshan railway station, the Ciyou Temple is dedicated to the goddess Matsu and is one of the oldest in the city. But Ciyou temple has another thing going for it besides age; noise. Specifically, on the day of Matsu's birthday, when the temple is said to hold the loudest, most colourful birthday celebrations in Taiwan, resplendent with gongs, music and firecrackers.
If you see us at Ciyou temple during the festival, don't bother yelling. We might see you at Ciyou, but we won't be able to hear you or anything else for the rest of the day, for that matter.
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National Taiwan Science Education Centre
Interactive exhibits at this children's museum cover the gamut of scientific knowledge, from anatomy (a walk-through digestive tract!) to zoology (a cat-head-shaped helmet that gives the wearer feline hearing powers). Though the NTSEC is not fully bilingual, museum staff have gone to great lengths to include enough English content to make the whole museum accessible to non-Chinese speakers.
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Altar of Heaven
Have you had a run of bad luck lately? Then visit this temple and pray to the supreme Taoist entity, the Jade Emperor (Lord of Heaven), to help you out. Tainan families have been doing this for generations on the 1st and 15th of every month.
The temple is noteworthy for two things. First, it has no statue of the god as the original temple was established as a temporary measure – 300 years ago! Second, there's a famous Yī (One) inscription over the altar that signifies there is only one true way for heaven and earth: humanity and righteousness.
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Love River
Some have compared Kaohsiung's Love River to Shanghai's Bund – only a whole lot cleaner! It's a bit of a stretch (except the clean part) but this once open sewer certainly has seen a remarkable transformation in recent years. The waters flow clean, and the bank-side promenades with their benches, shady trees and outdoor cafes are popular hangouts for both locals and visitors.
You can cruise along the river day and night (20-minute boat rides are NT$80, and run from 4pm to 11pm). Boats leave often and are usually full on weekends.
Just back from the river is the wonderful Municipal Film Archives, where you can enjoy on-site private and public viewings of the archives'…
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Dongyue Temple
People often come to this temple to communicate with the dead through spirit mediums. It's a fascinating place to catch a glimpse of Taiwanese folk culture.
The first chamber of the temple holds the city god, Chenghuang; the second, Zizang Wang, the Buddhist king of the underworld; the last, a number of demon gods who rule the underworld.
The disturbing yet fascinatingly grim murals on the walls of the second chamber are as graphic as the depictions of hell by Hieronymus Bosch: there are disembowelments, eye gougings, stabbings, boilings and so much more.
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Taipei Children's Art Museum
Opened in 2003, this highly interactive children's museum was designed specifically to encourage children to participate in the creation of art. The museum features life-sized walk-through panoramas painted in the styles of various famous artists, as well as galleries featuring artwork done by children themselves.
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National Museum of Natural Science
This was Taiwan's first museum of science and though lacking English explanations (except for display titles) it's still worth visiting for the visually interesting dioramas, models and exhibitions. Children usually thoroughly enjoy themselves here, especially when they see the life-size dinosaur skeletons and the moving (and roaring) dinosaur automatons.
The museum is divided into various buildings, or centres, most of which have their own entrance charges. The Byzantine fee structure is explained in English at the ticket window.
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Art Street
Here's another road chock-a-block full of cafés, restaurants and shops - this one with the atmosphere of an alternative city-centre neighbourhood. Art St is northwest of the centre.
To get there, take Taichung Bus 88 or 103 and get off at Tunghai University. Spend a little time walking around the nicely landscaped campus and then walk up the hill a few blocks until you come to a big intersection with an overpass. Turn right and walk a few more blocks until you see a 7-Eleven. Turn left and you are on Art St.
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