Discovering Taipei on Foot

By Scott Weaver

In Discovering Taipei on Foot, author Scott Weaver and photographer Chris Stowers draw on their combined 50+ years of living in Taiwan to lead travelers on nine tours through the city and nearby locations. From Fort San Domingo in the north, to Bangka in the west, and 44 Village in the southwest, this guide walks visitors through the varied facets of this interesting and historic city, and a true Asian economic and democratic success story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Scott Weaver
• Release date: Mar 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9789574397143

Book preview

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ABOUT THE COVER

This photo from the Red Fort in Tamsui highlights the many armies and political systems that have struggled for control of this strategic part of our beautiful island of Taiwan. In chronological order, these flags are from the Spanish Empire, the Dutch Empire, the Ming Dynasty, the Qing Dynasty, the British Empire, the Empire of Japan, Australia, the United States, and the Republic of China (ROC). Taiwan is still officially called the ROC, but in general people simply call it Taiwan these days. The situation is complicated, as is indicated by all of those flags!

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We want to thank all of the people who have made us feel so welcome in Taiwan all of these years, helped us learn about our adopted home, and given us great encouragement. To name but a few, much thanks to Don Shapiro, Gary Melyan, Jim Cumming, Earl Wieman, Phil Dion, and Taiwan Business TOPICS.

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ABOUT THE WRITER AND PHOTOGRAPHER

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Scott Weaver and Chris Stowers have lived more than a combined fifty years in Taiwan. They’ve worked together on a variety of publishing projects, including Taipei travel articles that served as the foundation for this book. Scott is originally from the United States, and Chris hails from the United Kingdom. Scott worked for many years in Taiwan’s investment banking industry. Chris has traveled to more than seventy countries and photographed, among many other books, the Insight Guides to Taiwan and Taipei City.

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PREFACE

As of this writing, Taiwan and the world are in the midst of a pandemic. So why did we write a tour book now? There are two answers. First, one day the pandemic will ease, and foreign visitors will once again be warmly welcomed to Taiwan. We hope this book will serve as a useful guide for future visitors. Second, we hope this book will broaden and deepen the world’s understanding of the beautiful and fascinating land of Taiwan and its twenty-three million people. The visitor hours of many places are currently affected by a COVID-related measures; we hope that Taiwan can soon welcome visitors from around the world to her beautiful shores.

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INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Taipei! This is the type of warm welcome you’ll often receive when traveling through this city of roughly seven million residents, the largest city in Taiwan. You’ll quickly discover its small-town feel. Taipei is a convenient city that is rich in history and culture and filled with friendly people. Food offerings are numerous, although not everything will look familiar.

Our goal is to help the reader discover Taipei and, in a broader sense, Taiwan via a series of walking tours through some of its most interesting areas. We’ve also included a couple of tours, Keelung and the historic Pingxi rail line, which are a bit outside of Taipei.

Taipei features a very convenient and comprehensive transportation system. People are very helpful in terms of assisting those who appear a little lost or confused. To help them help you, we’ve included Chinese characters along the way. People will have a much better understanding of where you are trying to go if they can see the destination in Chinese. Also, perhaps this will help you pick up a little Chinese along the way, which is another part of the fun of visiting Taiwan. Once again, welcome (huānyíng) to Taipei!

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TIPS FOR TRAVELERS

Taiwan is a convenient place for travel, but we hope the following tips will help you navigate Taipei more easily.

Getting Around

Taipei’s key mode of transport is the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) System. It currently includes six major lines: red, blue, green, orange, brown and yellow. In Chinese, the MRT is called the jié yùn (捷運), and an MRT station is called a jié yùn zhàn (捷運站).

Although foreigners tend to describe the lines by their colors, locals tend to use the terminal stations. Here are the five lines presented in that format:

1. Red Line: Tamsui-Xinyi Line

2. Blue Line: Bannan Line

3. Green Line: Songshan-Xindian Line

4. Orange Line: Zhonghe-Xinlu Line

5. Brown Line: Wenhu Line

6. Yellow Line: Circular Line

Taxis are also a very attractive option for going from place to place in Taipei. A red light indicates a taxi is available. The drivers tend not to speak much English, so it can be very helpful to have the Chinese name or address of your destination on hand.

One more taxi-related tip: Although language books often teach one how to say, Take me to in Chinese, leave this part out. It tends only to confuse things. The taxi driver knows that you want to go somewhere, so keep it as simple as possible. Just say the name of the venue, its address, or the street intersection. People tend to use a street intersection to give the driver a good idea of the destination.

Addresses

Taipei’s address structure in Chinese begins with the street name and then works down to more detail from there. A lane number will fall in between the building numbers on either side. For example, Lane 30 would likely fall between the buildings numbered #28 and #32 on the street. We’ve used the Chinese structure for our addresses, as we believe it is easier to follow. We’ve included Chinese addresses along the way when we think they might be helpful.

Getting Help

If you look very lost, someone will often come up to ask if you need help. People tend to be quite friendly and helpful. Also, Taiwan has a toll-free Tourist Hotline, which is 0800-011-765. They offer assistance in several languages 24 hours a day. They once helped me retrieve my GPS when I accidentally left it on a bus.

Money and Change

The currency in Taiwan is the New Taiwan Dollar (NT$). Although credit cards are commonly used, many smaller venues still tend to use cash. ATMs are widely available in Taiwan, but Taiwan doesn’t have the small retail currency exchange shops you find in some parts of Asia. Currency exchange can be conducted at airports, banks, and your hotel.

Taipei offers a very useful pre-paid cash card called the Easycard. In Chinese it’s called the yōu yóu kǎ (悠遊卡), or Yoyo card. You can purchase a card at all MRT stations and convenience stores.

Tipping generally isn’t very common in Taiwan. Some restaurants add a 15 percent service charge. If there isn’t a service charge, generally people will leave some of the change as a tip.

Also keep small change on hand, especially NT$100 bills. You’ll find convenience stores everywhere in Taiwan, and if you want to break your NT$1,000 bill, you can do it by making a small purchase at one of these stores, such as a 7-Eleven.

Socializing

Name Cards

Exchanging name cards is not nearly as common as it was before the day of mobile phones, but it’s still nice to have a few on hand. This is especially true in more formal situations. Taiwanese use the card to break the