(Continued from Guangzhou, Shanghai)

I spent the last leg of my (Australian) summer holidays in Taiwan, which, scarily enough, is almost six months ago. Now Taiwan isn’t exactly the first place most people think to go when they’re planning their East Asian travel adventure, but Mum and I were on a mission: we were determined to reach The Source of our favourite Taiwanese soap operas. Having seen over 20 last year, this tiny island half the size of Tasmania became something akin to Mecca for us. So after finishing my studies on the mainland and our brief visit to Shanghai, we flew to Hong Kong airport (of which I retain a mortal fear after receiving two temperature checks by overzealous staff and almost missing my flight) and onwards to Chiang Kai Shek Airport, Taipei. Being somewhat excited and delusional, we had booked nothing except our accommodation, so we spent the next two weeks pretty much suiting ourselves and getting lost regularly.

You know you’re in a great place when its most famous boyband is there to welcome you at the airport

Taiwan receives virtually no Western tourism apart from people there on business, so there was something more authentic about the whole experience as we made our way through tiny streets full of food stalls, fell in love with the extraordinarily fantastic metro system, and bought exorbitant amounts of Taiwanese pop culture merchandise (we had to buy another suitcase to cart it all home).

A characteristic Taipei streetscape near our hotel

Taipei is also home to the tallest building in the world, 101 Tower. We considered going to the observation platform, but although the weather was mild, we decided there was too much mist (and pollution) to see things clearly, so we made do with taking external shots of this take-away-boxes-stacked-on-top-of-each-other behemoth.

We were also in Taipei during the parliamentary election campaign, and it was great fun walking around and being regaled by candidates perched on the roofs of 4WDs, shouting their policies and promises over the blare of patriotic music from megaphones affixed to the headlights. 

Another highly amusing facet of Taipei is its emphasis on romance and convenience stores (possibly unrelated). On our section of Linsen Rd North alone, there were six 7-Elevens and three Family Marts, and one street over was a strip of no fewer than 10 wedding photo studios (and this wasn’t even “Wedding Photo Street”!) Our hotel also doubled as a reception centre, and four days in a row we were witness to the procession of happy newlyweds and their families as we dashed for the lifts.

Even the graffiti there is adorable!

Mum was also eager to see some more rural areas of Taiwan, so we took a day trip out of Taipei on the Ping Xi railway line. Though not the prescribed destination, we spent most of the day at a place called Shi Fen (十分), which was full of suspension bridges, vegetable patches, small temples and the “Niagra Falls of Taiwan” (see below).

Mum will never let me forget the moment she said “I wish there was a place where we could sit down and eat” and this picnic table appeared. I honestly don’t remember her saying that, though

A small temple on the other side of the river

School kids on their way home

The mighty Niagra fall(s) of Taiwan is reduced to a trickle in the dry season, unfortunately

Our other detour out of Taipei was to the historic capital of Tainan. The only problem is I soon discovered that our hotel there not only had Taiwanese MTV, but also a nearby source of camembert. So you’ll understand why I didn’t get out to see much of the city.

Tainan temple devoted to the sea goddess Matsu

By the time we got back to Taipei we only had a few days left to kill, so we ate lots of yummy food, bought expensive Japanese hoodies and Taipei metro merchandise, and made one last day trip to Dan Shui (淡水), “Fresh Water”, which is a trendy seaside spot about twenty minutes out of the city. The weather was rainy and dismal, but the photos turned out well :D

Looking back at Taipei

Five storeys of Starbucks, anyone?

We also visited Da’an (大安) Forest, which was actually a park located right near a suspended freeway. They had an art exhibition on at the time, so the whole place looked like some kind of dream landscape gone wrong.

I also did some last minute posing in front of various Taiwanese idols instructing the public in all manner of things, from escalator safety to using protection.

Admittedly, I didn’t pose in front of this…it was on a billboard…

Taiwan was a very different place to what I had expected, which is rather unsurprising in hindsight. It’s an odd hybrid of American and Chinese culture, and despite its enormous population and the scale of its infrastructure, it often felt more like a sweet country town than a bustling metropolis. And I loved it.