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FLY RIGHT TO FOOD
Fly Right to Food is a blog centered around food, travel, and sports. Highlighting food from around the world as well tasty items found at the sport stadiums I visit.
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Is The Beautiful Beitou District Worth Visiting In Taipei?
Beitou is a popular tourist destination for both international travelers and domestic travelers alike due to its famous hot springs. Located in the northernmost part of Taipei, Beitou can feel like a completely separate city than Taipei. If you need a break from the hustle and bustle of Taipei, Beitou can be just the place for you.
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The History of the Beitou District
What makes Beitou so popular and famous is its hot springs. The hot springs have long been used by whomever has occupied the area.
The aboriginal people of Taiwan whom lived in the area had long used the hot springs prior to any foreigners.
Once trade to Taiwan opened up, German merchants established a hot spring club at one point in Beitou.
The hot springs were recognized, utilized and, ultimately commericalized, during Japanese rule (1895-1945). The first hot spring hotel (Tianguan Hot Spring Hotel) was built in 1896 and the first public hot spring bath (Beitou Hot Spring Public Bath) was constructed in 1913.
Japanese rule in Taiwan ended in 1945 and was handed back to China. Beitou fell under Taipei jurisdiction in 1968. The area declined for a period of time in the 1980s before it slowly started to rebuild itself and gain popularity once again.
Today, there are over 30 hot spring resorts in the district, one of the largest concentrations of hot spring resorts in the world.
Beitou Hot Spring Museum
The Beitou Hot Spring Museum was originally built as a public bathhouse and was constructed in 1913. After Japanese rule ended in Taiwan in 1945 the building was used in a variety of different ways but was eventually abandoned. The corrosive nature of the local hot springs had taken hold of the building and done its damage. It wasn’t until 1995 when Taiwan’s Ministry of the Interior declared the building a historical site. In 1998, a major renovation of the building took place and the Beitou Hot Spring Museum was created.
This little museum is free of charge and provides the history of the hot springs in Beitou, from it’s humble beginnings to its fall, and then its restoration and rise to the popular tourist destination it has now become.
It still retains some of the original bathing rooms, which is pretty interesting to see and to learn about!
Beitou Library
Located right next to the Hot Spring Museum is the Beitou Library. The first “green” library in Taiwan, this distinctive looking building is notable for its architecture, which at a quick glance resembles a giant treehouse.
The library is adorned with a number of large windows that provides a lot of natural lighting throughout the buidling and helps to curb the use of electricity. Part of the roof is covered in solar panels which helps to store and utilize electricity for the building. The sloping roof’s drainage system is used to water the library’s plants and flush the toilets.
Since you can’t take pictures inside the library I didn’t venture in, just walked around it and checked it out. It’s a really cool looking, interesting builidng which happens to be a library.
Thermal Valley
Also known as Hell Valley, Thermal Valley, is a popular attraction in the area. It’s one of the sources that supplies the area’s hot springs. The average temperature of the water sits at a “cool” 80-100 degree celsius year round which produces a mystifying sulfur steam within the valley. There’s a nice little paved path that takes you around the valley where you can enjoy different viewpoints of the steam rising. It’s a really little walk watching the steam rise up from the depths of this blue /green spring water.
Visit A Spa Resort
If you’re visiting an area known for their hot springs then you gotta visit a spa resort right? ABSOLUTELY. There’s a wide range of spas you can visit in Beitou, ranging from the boujee and luxurious to the budget types. So it all depends on how much you’re willing to spend and what kind of experience you want to have.
I opted for more of a budget option. I really just wanted to relax for a couple hours for the experience and wasn’t looking to lounge for an entire day or even half a day. I was able to find a place that suited my needs for a reasonable cost – 1670 NTD, $51.98 USD for two hours.
It really was a perfect amount of time to relax and enjoy a nice soak at the tail end of my visit to Beitou. The water from the hot springs as one would imagine is piping hot and it’s really comforting to just relax and enjoy some peace and quiet.
Is Beitou Worth Visiting?
If you’re visiting Taipei and want to have a totally different experience then what you’ve had in the city then 100% Beitou is worth a visit. Individually, the sights are cool, especially the Thermal Valley, but none by themselves would really warrant a time-consuming trip from the center of Taipei to get to and visit. But the sights, combined with a stay at spa, make a trip to Beitou well worth it.
Even though it’s technically part of Taipei, it just doesn’t feel like Taipei at all. Just a completely different vibe, much more laid back and less hectic. You feel like you’re in a totally different city. I really enjoyed it and would consider staying there for a night or two during my next trip to Taiwan just to fully unwind and relax at one of the spa resorts.
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Is Go Dumpling A Legitimate Go To Restuarant In Taipei?
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In Taipei there is no shortage of places serving dumplings. That’s an understatement. You can find dumplings everywhere within this foodie haven of a city. It takes a special dumpling to really stand out within the city. After having spent my evening watching a Wei Chaun Dragons baseball game (a professional baseball team in Taipei) I was looking to cap my night with delicious food and stumbled upon Go Dumpling as I was walking back to my hotel.
