telljo
We arrived in Taipei at 11:30 AM. Naturally, the first priority was lunch. Immigration, customs etc were all very straightforward, an added bonus of traveling by plane. I was already dreaming about noodles. We did the usual jobs associated with arriving in a new country - SIM cards, cash out, get transport cards etc. Again, much easier at an airport. Finally, once all the jobs were done, we found the food court! It was busy, and the options were vast. We immediately gravitated towards noodles and found ourselves both with a steaming bowl of goodness in front of us, chopsticks and soup spoon in hand. Oh how we had missed this!! We were taking in everything around us - the people were much more reserved in manner than China, yet it lacked the total restraint Josh had experienced in Japan. The food options reminded me of South Korea, with lots of side dishes, many pickled. Immediately we were comparing, contrasting, evaluating against the other places we had been. It’s hard not to, especially in a place you don’t know so much about.
To be honest, our prior knowledge of Taiwan was limited. It was a place we hadn’t even considered visiting last year, as passenger sea travel between Taiwan and China is currently impossible. We had met a few people who had visited Taiwan and loved it, and it seemed like a missing piece in our understanding of the complex history of the region. We’d heard about the amazing food, and we found cheap flights from Denpasar to Taipei (less than $250 NZD each!). We also knew we wanted to go back to neighboring China, so visiting felt like a no brainer. The lead up to this trip had been quite busy with both family and friends in Lombok, so we arrived without much of a solid plan. Regardless, we were both so excited to be back on the road adventuring again.
We left the airport and made our way into town on the MRT. It was easy to navigate with lots of English signage. With only one transfer needed we made it to our hostel easily, conveniently located underneath the iconic Taipei 101 building. And oh boy were we back to traveling! We were staying in a pod style hostel, where we had one double bed in a room of about 20. It sounds bad, but once we were tucked up in our pod it was very dark, and people were generally very respectful about noise. Still, it’s a bit of a hit when the same price (about $50 NZD), would get you a beautiful private room with a pool in Indonesia!! We were exhausted after our night of travel, so tucked up for an afternoon nap before the exploring began.
Taipei is famous for its night markets, and we experienced a few during our short stay in the city. Usually a stretch of road is blocked off from traffic, and at night is lined by small street carts cooking up a storm from portable kitchens. The area is usually adorned with bright signage, plastic chairs, metal tables and roofs made of tarpaulins to keep out the inevitable rain. Some of the delicacies were familiar, like Taiwanese takes on sushi, and some were far out of our comfort zone, like fish intestines. Usually the sides of the road were also filled with restaurants, a little more established than the stalls in the middle. We stalked the streets for Michelin guide stalls, particular dishes that had been recommended to us, and always followed the crowds. It’s not foolproof - sometimes the long line can just mean Instagram hype, but we tend to find the busier places are busy for a reason. One of our favorite night market dishes was Guo Bao (what we would call a Bao Bun at any Asian Fusion restaurant at home). The bun was soft and light and the pork meat so juicy and just falling apart. We also enjoyed oysters omelet, clams, fried chicken, pork rice and other goodies. Part of the joy of the markets is just walking around and observing, as there’s only so much space in two stomachs, even ours which are very well trained to enjoy good food! On our first night out we got caught in an absolute downpour, which we later found out was the result of Typhoon Mekkhala, which was going along the coast en-route to Japan. Thankfully it wasn’t making landfall in Taiwan, but we were definitely feeling its impact, with some more serious flooding in the south of the island. The rain was some of the most torrential I have ever experienced, hitting the tops of cars and bouncing back so forcefully it looked like it was going in both directions! The rain continued for most of our time in Taipei, but not always so intensely as that first night market storm.
Prior to coming to Taiwan, the piece of its history I was most familiar with was the fact that the Nationalist Kuomintang party (KMT), led by Chiang Kai-shek, had fled here after they lost the civil war to the Communists in China in the 1940s. There is a lot more to the history of this island, starting with its indigenous people (original ancestors of the Maori people, thousands of years ago), colonization by the Dutch, multiple rounds of migration from China, colonization by the Japanese, the arrival of, and authoritative rule of, Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT and then more recently the journey to democracy. If you are interested in the history of Taiwan, Josh and I both highly recommend the podcast ‘The many lives of Taiwan’ by Search Engine podcast. It also outlines Taiwan’s (essential) role in today's technology economy, and how its industry developed to get to this point.
