I hope that in the future, you can find incredibly useful posts about Taiwan on this page. For now, perhaps read about other countries in Asia, such as Malaysia or Thailand?

Things I’d Like to Do in Taiwan

• Hitchhike a little bit on the island. I’m sure it will make sense somewhere, despite their good rail coverage
• Visit the capital Taipei. I’d love to see Taipei 101 and its mass damper; it’s one of the tallest buildings in the world and a symbol of Taiwan. Then I’d like to visit the botanical garden, some temples, and taking a short cruise on the Tamsui River. Taipei also has a great craft beer scene. It’s also possible to do some hikes in the capital area, for example in Yangmingshan National Park, or taking the Maokong Gondola up the mountains of the interior. The most interesting museums in Taipei to me are the AMA Museum, Rixing Type Foundry, Taipei Astronomical Museum, and the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum
• Take public transit across the island. Taiwan is known for being quite car-centric, but they also have metros, light rail, and high-speed rail. The long-distance railways also provide (vegetarian!) boxed meals if you include it in your ticket
• Visit some historic sites, such as Hobe Fort, Fort Zeelandia (yes, it’s of Dutch origin), one of the many heritage building train museums (e.g. Xinbeitou Historic Station), Anping Tree House, the Beinan archaeological site, the Beigang Nuomishih Bridge made of sticky rice, Hobe Fort. I’d also like to learn about the Japanese rule in Taiwan at the National Taiwan Museum
• Go hiking in the area of Yu Shan (3952masl), the highest point of the island. If up for the challenge, I’d love to climb the main peak as well. Yushan National Park is almost reachable with the Alishan Mountain Railway that starts in Chiayi
• Enjoy Taiwanese vegetarian cuisine. Taiwan has lots of vegetarian restaurants, buffets, and restaurants that also serve vegetarian food. Vegetarian dishes may be marked with a left-facing swastika, which might be a bit of a shock, at first. Taiwan also happens to be the capital of mock meat, with lots of innovation on that front and a good variety of meat/fish alternatives. Things I’d like to eat are: vegetarianized shishen soup, vegetarianized se-lóo-bah, mushroom coffin bread, Daxi dried tofu, pumpkin rice vermicelli, vegetarianized nabeyaki egg noodles, iron eggs, vegetarianized stuffed tofu skewers, vegetarian koah-pau (bao bun), turnip cake, the mock meat version of small sausage in a large sausage, dried radish omelet, hotpot, danbing for breakfast, vegetarian chháu-á-kóe, vegetarian tube rice pudding, vegetarianized bah-uân, lun-pia (popiah), stinky tofu, scallion pancake, night market taro and sweet potato, and indigenous Taiwanese foods such as mushroom alivongvong (looks like nyonya rice dumpling/ketupat) and cinavu
• Soak in a hot spring. Since Taiwan is geologically (and seismically) active, there are many around the country. Also, the fumaroles at Xiaoyoukeng (close to Taipei) look very cool to visit
• Immerse myself in the Taiwanese craft beer scene. Preliminary research looks great! Besides IPAs, I’d also like to try aboriginal millet wine, shaoxing wine, kaoliang liquor, Taiwanese whiskey, and Taiwanese grape wine
• Learn about the Taiwanese indigenous people. There are lots of places that teach about the first inhabitants, such as the Formosan Aboriginal Culture Village. It’s also sometimes possible to try native island cuisine, which is very different from most food offerings in Taiwan today. I’m especially interested in the Tao people from Ponso no Tao/Orchid Island
• Eat some sweet treats at a night market, such as suncake (the alternative to mooncake?), peanut ice cream roll, pineapple cake, taro pastry, Taiwan-produced cocoa and chocolate, wheel cake, brown sugar cake, douhua (tofu pudding), coconut bar, QQ egg, shuangbaotai, ji dan gao, and, of course, bubble tea in Taichung
• While there are many things I’d love to experience, there’s also one I’ll avoid: the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival. People intentionally launch fireworks into crowds of willing participants. As an ardent fireworks-hater, that sounds like a complete nightmare. It’s usually held in February or March in Yanshui on the west coast of Taiwan. Other things I’d love to avoid: serious earthquakes and tsunamis 🤞
• Admire some of the most wonderful lighthouses of Taiwan, such as Dongquan Lighthouse, the lighthouse at Cape Eluanbi, the new and old lighthouses on Orchid Island/Lanyu, and the (probably unattainable) Wuqiu Island Lighthouse
• Visit some serene temples, such as the Dingshan Shell Temple, Wuji Tianyuan Temple, the Eternal Spring Shrine, and the tall Ci’en Pagoda at Sun Moon Lake
• Check out some of the Eight Views of Taiwan, which are all scenic areas. Some of them have already been mentioned here, such as Cape Eluanbi and AliShan
• Go to Houtong Cat Village to pet the cats in this former mining town and drink a local craft beer. It’s reachable by train
• Visit some quirky places, such as Wanli UFO village, the high-heel church, and the rainbow family village
• Visit some remote places, such as doing a day trip to Guishan Island (hiking + urban exploring), or one of the far archipelagos, such as Matsu (with its very cool Beihai Tunnel) and Kinmen
• See some cool art installations or museums, such as the The Dome of Light, the Hsinchu City Glass Museum, and the Carton King Creative Park (carboard!)