The Go Dumpling Experience
Go Dumpling is pretty small and non-descript on a street in the Shilin District. What caught my eye was the green door, the violin menu holder (or whatever stringed instrument that may be lol), and the pig in a bowtie cutout that are all out in front of the restaurant.
Intrigued by these quirky items and colorful door and most importantly hungry, on the verge of hangry (lol), I decided to check out the menu.
There were definitely a lot of interesting items that caught my eye. The menu wasn’t huge but what they had sounded pretty tasty! There were six different sections on the menu: dumplings, noodles, soup, private home cuisine, braised dishes, and frozen dumplings. and the prices were certainly reasonable, so it was an easy choice to stop here and grab some food!
The Food
So, here’s what I ended up getting during my visit to Go Dumpling: dumplings in spicy sauce (220 NTD, $6.86 USD), hot and sour soup (50 NTD, $1.55 USD), and sesame oil noodles (50 NTD, $1.55 USD).
The Spicy Dumplings
Eating at place called Go Dumpling, it was a no-brainer to grab some dumplings here. Spicy dumplings? Sold! I liked the presentation of these. There were about six or seven of these in the bowl with finely shredded cucumber layered over the top with green onion and sesame seeds sprinkled over the top.
The dumplings were really tasty. The dough wasn’t too thick and seemed quite fresh. The meat filling was well seasoned with some green onion mixed in providing a different texture and crunch to the mix. The spicy sauce had some chili oil and sesame in it and packed a pretty decent punch. It certainly left the mouth burning a little bit, which is always the tell tale sign of a good ol’ fashioned spicy dish! The cucumber provided a nice little crunch and blended in well with the dumplings and sauce. The dumplings themselves were well coated in the spicy sauce which helped to enhance the flavor of them even more.
Hot And Sour Soup
Hot and sour soup, of course is something that’s popular world wide and isn’t some unique soup found only in Taiwan. I couldn’t recall the last time I’d had it, and being a soup lover, I thought it was a good time to get myself a bowl during my Go Dumpling visit.
This was a good sized bowl of soup and was only 50 NTD ($1.55 USD)! The soup had carrot, a couple of different types of mushrooms, egg, chicken, green onion, and tofu. Typical trimmings for a hot and sour soup.
The soup was flavorful and tangy with that familiar balance of spicy, sour, and savory flavors. After a long day of going all around Taipei this was a nice comforting bowl to sit down and enjoy. After eating a few spoonfuls I quickly remembered why I enjoyed this soup so much and questioned why I hadn’t had it in so long, lol. The complex combination of tangy, spicy, and savory flavors, the thickness of the soup broth, really makes the soup memorable, especially when it’s well-made, which this one was.
Sesame Oil Noodles
Something that I hadn’t had, but sounded simple yet tasty, was the sesame oil noodles.
It didn’t get much simpler than this dish: noodles, sesame oil, minced garlic, and some green onions, that’s it. I enjoyed this dish. It was flavorful due to the sesame oil, the noodles were thin, quite soft, and very fresh. The noodle dish overall was very, very light and would go well as a side dish with just about anything, especially a heavier kind of meal.
Final Thoughts
Go Dumpling is a solid little restaurant to grab some food if you’re in the Shilin area. It’s not necessarily a place that you’re going to go out of your way to put on your foodie list when visiting Taipei, but it’s a good option that serves some great dishes. I found the food to be well-presented and just flat out comforting. The prices are incredibly cheap which is another bonus and adds to the allure!
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Charming Wei Chuan Dragons Stadium: Is The Stadium Worth Visiting?
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If you’re a baseball fan and visiting Taipei during the CPBL season (Chinese Professional Baseball League), you have a couple of choices gto choose from in Taipei. There’s the Fubon Guardians, which I wrote about earlier, and there’s the Wei Chuan Dragons.
The Wei Chuan Dragons
The Dragons have an interesting history. They were a founding team, one of the original teams that started the CPBL. They had great success in the 90’s, winning the league in 1990, 1997, 1998, 1999. After the 1999 season it was announced the Wei Chuan Food Corporation, which owned the team, was disbanding it. It seems unprecedented and cruel to the fans, to disband a team after a season ending in a championship but that’s exactly what happened.
Fast forward 20 years: The team gets re-established in 2019 and plays as a minor league team in 2020 before rejoining the CPBL for the 2021 season. In 2023 the Dragons won the championship. They were back to their winning ways.
The Stadium
Out of all three baseball stadiums that I watched a game at, the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium was by far the best. It has a large open concourse area with everything decked out in Wei Chaun Dragons signage and displays. The team store is located right next to the ticket booth and was popping when I went to it. People were definitely buying a bunch Wei Chuan Dragons apparel, hats, and other merchandise.
Tickets were easy to purchase, I just walked right up to the ticket booth on gameday and got a ticket down the first base line for (500 NTD, $15.56 USD).
