Korean Job Discussion Forums

[whatever]

I'm headed with a friend to Taiwan--arriving in Taipei--for Chinese (Lunar) New Year and am having trouble finding specific info on must-see/must-do events and activities.

I'd really appreciate any advice about how to spend my time for this holiday. I'm interested in being in the city, but have no aversion to traveling elsewhere. I suppose though, I'd like to be in the center of the party, if that's possible. Not highly visible but lame events, such as Times Square in New York or Sydney Harbor on New Year's Eve, but meaningful and culturally eye-opening ones.

Having no experience at all visiting the country aside from changing planes in the airport, I am looking for progressive input. I am also curious to know if the holiday will mean closings of any important places or normal businesses.

It seems that more and more mainland Chinese are choosing Taiwan as their destination for the holiday, and I'm interested to know why.

What are the appeals of the place that shouldn't be missed and what advice would you give to your friends or family?

Thanks very muchee~

[conbon78]

I went to Taiwan last year over Lunar New Year. We weren't there on the "day of" but we were that weekend. It was fairly empty. We saw TaiPei 101, and something else, but I can't remember what. We really wanted to go see the pandas since they were new at the zoo, but the only day the zoo is closed is the day before Lunar New year. Otherwise, things seemed open. I wasn't overly impressed with Taiwan.

[reactionary]

i didn't notice a lot of must sees in taipei. get a nice hotel you'd want to hang out in during the day once you've seen the big sights - taipei 101, national museum, maybe a temple or two. then go to the night markets and eat all the great food with a tall can of beer from the 7-11. that's what i'd do if i could do it over again. i stayed at a crummy backpacker place and felt compelled to get out every morning when i'd rather have just lounged around a half decent hotel room until evening.

[whatever]

I've been researching a lot of info, but still have the following questions:

Are you aware of any good electronics markets?

Besides the hot springs area just north of the city, what other short but worthwhile day trips are there?

Where is the best nightlife, besides night markets (which will be visited, for sure), likely to be? both in general, and with regard to the holiday?

is there anything truly unique about the place, even if it's something small, that most people don't know about or you stumbled upon by accident?

are there any truly crappy tourist traps that should be avoided?

>>btw, I'll be staying with one companion basically a block from the CKS monument and a walk to the main Taipei MRT/train stn. i'm not looking for this to be a show-stopping trip, as i've already extensively travelled a great deal of the rest of Asia, just a brief break from Korea. My last trip was a second visit to Cambodia and two weeks in S. China...<<

thanks!

[aishiii]

I took a day trip to Tainan via the bullet train and looking back it was the best part of the trip. I went during Chuseok, and it was also a time of significance in Taiwan so there was a lot of interesting stuff going on in the temples in Tainan (parades, etc). I imagine the New Year would be even better.

It takes 2 hrs by train, so it's a good day trip. Taiwan's not incredible, but I still have good memories of Tainan.

There's also the gorge on the east side of the island, but when we were there trains were booked solid. Thankfully we went to Tainan instead.

[emilylovesyou]

Take the eastern coast train to Taroko Gorge and rent a scooter or a bike. Don't go with a tour group. My fiance and I rented bikes and paid for the guy to take us to the middle of the gorge, and we biked downhill from there (took about 4 hours including stopping for pictures and a tea break). It was beautiful! Definitely a great day trip.

One night go to Danshui in the north. It's right on the river and has a nice boardwalk area. Not too much night life but still nice to get out of Taipei downtown

Also there are the tea plantations in Maokong. Take the subway to Taipei Zoo and take a taxi if the cable car is closed. Along the main road there are about 40 tea houses that you can stop at and admire the views.

[aishiii]

^ I'll just add that if you decide on the gorge, book your train tickets NOW online. I'm sure if you wait until you get there, you will be out of luck like I was.