First, the good news: finding your way around Taipei is much easier today than it was 10 years ago. Now the bad: it can still be pretty ...
First, the good news: finding your way around Taipei is much easier today than it was 10 years ago. Now the bad: it can still be pretty complicated.
The Taipei Metro (MRT) makes getting around the city pretty easy and every MRT station has a map (labelled in Chinese and English) that points the way to almost every sight worth visiting as well as street names both major and minor. If that wasn't enough, most people in Taipei are extremely friendly. If you look lost, chances are good someone will give you directions. Ready to head out? Not so fast. Here comes the complicated part.
Central Taipei is constructed on a grid, with major streets running east-west and north- south. These streets are named according to direction and broken up further into sections, numbered
according to the distance from the central axis (roughly speaking, the Taipei
Mam Station). The lower the section number, the closer to the centre of the
city the address tends to be Zhongshan N Road scc.l is close to Taipei Main
Station; sec,? is in the wilds of Tianmu, 25 minutes by taxi in good traffic.
But wait, it gets more complicated. Taipei also has numbered
lanes', which generally run perpendicular to the main streets. Ma)or sights,
hotels and restaurants are located along the main streets, but many addresses
include lanes. So if you're looking for, say. Grandma Xitti's Restaurant (pi
11), at 8 Lane 93. Shida Rd, you need to first find Shida Rd, then look tor
where number eight would be. But instead of finding a building, you'll find
the lane where You'll find Nitti’s.
Then there are alleys, which arc to lanes as lanes arc to streets.
Though the system s a bit complicated, it's actually quite logical. But before you
head out. there’s one more thing you should know: though Taipei is an increasingly
English-friendly city, with all street signs featuring both Chinese and English
lettering, over the past few years there have been a number of, er.
interesting developments concerning the spellings of nearly every street name
in the city. Our spelling decoder, opposite, should help a bit, out visitors
to the city should be aware that the Taiwanese approach to English translation
is about as rigidly dogmatic as their approach to religion (ie not very
dogmatic as all). As a result, don't be surprised to find a restaurant whose
business card address reads Chunghsiao East Road under a street sign reading
Zhongxiao E Road.
Though Taipei proper is divided into 12 (districts), most of
what we've listed in our inner Taipei section can be found in one of six
general areas.
OLD
TOWN CENTRE VABS
The first part of the city to be developed, this proto-Taipei
(also known as Wanhua) was once encircled by a wall. Though the wall is gone,
tour of its five gates still stand, adding to the historic character of this
district. It’s in and around this area where you'll find sights traditional
(Longshan Temple), contemporary (Ximcnding) and historically edifying (2-28
Museum). It’s in the Old Town Centre where you'll find the government district,
often a Hub of activity in Asia's most vibrant democracy.
MRT Stations: Taipei Main Station. Ximen, Longshan Temple.
Xiaonanmen. NTU Hospital. Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
DA'AN
& SHIDA
These districts in the southern part of the city centre arc built
around Shida (home to Taiwan Normal University) and Da'an Park. Thus. Shida,
sometimes spelt, amusingly enough. Shita. is filled with students and funky,
while Da’an is breezy and more grown up, yet without the slick modernity of
Xinvi in Eastern Taipei. Both feature famous food streets (Shida Night Market.
Yongkang St and Tonghua Night Market) and Da'an is also known for the weekend
jade and flower markets.
MRT Stations: Guting. Taipower Building, Gongguan. Da'an,
Technology Building. Dingxi. Yongan market.
ZHONGSHAN
This area north ot the Zhongshan (Zhongshin) train station and south
of the Keclung River features museums (large and small, and even a miniature
one), beautiful parks and some of Taipei’s most important temples. The western
part of this district, near the Danshui River, is sometimes known as Dadaochcng
or Datong. In general, most of the major sights listed arc within walking
distance of the Xindian/Dan- shui MRT line.
MRT Stations: Zhongshan. Shuanglian. Minquan \V Rd, Yuanshan.
EASTERN TAIPEI
With rivers and established subcities to the north and west, and
mountains to the south, when it came time for Taipei to expand there was but
one direction left. Encompassing Songshan, Xinyi and pretty much everything
cast of Fuxing Rd. Eastern Taipei is fast becoming a second city centre of
Taipei While central Taipei is characterised by its older neighbourhoods and
winding lanes, neighbourhoods in the eastern districts are laid out in a grid,
and feature spiffy new high-rise office blocks, five-star hotels. city hall and
some of Taipei's trendiest night spots and restaurants. And of course, there's
one edifice that sticks out. both literally and
MRT Stations: Zhongxiao Fuxing, Zhong- xiao Dunhua, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, Taipei City Hall, Yongchuan, Houshanpi, Kunyang.
SHILIN
North of the city centre and south of Tianmu, Shilin (Shilin) is home to some of Taipei’s best known cultural attractions such as the National Palace Museum, the CKS Shilin Residence Park, and of course, the Shilin Night Market. Shilin is also where you’ll find some of Taipei’s most kid-friendly venues, including the Astronomical Museum and the National Taiwan Science Education Centre. Bustling, crowded and usually noisy, Shilin is a must to visit.
MRT Stations: Jiantan, Shilin.
TIANMU
Just north of Shilin, in many ways Tianmu (Tianmu) is its diametrical opposite. Whereas Shilin is usually crowded and noisy. Tianmu tends to be quieter, less crowded, with wider avenues and more spread-out neighbourhoods. Shilin is where you go for street food and Tianmu is the place for sit-down restaurants. Though once thought of as kind of a foreigner ghetto, a nice Place to live without much to draw the casual visitor. Tianmu has an excellent mountain park complete with temples and pavilions as well as some of Taipei's posher malls. Tianmu is also a great place to start or finish a hike into the volcanic wilds of Yangmingshan.
MRT Stations: Zhishan, Mingdc. Shipai
Maps
Once hard to find, good English-language maps arc now plentiful. The information booths at both the Taoyuan (international) and Songhsan (domestic) airports can provide you with a few government maps, and the freely available magazine Taiwan Fun has a great inlay map in every issue. Our favourite map for central Taipei is the Taipei Visitor's Map published by Asia map and available free at hotels and tourist points. It’s regularly updated and has street names in the current Pinyin spelling. It also depicts the all-important lanes and building numbers. As for neighbourhood maps, every MRT station boasts a decent mounted map of the surrounding area featuring temples, department stores, parks and other points of interest, though these can be a bit faded in some of the more distant stations.
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