Once you walk into the stadium, there’s another concourse area with a bunch of food tents. There’s also additional food stalls inside the stadium. There’s a variety of food and snacks in general at this stadium to munch on while enjoying a Wei Chuan Dragons game.
I opted for some sweet potato balls (80 NTD, $2.49 USD) and a cup of fries with honey mustard sauce drizzled over them (135 NTD, $4.20 USD) . Of course if you wanted to, you could bring in outside food and drinks as well with no issues which also provides further food and drink options!
Walking around the stadium reminded me of a tiny Major League Baseball stadium. There’s a lot of banners, flags, lights hanging, and player portraits as well as portraits of the Wei Chuan Dragons cheerleaders hanging on the stadium pillars. It’s fun little atmosphere and definitely stood out amongst the stadiums that I visted while in Taiwan.
It’s a well cared for field and looks fantastic. With the stadium only seating about 10,500 people, it’s quite initmate as well. As with every game in the CPBL, a Wei Chuan Dragons game is a boisterous affair. Despite the rainy weather during the game I went to the cheers, songs, chants, were very much present.
Even though there were a lot of fans that had retreated to the inside of the stadium as the weather worsened, the crowd still watching the gam outside was very loud and enthusiastic. It really does make a big difference to the atmosphere and the game a lot more fun and entertaining.
Is Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium Worth Visiting?
If you’re a baseball fan and only have time to watch one game and one team while in Taipei then a Wei Chuan Dragons at Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium is the team and stadium to visit. No offense to the Fubon Guardians, but the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium is certainly superior and offers a much better gameday experience. There’s more food options, the team store is larger, and the team (the year I went) was better. It’s an overall fun experience and is definitely worth catching a game at!
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Unlock the Treasures of Taiwan’s National Palace Museum: A Captivating Journey Through Time and Culture
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If you’re a fan of museums and learning about a country’s culture and history, the Taiwan National Palace Museum is the place for you while visiting Taipei. Housing over 700,000 pieces of Chinese artwork and artifacts the museum is absolutely massive. Depending on how you like to enjoy your time at museums, you can easily spend half a day at the Taiwan National Palace. There’s a variety of different exhibits to view within the cavernous building and the surrounding area, which includes a huge pond stocked with koi fish.
The History Of The National Palace Museum And Its Artifacts
Originally established in China’s Forbidden City, the National Palace Museum has a history that dates all the way back to 1925. Due to fear of the valuable pieces falling into the hands of the Japanese, the musuem pieces were constantly on the move. From 1931 – 1947, the artifacts, artwork, and other objects of value, were shuttled within thousands of crates, from the Forbidden City to Shanghai to Nanjing to Anshun / Leshan then back to Nanjing.
In 1948, following the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed. It was due to the worsening conditions from this Civil War on mainland China that led to some of the artifacts being shipped to Taiwan. It’s estimated that about 22% of the original collection made its way to Taiwan. Much of it remained in China after the controlling Communist party had seized control of the National Beijing Palace Museum where many of the artifacts were being stored.
The collection was stored in the mountain village of Beigou, which is located in Taichung. Here it stayed in storage until a small exhibition hall was built in 1956 where a small sample of the artificats could be displayed.
By 1960 a special fund had been created for the construction of the National Palace Museum. It took over fiver year to build and opened in August of 1965. After 40 years traversing several cities, the many artificats, artwork, and other valuables, had found a permanent home.
The National Palace Museum Experience
The National Palace Museum isn’t located near a subway exit so it’s a little more complicated to get to as opposed to some of the other attractions and will require taking the bus if you plan on taking public transportation.
Once you do get there, you are greeted to a huge tree-lined walkway with the massive National Palace Museum looming in the distance. It’s really a beautiful setting since there’s nothing but lush greenery behind the museum. It takes your mind out of the busy city vibes of Taipei and transports you to another time and place in Taiwan’s history.
As you walk up to the museum, to the right there’s a path that leads to a huge pond that has walkways and bridges and pavilions with places to sit, escape the sun, and have a snack or drink. The pond is stacked with huge koi fish. It’s peaceful little place to take a stroll before or after the visit and take a breather. It’s cool little area.
Once you make the walk to the museum itself, you’ll be impressed with the sheer size of the building. It’s HUGE. The price of admission is 350 NTD ($10.89 USD).
There’s multiple levels here, each absolutely packed with exhibits stocked full of all those artifacts, artwork, and other valuables that had made the journey through all those cities decades ago.
Notable Artifacts
In total, it’s estimated the museum has accumulated nearly 700,000 artifacts. Of which, only about 1% is exhibited at a time at the National Palace Museum which is about 3,000 items. Exhibits and items can get swapped out and the remaining items are stored in temperature controlled vaults.
Of all the artifacts and items at the museum, there are two which are very popular and famous.
