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The historic core of Taipei is just a tiny corner of the modern metropolis, in a section known as Wanhua, southwest of Taipei Main Station, near the Danshui River. The city spreads out from here, mostly to the east and north.
Central contemporary Taipei is constructed on a grid, with major streets running east-west and north-south. Taipei breaks these major streets up by direction (eg east and west) and then into sections numbered according to the distance from the central axis (Sec 1, Sec 2 etc). Zhongshan Rd forms the central Y-axis, and a combination of Civil Blvd and Bade Rd makes the central X-axis.
Taipei also has numbered 'lanes', which generally run perpendicular to the main streets. Major sights, hotels and restaurants are located along the main streets, but for more intimate places you'll probably find yourself in the lanes. A typical address is 5 Lane 260, Guangfu S Rd. Lane 260 is where 260 would be if it were a building, and 5 indicates the building number within the lane.
Alleys are to lanes as lanes are to streets: it sounds complicated, but it's actually quite logical.
Taipei proper is divided into 12 districts (Zhongshan, Xinyi, Beitou etc). Occasionally the names also correspond to districts of interest to visitors, but usually they're most useful as parts of postal addresses. More than likely, however, visitors will concentrate on neighbourhoods within these districts, notably Dinghao (east of the city centre), Shida (the university district to the south), Shilin and Tianmu (to the north) and the mountain Yangmingshan, which dominates the northern city limits.
Getting There
Taipei's C.K.S International Airport is well-served by international flights. All Asian countries have flights to Taipei, with many inter-continental flights touching down in the capital as well. It's worth remembering that many international airlines change their names in Taipei so as not to 'offend' the Chinese, for example British Airways becomes British Asia Airways and Japan Airlines becomes Japan Asia Airlines.
Taipei has an extensive city and regional bus service, based around four major bus terminals (the city government is trying to get them all into one terminal, which makes it a little confusing). If you're travelling to other parts of Taiwan, the service is stunning; 111 buses make the two and a half hour trip to Taichung each day, for example. There are even night buses that are great for going to Kenting or Taidong. You can sleep and arrive in the south in the early morning. The train network is also comprehensive, though a little more expensive.
Getting Around
With Taipei's airport on the northeastern fringe of the city area, getting to town is easy and relatively cheap. Taxis are available at the airport, though the drivers rarely speak English - it's a good idea to have your destination written in Chinese on cards. Driving in Taipei is hectic at the best of times. Unless you've been there six months, it's best to let someone else do the driving.
The MRT (Metropolitan Rapid Transit) system was Taiwan's first urban mass-transit system. The half dozen lines work well, the system is seldom overcrowded and it's inexpensive. Trains run every four to seven minutes from about to .
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