Give in to the allure of beautiful Taipei
Rupali Dean, our Executive Editor (Travel, Lifestyle & food), takes you on a trip to this large, contemporary Asian city Taipei yet opulent with Chinese ethos. Also called ‘Heart of Asia’, Taipei is a captivating and delightful place to visit in the north of Taiwan.
STUNNING ART AND LOCAL FOOD
My opening port of call is The National Palace Museum which stocks the key amount of Chinese relics in the realm that they need to switch exhibiting the 655,707 items every 3 months.
What catches my fancy is the Jade baby bok choy and a cut of decadent looking fatty stewed pork. The cabbage looks rather real and has two small insects on its leaves.
I have a reservation at the brilliantly planned and fascinatingly delicious ‘Banquet of NPM Imperial Treasure’ at ‘Silks Palace’ (validated restaurant at the museum), the first course served is an original version of that delightful Jadeite Cabbage with two sergestid shrimp on top to look like the katydid and locust on the jade piece.
Following on the schedule is the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, milestone and tourist attraction founded in reminiscence of previous President of the Republic of China. Of course, I love culture and history, so I enjoy watching the changing of the guards’ ceremony!
As hunger pangs strike I make sure that I am treated to some of the best Taiwanese food on offer. So, off I set to this celebrated dumpling house ‘Din Tai Fung’.
We gorge on numerous dim sum dishes, and all of the pork, shrimp and vegetable dumplings that we eat are bursting with a lovely mouth-watering sauce inside. I also try the popular ‘Bubble tea’, an iced tea with milk, sweet and full of little black jellies. The jellies are chewy and sweet and the tea enormously smooth and delicious.
OF NIGHT MARKETS
Taipei is inordinate for shopping, reaching from extraordinary end fashionable clothes to its night markets. Later that evening on my agenda is the JienTan Night market, which opens every evening at 6.00 pm.
The lights, the sounds, the smells all captivate me. The following night I also go to the Shilin night market which is very widespread and distributed into two parts. I love the food court that houses myriad of hawkers selling local delights. I suggest one should stroll along the Yang-Ming section first for some merchandizing therapy before striking the food court where one can rest one’s legs and tuck in cheap food in comfort.
MUST DO
- Your Visit to Taipei would be unfinished without going to the famous 101, an edifice wonder. The ground floor of the building is a mall and a paradise for shoppers. The mall is roomy and bursting with designer stores.
- Hand Puppet Theatre is the most expressive and predominant genuine theatre in Taiwan. It is a good idea to visit See-Join Puppet Theater Restaurant that consortiums local Taiwanese cuisine and the theatre.
FAST FACTS
Best Way to Reach – Cathay pacific offers the best connectivity
Visa – Possessing a valid or expired (10 years ago) visa to USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, any of the Schengen countries entitles Indians to an online visa to Taiwan.
Currency– The currency used is the Taiwan New Dollar. 1 TWD equals to approximately 2.30 INR
Best Place to Stay –
K Hotel has a characteristic post-modern design, harmonized with judiciously designated bedding and supplemented by the K Hotels service essence that has continued unaffected for numerous years, proposing an all-new space familiarity to the visitors and making business hotels more sophisticated and guest-friendly.