The Jadeite Cabbage is a piece of jade that’s carved into the shape of a cabbage head with a small grasshopper hidden amongst its leaves. It’s a beautiful piece of craftsmanship.
The Meat Shaped Stone is a piece of jasper, which was carved into a piece of pork, which looks incredibly real.
Based off the official website, you’re not supposed to post any pictures of the actual artifacts on sites like this so I decided not to include any pictures of anything within the museum itself, unfortunately.
Is The National Palace Museum Worth Visiting?
If you’re going to Taipei the National Palace Museum should certainly be circled on your list of places to visit within the city. It has so much history within its walls. The exhibits are impressive and huge and are all very nicely displayed. The museum building is massive and it will take some time to walk through if you want to really see everything and learn about all the pieces displayed. The property itself is quite nice to walk around, especially the nearby pond area.
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Watching A Fubon Guardians Game In Taipei Is Both Memorable Experience
The Fubon Guardians
Baseball is an incredibly popular sport in Taiwan. The Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) is the six-team professional baseball league in Taiwan. Established in 1989, the league kicked off its inaugural season in 1990.
Through the years the league has both expanded and contracted , with four defunct teams and one team – the Wei Chuan Dragons that folded and was brought back (in 2020). The stadiums are tiny in comparison to those in the US and Japan but that makes the experience even more intimate and the fan experience even more fun. You can really get a feel for the passion that fans have for Taiwan baseball.
Throughout my time in Taiwan I was able to see games in three of the six ballparks with the Tainan City Unilions playing in every game I saw (coincidentally). So, in a way, and by sheer coincidence, I became a Unilion fan.
Fubon Guardians History
The Fubon Guardians play their home games in the Xinzhuang District in Taipei. The team has gone through several name changes as ownership has changed four times since the team’s initial inception in 1993. The team has from the Jungo Bears to Sinon, Bulls to EDA Rhinos, to the current Fubon Guardians.
Playing in Taipei, the Guardians are one of two teams in Taiwan’s capital. Taipei is the only city that currently has two teams. The Guardians play their home games at Xinzhuang Baseball Stadium which can seat up to 12,500 people. The stadium is in the middle of a large sports park.
The Game Experience
Tickets are easy to come by and you can easily walk right up to a ticket booth the day of the game and purchase a Fubon Guardians ticket. They have a variety of seating options to choose from and seats are very affordable. I got a seat along the first base line at field level for only 500 NTD ($15.58 USD).
You can bring in outside food and drinks and I just walked right in with a backpack with no one checking it or anything. I could certainly tell I wasn’t going to a baseball game in the US.
Of course, being in Taiwan the concessions were are a little different than what you might find in the US. There’s Taiwanese fried chicken, boba tea, sushi, a Family Mart (a popular convenience store chain in Asia), and many other stalls selling Taiwanese centric food and snacks.
There’s also familiar fast food places like McDonald’s and Dominos here too. I grabbed some fried chicken, a bag of seaweed flavored chips and a tea and soaked it all in.
Even though the stadium was small and not overly packed, it was very lively. The fans and enthusiasm was awesome. There’s essentially what amounts to a “hype man” that leads the crowds with singing, chants, and various arm movements, the ENTIRE game. This doesn’t fall onto deaf ears with the crowd very much engaged and following the “hype man’s” lead. Everyone is chanting, singing, and mimicking the “hype man” so it does get pretty loud. The crowd also goes wild with every ball in play. A hard hit ball, a double play, a fly out, there’s a lot of oohs and ahhs and genuine excitement for routine baseball plays.
There’s also Guardian cheerleaders, yes, cheerleaders at a baseball game, that are on top of the dugouts dancing. It just adds to the entertainment value and atmosphere of the game and really fits right into everything that’s going on.
I’ve been to a baseball game in Japan and this was a very similar atmosphere albeit in a smaller size. It’s so much different than watching a game in the US. The fans are there having a great time, are really engaged in every pitch, and are super passionate for their teams which they aren’t afraid to show! It’s a really fun time and is great way to wind down after a long day of doing touristy things.
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Is Shilin Night Market A Great Night Market To Visit In Taipei?
Shilin Night Market is one of the largest, if not the largest, night markets in not only Tapei, but all of Taiwan. This makes Shilin one of the most popular night markets in the city, especially amongst tourists.
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The Shilin Night Market History
The Shilin Night Market dates all the way back to 1909, so it’s definitely been around and has a long history. It originally started out as a day market, with two long market buildings built across from the Shilin Cixian Temple.
These buildings were quite popular and busy and space within them were soon snapped up. Due to the lack of space within the market buildings, vendors and stores began opening up and spreading throughout the neighborhood. Through this growth and popularity over decades, the market morphed into the Shilin Night Market we see today.
At its peak the market was home to over 500 stalls. I’m not sure if there’s that many today, but the market is definitely expansive, with a ton of stalls to explore and more importantly eat at!
