Taiwan is an island country in East Asia off the coast of southeastern mainland China. Taipei is the capital as well as the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Other major cities include *New Taipei City (map), *Kaohsiung (map), Taichung (map).
One of Taiwan’s greatest attractions is the National Palace Museum (map), which houses more than 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting, and porcelain and is considered one of the greatest collections of Chinese art and objects in the world. *Shi Lin (Shilin) Night Market (map) is often considered to be the largest and most famous night market in the city. *Bangka Lungshan Temple (map) One of the oldest temples in Taipei.
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*Tainan (map) The oldest city and once an old capital of Taiwan, the city is dotted with ancient temples, shrines and fortress. Tainan is also famous for its traditional Taiwanese cuisine and night markets.
Alishan National Scenic Area (wikivoyage, map) A mountainous natural preserve that includes vibrant wilderness, forests, four villages, waterfalls, high altitude tea plantations, and the famous Alishan Forest Railway, and several hiking trails. It is also a famous flower spotting, particularly cherry blossom, destination during spring time. Taroko Gorge (wikivoyage, map) – The 19-km-long canyon off the east coast.
Kenting National Park (wikivoyage, map) – It is famous for its beautiful beaches and lush vegetation. You should really rent a scooter to explore this region. Otherwise, it is much more hassle to see all the beautiful places, which are quite distant from each other.
Taiwan’s cuisine is very well regarded by other East Asians and the ethnic Chinese in Southeast Asia, and for many of them, the food is the primary (and sometimes only) reason to visit Taiwan. Night markets are also a good place to try some delicious local Taiwanese fare at attractive prices. Examples would be the Shilin Night Market (士林夜市, map) in Taipei and the Ruifeng Night Market (瑞豐夜市, map) in Kaohsiung. >> (*Chinese cuisine)
TRANSPORT
Taiwan High Speed Rail / Mainline trains are run by the separate Taiwan Railway Administration. Travelling by bus is generally cheaper than by train, especially for long-distance trips. >> taiwanbus.tw
Taipei’s EasyCard and Kaohsiung’s iPass are the main public transportation smart and electronic payment cards.