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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!