The Shilin Night Market Food
Like at every food market that has a million different food stalls, deciding on what to get can be very difficult since there’s SO many different options. As someone that is always eager to try new foods it can be very difficult to decide on what to get since I only have so much stomach space, lol. This is what I ended up getting during my visit to Shilin Night Market.
Cheng Zu’s Pepper Pork Buns
I had seen some videos about these buns so this was definitely a place I was looking forward to trying.
They have a few variations of these buns, and as you can see by the “Sold Out” tags underneath the majority of these options, they’re very popular. I got here early as well, around 530 pm, which is early and most everything was sold out already. Luckily, the OG pork buns, the option that I would have wanted anyways was still available. I got two of them (120 NTD, $3.75 USD).
First off, these things come out PIPING hot. Even holding them with the paper wrapper was hard since they were so hot. Secondly, these buns were BIG. I wasn’t expecting them to be as big as they were. Definitely well worth the price.
The buns are nicely roasted, with a little bit of char and heavily coated with sesame seeds on the exterior. When you take a bite, you better take it with caution, due to the amount of scaldiong hot juice coursing through these. I took a bite and some juice went squirting out of it past my shoulder. Luckily, there wasn’t anyone walking by at that time lol.
Nice and crunchy on the outside, the inside was nice and doughy. You can really taste the freshness of these. Not only were these buns packed with juice, there was also a LOT of meat in there as well. It’s a really well-seasoned, juicy filling, that has a strong peppery taste to it. There’s onion and another green veggie in the filling. Not sure what it was, it wasn’t green onion though. These were really good and a great way to kick off the night. My lips were burning from all that peppery goodness for quite a while after I dusted these off which speaks to just how seasoned they were!
Peanut Ice Cream Roll
I located a small stall selling peanut ice cream rolls in the Shilin Night Market near Cheng Zu’s and knew what I was eating after I dusted off those pepper buns. This was something I had seen in YouTube videos of Taiwan night markets and was looking forward to giving these unique treats a try.
Why are they unique? These are called a “roll” but to me it was pretty much a dessert burrito. The “tortilla” in this instance was a thin roll, which reminded me of a spring roll. It’s not quite that but the texture of it was similiar and was the thing I instantly thought of.
Within this “burrito” is shaved peanut brittle. These are big blocks of Taiwanese peanut brittle which they literally shave down and then use those shavings in the “burrito”.
After a nice layer of this covers the “tortilla”, two scoops of ice cream were added. Popular flavors are taro, pineapple, passion fruit, and vanilla. I opted for vanilla here. The ice cream is more icy than creamy too, which seems to work well here.
The last ingredient added was cilantro. Yes, cilantro! It’s not something you’d associate being paired with a sweet dessert with peanut brittle and ice cream and yet it’s a key ingredient here.
This was the end result, hence the burrito comparison!
It somehow all works. The combination of all the ingredients, the roll texture, ice cream, peanut brittle shavings, and ESPECIALLY the cilantro, just seem to jive well with on another. From the textures of the roll, the sweetness from the ice cream, slight crunch from the peanut brittle shavings, and the diffent kind of crunch and flavor from the cilantro, it just works. This roll was a very light dessert and extremely tasty and was very cheap (50 NTD, $1.56)!
Deep fried crab meat on a stick with spicy sauce
This wasn’t something that was on my list of “must try” items but was something I came across while walking through the Shilin Night Market. I love all things crab and all things on a stick, so this was just too tempting to pass up, lol.
It also helped that it looked like a big chunk of crab and a lot of interesting dips and seasonings you could coat the crab with. I grabbed one of them and got it coated in a spicy sauce (80 NTD, $2.50 USD)
The crab meat was quite sweet. It wasn’t fried for long, just a quick dip, the outer coating and crab itself was soft. The meat wasn’t very firm at all. The spicy sauce added a nice kick. It was a little tangy, a little sweet and savory with a decent spice to it. Overall it was pretty solid, nothing to really write home about, but pretty tasty and enjoyable.
Taiwanese cold noodles with sesame sauce
This stall earned a Michelin star back in 2019 and 2020 and was clearly a very popular place. There was a pretty sizable line into the restaurant and they also had a bustling to-go set up as well. This to-go area was nicely organized and efficient. Even though this line was also busy, the line went fast.
I got a small noodle cup (50 NTD, $1.56 USD). The sauce is defintely on the thicker side and really coats the noodles well. The noodles reminded me of ramen noodle and were pretty firm, tasted pretty fresh and were overally solid.
The sesame sauce had a peanutty, slightly sweet taste to go along with a great sesame flavor. You can order it spicy as well, which I clearly had to do, lol. This added a nice little kick to a very flavorful sauce. A little sesamey and peanutty with a hint of sweetness to it and overall quite tasty. The more I ate, the more I appreciated it. It was pretty addicting to be honest. I was impressed with the flavor. Also, that spice definitely started creeping up on me and my lips were burning for a while after finishing them. This was a satisfying end to my Shilin Night Market experience, with that sauce really making these noodles pop.
