Travel tips to help you enjoy your Taiwan trip

Taiwan is a unique, and wonderful place to explore, and with these simple Taiwan Travel Tips you will be well on your way to having a great adventure. With so much to see, and do we had a real hard time selecting just a few points. So it has been decided that this piece to be edited over time, and more information will be added to improve the usefulness of this small Taiwan Travel Guide. If you take the Taiwan high speed rail system from Taipei the following areas can be visited very easily. We will concentrate on these section in our introduction for now.

First of all you have to break Taiwan into several pieces from a environment standpoint or adventure standpoint. The northern area is more Chinese in nature, and speaks mandarin fluently. The food is multi-ethnic since Taipei is an international city with visitors from around the world. The north has wonderful hot springs, and a cool northern coast for some island exploration with great seafood.

The more north central areas of Hsinchu county are more windy but have influences of north Taiwan Chinese, Hakka Chinese, and aboriginal peoples who are traditionally from the area. There are great mountains with peaks that are accessible via automobile, and hiking trails. Locals and visitors alike bike along the small roads in the countryside, and enjoy the agricultural views along the way.

Taiwan is a not a tropical island per say, and is more of a sub tropic location. So you must be prepared for the wind, cold mountains, and tropic heat in the south. Make sure to have a wind jacket if in the winter, and loose cool clothing if in the south. The food in Taiwan is great, and has a tremendous amount of unique delicacies. Stinky tofu has a really bad smell, but the taste is pretty good. So consider trying it at one of Taiwan’s famous night markets. As you travel around Taiwan please consider that the type of food will change from very traditional Chinese styles to Hakka in the Hsinchu area, and even some curry fish dishes in the south area of Tainan or Kaohsiung.

Consider going out to one of Taiwan’s islands. We really enjoyed “Green Island” with all of its great photography, nature, site seeing, and scuba diving. The traditional life still carries on there, and everyone local who lives there is super friendly. We went in winter, and had the whole island to ourselves, and then went back again in the summer, and it was very crowed but still fun. There is a rare hot spring there that is one of the very few salt water hot springs in the world.

Taiwan temples, and learning the local culture can be a very enriching experience. No matter what your religion is we still recommend that you visit a few in Taipei or another location. To truly understand who the Taiwanese are and how to interact with them knowing their culture, and religious traditions can help you on your quest for adventure. You will find the religious, and temple culture unique, and very interesting. The Grand Hotel in Taipei is very original, and a great opportunity to take some wonderful photographs,and while enjoying some of the best food in Taiwan. The hotel has several restaurants, and the buffett has rare delicacies from all over asia.

This hotel is unique and has been used for Kings, Queen, and heads of state. Even though it is getting older now the grounds, and the hotel have been maintained very well. There are also some pictures within the upstairs along the walls that give you an idea of it's history for Taiwan.
In the mountains just outside of HsinChu city Taiwan; there is a community of people from some of the aboriginal, Hakka, and others of Chinese decent. This area of HsinChu county is very rural, and has some unusual photography, market, and foodie travel opportunities. You can go here for the day or spend the night for an even better experience. We did eat in the market area, and on the hill. The food was really good, and lower cost due to the lack of tourism, and traffic.

Visit the aboriginal cultural centers in the south of Taiwan. These places will give you a great overview, and understanding of Taiwan’s aboriginal past. Some of these centers house multiple museums, and interaction with people who represent each tribe present in Taiwan today.