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One-day Danshui Ecotour
Guandu Nature Park (Take MRT Danshui Line to MRT Guandu Station, transfer to bus route red 35 and exit Guandu Nature Park stop)→ (approx. 8 minutes)→ Yin Mountain (Yinshan) Temple (Take the MRT Danshui line to Danshui station, walk to Zhongzheng E. Rd then turn left at the Xuefu Rd.)→ (approx. 10 minutes)→ Hongmao Castle（Fort San Domingo）(Then take the Danshui Bus (Red 36 or Red 38) to Aletheia University stop; or take Bus No. 837 to Hongmao Castle (Fort San Domingo) stop.)→ (approx. 10 minutes)→Tamsui Old Street (Taipei MRT Danshui Station.)
Danshui is a town filled with history. As you walk the streets of the town you will see old buildings, one after another, in the Western, southern Fujian, and Japanese styles. A casual stroll is a good way to savor the sights of the town, with the ancient flavors of the old streets and the special characteristics of buildings from different periods best manifested along Zhongjeng Road, Zhenli Street, Chongjian Street, Sanmin Street, and Qingshui Street. Visitors to Danshui have the option of taking a ferry from Bali or Dadaocheng and enjoying scenes of the Danshui River along the way.
In addition to enjoying old buildings and ancient temples, and savoring the taste of the local delicacies, in Danshui you can also enrich your mind with an ecological tour. The best places for observing the natural ecology are the Guandu Nature Park and the Mangrove Nature Preserve. Every winter, birds from the north of mainland China, Siberia, Korea, and Japan migrate southward, and Taiwan serves as a way station where they rest and rebuild their strength. Migratory birds that pass through the Guandu Nature Park at this time include ducks and geese, jacanas, and shrikes; they join such resident foul as herons, rails, and kingfishers, forming an unforgettable avian panorama that is a powerful attraction for bird lovers.
If you get off the MRT train at the Hongshulin station, you will find yourself at the site of the world's largest kandelia candel mangrove swamp. Here you will see fiddler crabs, mudhoppers, and other animals flitting among the mangrove roots; from mid-September to March they are joined by egrets, snipes, and other birds.
Guandu Nature Park:
No.55, Guandu Rd., Beitou District, Taipei City
Yin Mountain (Yinshan) Temple:
No. 15, Denggong Rd., Danshui District, New Taipei City
Hongmao Castle（Fort San Domingo) :
No.1, Lane 28, Zhongzheng Rd., Danshui District, New Taipei City
Tamsui Old Street:
Zhongzheng Rd., Danshui District, New Taipei City
One-day Tour of Beitou Hot Springs
Beitou Hot Springs Museum (Take MRT on Danshui line to Xinbeitou MRT station directly)→ (approx. 6 minutes)→Taiwan Folk Arts Museum (Take MRT to Xinbeitou Station, then take bus 230 to Taiwan Folk Arts Museum)→ (approx. 6 minutes)→Beitou Hot-Spring Area (Take MRT Danshui line to Beitou Station, transfer MRT to Xinbeitou Station to reach Beitou Hot Springs)
The Beitou hot-spring area is surrounded by Shamao Mountain, Datun Mountain, and Qixing Mountain and it emits the sulfur mist all year round. The place is blessed with abundant hot springs resources, and hot-spring spas are located around Zhongshan Road, Guangming Road, Xinming Road, and Quanyuan Road, all close to the Beitou Hot Spring Park. There are many hot spring hotels in this area. The mostly sulfur hot springs here can be enjoyed in public pools, individual pools, or spa in hotels. In general, Beitou’s hot springs can be classified as white sulfur, green sulfur, and iron sulfur springs, with temperatures that range from 55 to 58 degrees Celsius.
To understand the history of the Beitou hot springs, you must visit the BeitouHot Springs Museum. There are 12 exhibition rooms in the museum for the display of information, pictures, and other items related to the history of Beitou hot springs, the history of Beitou culture, historical buildings/sites, domestic/foreign hot springs, and the unique local mineral, hokutolite. On the second floor of the museum is a Japanese-style activity hall for the hosting of small events. The public pools for men and women are available for public tours, and there regular showings of a multimedia introduction to the Beitou hot springs.
Beitou Hot Springs Museum:
No. 2, Zhongshan Rd., Beitou District, Taipei City
Taiwan Folk Arts Museum:
No. 32, Youya Rd., Beitou District, Taipei City
Beitou Hot-Spring Area:
Zhongshan Rd., Beitou Dist., Taipei City
One-day tour of Taipei City
Presidential Office Building (Take MRT to NTU Hospital Station, then walk 15-min)→ (approx. 2 minutes)→ Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall (Take MRT to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall Station directly)→ (approx. 5 minutes)→National Museum of History (MRT to CKS Memorial Hall Station/ Take the 0 West, 1, or 204 bus to Jianguo Middle School; the 0 South, 5, 10, 38, 227, 241, 244, 235, 295, or Zhongzheng Arterial Route bus to Nanchang Rd.; or buses along Roosevelt Rd. to Nanmen Market.)→(approx. 10 minutes)→Huaxi Street Night Market (Take MRT to Longshan Temple MRT Station directly.)
The NMH's collection included the bronzes unearthed in Xinzheng, Hui and Anyang (in HenanProvince), Pre-Qing pottery unearthed in Luoyang (Loyang), Han green-glazed pottery, the dancer and musician figurines of the Six Dynasties, and the Tang tri-colored potter and so on. The arrival of allocated artifacts and donations from private collectors gradually enriched the Museum's collection and broadened its archives.
The museum collections continue to grow with annual acquisitions obtained with the government procurement budget allocations and donations from private collectors. The annual acquisitions provide the museum with artifacts and relics from China, Taiwan, and other countries.