The Shilin Night Market Experience
If you’re in Taipei visiting a night market or night markets, Shilin Night Market, being one of the most popular night markets in the city, is certainly worth a visit. It will very crowded so if you’re not a fan of fighting through crowds for food, this may not be the place for you.
Otherwise, this is a massive night market with a ton of food stalls and restaurants to experience. You will almost certainly find something that tickles your fancy as this has all the Taiwanese Night Market foods you’d expect to find, along with places that are just specific to Shilin Night Market!
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Discover the Wonders of Taipei Zoo: The Ultimate Wildlife Haven In Taiwan
One of the ten largest zoos in the world and the largest zoo in Southeast Asia, Taipei Zoo is a extremely popular attraction for visitors to Taipei (100 NTD, $3.13). I generally don’t go out of my way to visit zoos while traveling but made an exception for this zoo, since it sounded like it was no ordinary zoo and a must see attraction while in Taipai.
The History Of The Taipei Zoo
The current location of the Taipai Zoo (located in the Muzha district in the southern part of Taipei) has been operational since 1986. The zoo itself is over 100 years old dating back to 1914 when Taiwan was still under Japanese sovereignty. This original zoo was located in the Yuan-shan area, in the northern part of Taipei. It covered about 14 acres. In 1973 it was determined that a newer, more modern zoo with ample space was needed in order to grow.
It took 13 years to construct the Taipei Zoo as it stands today (with improvements and expansions also taking place through the present). The current zoo is 407 acres with 222 acres accessible to the public on their visits. This is a massive zoo to visit to say the least.
The Many Displays At Taipei Zoo
It has several terrain themed outdoor displays including a Formosan , Tropical, African, Desert, Australian, Temperate, and Bird World. Indoor exhibits include a Insectarium, Penguin House, Koala House, Amphibian and Reptile House, Giant Panda House, an Education Center, and the impressive Pangolin Dome. These zones are all quite large and house a wide array of different types of animals and species.
The layout of the Taipei Zoo, due to the many acres it lies upon, is quite wide open. It was definitely busy the day I went, but it never felt like it was overly stifling. There was still enough space while walking around as the roads and pathways are pretty wide open with plenty of viewing area space.
You can easily spend the whole day, or at the very least half a day here.
The Panda House
I was looking forward to seeing the Panda House. I couldn’t recall the last time, if ever, seeing a panda in person. The Panda House is obvioulsy one of, if not the most popular attraction at the zoo as one would imagine. You get in a line that moves through the indoor display which has two separate panda exhibits within it (the pandas are separated).
The line is constantly moving so you only have a few opportunites to snap some pics as you move into and out of the exhibit at a pretty quick pace. It’s a smart way to keep people moving since the indoor display would be way too packed with minimal visibility if they didn’t keep the line moving at all times.
The panda themselves are goofy and adorable. One of the pandas was passed out and the other was crusing around their display at the time I went. Very cute without a doubt.
The Pangolin Dome
Built in 2013, the Pangolin Dome is the tropical rainforest area in the Taipei Zoo. It’s a 78-foot dome that houses over 40 animal species and 250 plant species. What makes the dome special is that for a large portion of it, there’s a pathway that spirals throughout it from the bottom floor up to the top. There’s animals and birds moving around freely with a large pool that has several different types of fish and other aquatic species swimming around in.
There’s also a Nocturnal Zone within the dome. This exhibit is enclosed and dark, with only dim red lights illuminating the nocturnal critters housed here. There’s a fat-tailed dwarf lemur, Azara night monkey and pygmy slow loris included in here, which you may or may not see, depending on their mood lol.
The Pandolin Dome is just really cool to walk through with all the animals and trees, and plants. It was definitely my favorite exhibit at the zoo!
Is The Taipei Zoo Worth Visiting?
Without a doubt the Taipei Zoo is one of Taipei’s biggest attractions and is a must visit. It’s one the largest zoos in the world and the exhibits are really nice. The number of animals and species spotted throughout the numerous exhibits was really cool to see. The Pangolin Dome by itself is worth the visit. I’ve never seen anything like it at any zoo I’ve been to. For only 100 NTD for admission, it is well worth visiting!
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Is Linjiang Night Market (Tonghua) A Great Night Market To Visit In Taipei?
Taipei has many, many, sights and attractions to visit and experience. One of the highlights – especially if you’re a foodie or night market enthusiast – is the vast number of night markets spread throughout the massive city. The city is absolutely jam-packed with night markets. Some are more notable than others, with some night markets including Michelin Star stalls!
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Linjiang Night Market
Located near the popular Taipei 101 building and Elephant Mountain, Linjiang Night Market, also known locally as Tonghua Night Market, is one of the more popular night markets in Taipei. I had visited Elephant Mountain earlier (definitely recommend!) and saw that Linjiang was the closest night market in the area so thought I’d give it a try.
Serving traditional and classic street food, there’s about 200 hundred stalls located at Lingjiang Night Market.