When the KMT fled Mainland China, they brought a lot of historical artifacts with them, supposedly to protect them from damage in the civil war, and build the KMT’s legitimacy as the true cultural and political successors of thousands of years of Chinese civilization. In retrospect, it is very fortunate these pieces were brought here, as many likely wouldn’t have survived the cultural revolution under Mao. A lot of these today are housed at the Palace Museum in Taipei, where we thoroughly enjoyed hiding from the rain. The highlight for me was the Tibetan Dragon Canon (Longzangjing) commissioned by 1669 during the reign of the Qing dynasty. It is an incredible example of Tibetan transcription of sutras, gold embossed ink on leaves of unique Tibetan Blue ‘Ciqing’ Paper. There was another gallery full of incredible buddhist statues and art. We of course also saw the jade cabbage, but, sadly, the infamous meat rock was away “on a work trip”.
Another important site in Taipei is the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, also layered in complex history. Taiwan has done a thorough job of removing authoritarian monuments, they have eliminated nearly 70% of their Chiang Kai-shek related statues, yet this one remains. The hall was completed in 1980 as a symbol of autocracy, but quickly became an epicenter of the popular struggle against authoritarianism and of Taiwan’s march towards democracy. In the same vein, our favorite part of the whole area was the exhibition housed underneath the hall titled “Flowers of Freedom”. It outlined Taiwan’s democratization experience, showcasing their road to freedom and prosperity. It left us both very emotional and incredibly grateful we were born into a country where democracy, freedom of speech and a government that (mostly) works in the best interests of its people has always felt like a given. A quote from the exhibit stayed with us; “Freedom is neither a gift bestowed from above nor a right that remains forever.” It has been a long and complex road for the Taiwanese people, and it could very well continue to be in the face of current global geo-politics.
Throughout our whole journey we have taken a keen interest in religion which here in Taiwan is fascinating. Most Taiwanese practise a unique mix of Buddhism, Taoism and folk religions, while Confucianism has played a key role in the development of their education systems. The temples here are lively, living places of worship. The smell of incense, clack of the moon blocks and fortune sticks and tables of offerings are testament to the active role religion plays in this country. As always, the architecture, art, carvings, altars and deities are ornate, colorful and awe-inspiring. One of the major temples in the city is located in an old part of town, and just a few streets away you are thick in market areas that are slightly less savory - prostitutes, fortune tellers, gambling and back alley markets selling god knows what. However it was in this area we saw many old men playing old school arcade games - tetris, pinball etc. Quite wholesome we thought! At another temple we stumbled across a parade, with a whole variety of music and dance. We saw it a few hours later in a totally different part of town still going!
Taiwan today is a modern, bustling metropolis and the trendy, upscale neighborhoods were on par with any we visited in Shanghai or Seoul. With coffee prices to match - we paid up to $9 NZD for one coffee. Lots of cool shops, cafes, restaurants and bars. We were at a dive bar / izakaya spot in one of these neighbourhoods when we met a couple from Wales. Dylan is here for six months for work, and yup, you guessed it, he works in the semiconductor industry! This sector makes up roughly three quarters of national exports, and was responsible for the 8% growth in Taiwan’s economy in 2025. It was fascinating talking to someone working in this globally significant industry, although he declined to give us a tour of a TSMC factory!!
Our three nights in Taipei sped by and before long we were at the train station getting ready to depart to Tainan. The station wasn’t as “flashy” as those we regularly frequented in China, but the train itself was really great - clean, spacious and fast, and we weren’t even on the high speed rail. We realized we had spent a lot of time comparing Taiwan to China, Japan or South Korea… but by the time we left the capital we had really truly been reminded that Taiwan is its own place with its own unique identity and culture, not a place to be defined by its neighbours.
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