Posted on Friday, 24 February 2017

Sally Zhou explores Taipei for four days – and discovers a capital city that is by turns eccentric, efficient and very, very courteous.

After taking the coach from the clean and well-organised Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, my travelling companion and I found ourselves on the dazzling streets of twilight Taipei. We were just a single block from our hotel – although it took our first experience of Taipei's politeness to discover this.

We asked a taxi driver to take us to our hotel, but he said it was so close we didn't need to waste our money. He even showed us exactly where to go on his GPS – so sweet!

Checking in to the Shinshin Hotel, we encountered even more politeness from the door and reception staff. Our room was huge, ultra-clean and amazingly well-equipped – reminding me of my experience of Japanese hotels.

Tired from our flight, we dined at the Shinshin on delicious braised pork and beef noodles before turning in.

After the sun rose over the Taiwanese capital we set about exploring. The doorman hailed a cab for us and opened the door, then placed his hand on the edge of the doorframe to stop us bumping our heads – another super-polite touch!

Xi Men Ding

Known as the 'young person's area', Xi Men Ding is a heady mix of restaurants and tiny shops. We enjoyed a meal at the bizarre 'Modern Toilet' – an establishment where you get to sit on a toilet-shaped seat as you chow down. It was all surprisingly tasty – even the chocolate ice cream which looked like a coil of you-know-what!

The rest of the day was spent browsing the many little shops. Taipei seems to embody Japanese, Chinese and South East Asian cultures – making for a unique and very exciting mix. Eccentricity and super-efficiency appeared side by side.

Jiufen

The next day we explored Jiufen by bus – a bucolic mountain area and the inspiration for Spirited Away, one of my favourite anime films of all time. This is a wonderful way to escape Taipei if you need a little quiet.

Exploring Taipei

On our third day we simply explored Taipei, using the cheap and fast MRT – but also on foot. There are beautifully-kept public spaces every few blocks, so you can always take the weight off and escape from the bustle. Several great coffees fuelled our trip, which was cut short by an unexpected downpour. Retreating to the MRT, we were amazed to be given courtesy umbrellas as we got off – another example of Taipei politeness!

Taipei 101

I'm loathe to queue for anything for more than five minutes, but with Taipei 101 I had to make an exception.

After nearly an hour we finally entered the lift and rose to the 89th floor of what is now the world's eighth largest building (but was once the tallest). The lifts are the fastest in the world, and propelled us upwards for a mere 37 seconds, before delivering us to our floor.

We were greeted by the 'damper baby' – Taipei 101's mascot. This little fella appeared in an exhibition about the giant damper that hangs in the centre of the building – this vast ball weighs 660 tonnes and helps counterbalance the tower when it is windy. It hangs from thick steel cables.

But the other-worldly damper wasn't the main attraction: we came here for the view. We only understood the scale of Taipei when we gazed out across the nearby skyscrapers, the densely-packed sprawl and the edges of the city which ascend the distant green mountains.

The City That Gives 101%

The 508m structure was named after the auspicious number 101 – which relates to giving 101%. While we only had a few days in Taipei, we felt that in all areas of life the Taiwanese did indeed give 101% - from the people who served us amazing street food, to the hotel staff, to the MRT workers and the taxi drivers.

Taipei is a truly absorbing Asian city, delivering a sense of the exotic and the eccentric at every turn – while remaining exceptionally safe, efficient and very, very polite.

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