There’s obvioulsy a ton of food to choose from and if you’re new to the Taiwan night market scene, like myself, choosing just a handful of items to try can be challenge since there’s so many interesting, delicious looking food items!
The Food
Fried Sweet Potato Balls
I had heard about these fried sweet potato balls (50 NTD for a medium bag $1.56 USD) and they were definitely on the list of things I wanted to try. A night market staple, fried sweet potato balls can be found at every single Taiwainese night market, including Linjiang Night Market. They’re a very, very popular street food so I was excited to give them a try.
Let’s just say they didn’t disappoint! Freshly made right in front of you, these are given to you piping hot. Luckily, you’re provided with a tooth pick to stab at the balls to eat.
The different colors were all different flavors. There was seaweed, sweet potato, and black bean from what I could tell. They each had a distinct flavor, and they were all good! These things were light and airy, crispy on the outside, with a gooey, chewy texture on the inside. The inside of these things reminded me of mochi, so I loved it.
The flavors here aren’t overpowering either. A little sweet, a little savory, it was just the right amount of both. They’re quite addicting, especially straight out of the wok when they’re extremely hot!
Fried Dumplings
Dumplings, another night market staple, was another easy choice to grab at Linjiang Night Market. With this being my first Taiwan night market I absolutely had to get some dumplings! I found a stall that was pretty large and was definitely the most popular at the night market based off the line of people waiting to purchase them.
The stall is bustling as the staff stays busy preparing the buns and dumplings. There’s nothing pre-made here so you know what you get will be extremely fresh. It’s fun and interesting to watch the dumplings being made while waiting in line. The staff is a well-oiled machine in prepping and serving them and the dumplings get pumped out efficiently.
They have a couple of options: pan fried buns and pan fried dumplings. I decided to go with the fried dumplings (5 for 75 NTD, $2.34 USD).
Once you get your fresh dumplings, or buns for myself, these things come out piping, piping hot. I could barely hold them to even get some pics of them. Sure, you could wait, but I mean, who can actually wait to eat freshly made buns?
The bun skins were fairly thin, and these things were PACKED with filling. The filling was ground pork, green onion, and onion. It was well-seasoned, not overly savory, and tasted great. I just wish I had some chili sauce or some dipping sauce for them. They probably had those, I just didn’t see them.
Snow Ice
Taiwanese snow ice was something else that I had read about and had wanted to try. I’m a shaved ice fan to begin with and Taiwanese snow ice was something I was certainly looking forward to. Linjiang Night Market had a couple of snow ice shop options to choose from. I went with the one that had a watermelon snow ice on display (140 NTD, $4.36 USD) since I LOVE watermelon.
This is a little bit different than other shaved ices that I’ve experienced over the years. Instead of using ice, milk is frozen, and then shaved down. It took me a while to figure this out as I ate it. Initially it was a very confusing experience for the taste buds. The snow ice tasted like a light vanilla ice cream. It was fairly sweet but not overly so. This also come in a massive, deep bowl, it’s probably a dish for two people or just one hungry tourist, lol.
You get a ton of snow ice and very generous amount of watermelon with condensed milk drizzled over the whole thing.
The watermelon itself wasn’t too sweet, but it was decent.
Linjiang Night Market Experience
I enjoyed my time at Linjiang Night Market. I didn’t have any other night markets yet to rate it against but I thought Linjiang Night Market was a lively, fun, place to be. With this being my first exposure to the Taiwan night market scene it was a little intimidating and overwhelming initially. The vast number of food stalls lined up in long rows, the different types of foods and smells wafting through the air, and the night market itself being packed with people, it’s a lot to take in all at once.
It’s a good thing to take in though, since I was surrounded by food, much of it comprised of new and exciting items to try. Plus, the food is so AFFORDABLE. For the three items I got it was a total of $8.26 USD and it was all really tasty stuff.
There are probably some unique stalls serving items you can only find at Linjiang Night Market which makes it all the more enticing to come back to and explore at some point. I look forward to it!
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Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall: An Absolute Must-See Landmark in Taipei
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipai, Taiwan is a national monument and is a must visit attraction during any trip to Taiwan.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall History
The Memorial was built as tribute to Chiang Kai-Shek who was a well-known president of Taiwan that passed away in 1975. Construction started on the memorial in 1976 and was completed and opened to the public in 1980.
The sprawling park is a total of 240,000 square meters and is really a wide space. The memorial includes historical exhibits that details the history of Chiang Kai-shek. The monument is surrounded by a large park, with ponds, gardens, and the Memorial Hall Square. The National Concert Hall and National Theater are located on the left and right sides of the Memorial Hall, as well.
On the west side of the memorial is the Gate of Great Centrality and Perfect Uprightness, a huge main gate to the memorial which will lead guests to the Memorial Hall Square and directly to the main Memorial.