Yongkang Street, Tianmu, Ximenting (Ximending), the East District shopping area, and Fuxing South Road (which specialize in rice porridge and small accompanying dishes) are all major culinary attractions in Taipei. Tianmu (with its foreign atmosphere) and Yongkang Street, especially, are home to vast arrays of restaurants that offer an infinite variety of eats including dishes from all over the world as well as traditional Chinese foods and the tastes of different parts of Taiwan.
The Chinese food available in Taiwan covers the tange from palace cuisines to street-stall snacks, and all have their characteristics and delicious flavors. The palace-style dishes served at Din Tai Fong and King Join attract numbers of tourists every day, and the allure of the snacks sold in Taipei's night markets makes them truly irresistible--Longshan Temple and the night markets at Huaxi (Huasi) Street, Shilin, Tonghua Street, Raohe Street, Liaoning, and Jingmei, among others, all have their own special snacks giving off aromas that draw in diners from far and wide.
Huaxi (Huasi) Street is the most famous night market in Taipei, and it attracts numbers of both domestic and foreign tourists every day. The best-known snacks available here, probably, are snake meat and snake wine; other prominent delicacies include potside stickers (Dingbiancuo), Tainan danzai noodles, bowl rice, water-turtle meat, and seafood. Compared with other night markets, Huaxi (Huasi) Street has a greater emphasis on attracting tourists; so the quality of food is good, and its prices are also a bit higher than others. The nearby Longshan Temple has a row of blind masseurs in front waiting to loosen you up, and "Herb Lane" just next door is another point that you will not want to miss.
Presidential Office Building:
No.122, Sec. 1, Chongqing S. Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall:
No.21, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
National Museum of History:
No.49, Nanhai Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City
Huaxi Street Night Market:
Huaxi (Huasi) St., Wanhua District, Taipei City
One-day Cultural Tour of Taipei
Longshan Temple (Take MRT Bannan line to Longshan Temple MRT Stationdirectly)→ (approx. 18 minutes)→ Taipei Confucius Temple (Take MRT to Yuanshan Station (Exit #2), the Confucius temple is about 10 minutes’ walk in the direction of Kulun Street)→ (walk approx. 5 minutes)→ Dalongdong Bao'an Temple (Take MRT to Yuanshan Station(Exit of Kulun Street) and walk about 10 minutes)
Mengjia, now renamed the Wanhua District, is the oldest part of Taipei, with old temples, old streets, old academies, narrow gates, and traditional industries that offer a diverse variety of historical materials for study. In this district, a number of traditional industries such as Chinese medicine stores and paper stores selling paper products that are burned for the deceased. Here, you can also experience first-hand the production of Buddhist sculptures and embroidery in the Buddhist paraphernalia stores on Xindiantou Street, which boomed along with the establishment of a large number of temples in the area.
Longshan Temple, established in 1740, is among Taiwan’s oldest and most famous temples. It is devoted to the worship of Guanyin, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, and other deities. The temple consists of a front hall, rear hall, and right and left wings. The layout is orderly and serene. Due to natural disasters and human damage, the temple has been restored several times. The doors, beams, and pillars are beautifully decorated; the front court is graced by a pair of bronze dragon pillars, and the middle court by four pairs. The walls and ceilings are covered by exquisite sculptures as well as many Chinese poems, verses, and lyrics that a rich literary atmosphere.
Longshan Temple:
No. 211, Guangzhou St., Wanhua District, Taipei City
Taipei Confucius Temple:
No.275, Dalong St., Datong Dist., Taipei City
Dalongdong Bao'an Temple:
No. 61, Hami St., Datong District, Taipei City
Exploring Garden Maokong: Enjoy flowers, countryside scenery, and afternoon tea in garden-setting teahouses
Maokong Gondola
Take the Wenhu Line of Taipei Metro to the Taipei Zoo Station and then walk to the Maokong Gondola Taipei Zoo Station (about 350 meters) → Maokong Gondola Taipei Zoo South Station→(Maokong Gondola approx. 10 minutes)→ Maokong Gondola Maokong Station→(Walk approx. 20 minutes)→Camphor Tree Trail for countryside scenery →(Walk approx. 15 minutes)→Zhangshan Temple, with views of daytime Taipei→Red Zone teahouses, with local Tieguanyin tea cuisine→(Public bus approx. 10 minutes)→ Maokong Gondola Maokong Station→(Maokong Gondola approx. 20 minutes)→Maokong Gondola Taipei Zoo Station: Enjoy music and water dance → Return to Taipei downtown
Taipei 101 Mall (MRT Taipei City Hall Station - (approx. 7 minutes)→Taipei 101 Shuttle bus)
Located within Taipei 101, the Taipei 101 Mall gathers the world top brands to create a high-end shopping experience. Level 4 of the mall features Singapore-based bookstore Page One and Taipei largest indoor cafe and restaurant area.
National Palace Museum (MRT Shilin Station - Bus 304, 255 or Red 30 - (approx. 20 minutes)→National Palace Museum )
The Taipei National Palace Museum is a world-class museum that hosts an eclectic collection of treasures kept by generations of Emperors ruling from the Forbidden City. In WWII, Nationalist troops seized the most important pieces in order to prevent invaders from ransacking China's national treasures. A twist of fate eventually brought these treasures to Taiwan.
The Taipei National Palace Museum is designed in the style of a Northern Chinese palace. The museum is home to hundreds of thousands of historical relics that make up the world's most comprehensive and precious collection of ancient Chinese artifacts. The entire collection covers 5,000 years of China's historical and artistic achievements.
The museum provides Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, Spanish and Korean language guides and museum-related literature. The museum is a must- see on any visitor's itinerary.
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