A view looking out from the main memorial. You can see the National Concert Hall, National Theater, and main gate in the distance Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall And Grounds
The centerpiece of the memorial is the memorial hall. All white with an octagonal blue roof, the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall really stands out. It’s quite a striking structure. If you enter through the main gate, you’ll walk through the Memorial Hall Square and the wide pathway which will lead you to to hall. It’s a nice walk as you stroll past the National Concert Hall and National Theater and the immaculate gardens as you approach.
Once you get to the foot of the hall, you must walk up 89 steps, which represents the age of Chiang Kai-shek at his death. The steps lead you to the hall entrance. Within the hall is the 21 ft bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek. It was here (the location has changed recently) that the changing of the guard took place. The ceremony is an impressive display to behold with how meticulous every movement by the guards is mirrored and synched perfectly to one another. It was definitely very cool to witness.
The gardens are very well kept and the area is quite nice to walk around and enjoy either in the walk up to the hall or just walking around the area after you’ve visited the hall.
If you’re a history buff a trip to the memorial’s exhibit area is a must. This area details the life and career of Chiang Kai-shek while also detailing the history of Taiwan and its development. It’s fascinating to walk through and take in. I didn’t have any knowledge of Chiang Kai-shek and what he meant to Taiwan so it was interesting to get some insight to his accomplishments.
Within the memorial there’s also a couple of places to eat and grab drinks and also some gift / souvenir shops to check out as well.
Is Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Worth Visiting?
The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is absolutely worth a visit. It’s one of the premier attractions in all of Taiwan and cetainly Taipai. The memorial hall groundls, with the tranquilty of the gardens and the beauty of the architecture of National Concert Hall and National Theater, is a treat to walk through. The exhibit halls are interesting to walk through to learn some historical tid bits of Chiang Kai-shek and Taiwan.
You can easily spend two to four hours walking around the area to soak everything in. It’s definitely worth the time and will be a very enjoyable experience!
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How Good Is Taiwan’s Famous Fried Chicken Master Chain?
For my trip to Taiwan, one of the foods I was really looking forward to was their fried chicken. It’s extremely popular in Taiwan, especially at night markets. I got into Taipai late at night and found Fried Chicken Master right across the street from the place I was staying at. What better way to kick off the trip then by grabbing some food at a popular national chain?
Fried Chicken Master is a national fried chicken franchise which was founded in Taiwan. It has expanded to 110 locations globally and can now be found in countries such as Canada, Malaysia, and Jakarta.
Fried Chicken Master specializes in Halal Fried Chicken, which I’ve never seen from any major fried chicken chain in the world up to this point. You’ll find the normal fried chicken options on the menu: wings, popcorn chicken, breast, thigh, but with the Taiwanese fried chicken spin on it.
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How Is Tawainese Fried Chicken Different?
Taiwanese fried chicken has its own distinctive flavor and texture as one might imagine. The batter and coating which often uses sweet potato starch and tapioca flour, gives Taiwanese fried chicken a distinct crunch. After the chicken is deep fried it can get sprinkled with a bevy of different seasonings from salt, pepper, chili powder, and other Chinese spices.
The huge flattened cutlets, which are a staple on any menu that’s serving fried chicken, are definitely unique as well. These are huge slabs of chicken and come wrapped in a plastic sheet, piping hot. For myself that’s the picture that was engrained in my head when it comes to fried chicken in Taiwan and is what I had to get (and got often) when I visited Taiwan.
Fried Chicken Master Experience
With ample combo meals to choose from and several a la carte options, I was looking forward to getting this after I had checked into my room. It may have also been the fact that I was absolutely starving too lol.
I went with the #2 Fried Chicken Breast meal (129 NTD, $4.02 USD). This included french fries and choice of drink, so I went with an iced black tea. They had a choice of seasonings that you could choose and I went with the Taiwanese salt and pepper.
The Food Experience
Seeing photos of these flattened chicken breasts is one thing, but to actually hold it in my hands was another. It’s a huge piece of chicken. Like ridiculously so. It was heavily seasoned as well. A little too much for my liking. The exterior was very crunchy and the meat was tender and juicy in some parts. Other parts seemed a little tough and even a little under cooked. So overall it was pretty uneven. It put a smile on my face one bite and then had me frowing the next.
The seasoning was quite sweet overall too. I wasn’t expecting that flavor from Taiwanese salt and pepper. I’m pretty particular when it comes to sweet and savory on things like chicken and then tilted towards being too sweet for my liking.
The fries were decent, but nothing overly special or memorable. I’d never gotten a cold black tea before but it was quite good. Black tea is immensely popular in Taiwan and can be found everywhere. This cold black tea reminded of me a sweetened ice tea essentially.
Is Fried Chicken Master Worth A Visit?
If you’re in a pinch and in need of something cheap and fast and on the go, then sure, it’s worth stopping by and giving it a try. It by no means was horrible, but it wasn’t anything special in my books either. There’s a million of other places that sell fried chicken too so this isn’t the only option in town. I may have just ordered the wrong thing though and there may be a more popular item(s) on the menu, so I’d be willing to give it a go again.
