Tanja KUOThere is always one country out there, you heard about it and you think you will travel there one day. But it is never on your top one destination where to go. Taiwan maybe is the one, you want to travel to.
Taiwan is a small island country that located in Asia. You might have heard about it but do you know anything about it?
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In fact, I am not surprised about this at all. Taiwan is an island country and it is three times smaller than New York State, check it out
Being a Taiwanese, I’d not seen more than 50 western foreigners in my life before I have been travelling around the world. My hometown is the second big city in Taiwan called Kaohsiung and located in the south of Taiwan.
5 Reasons Why Travel To Taiwan
- Scenery
- Cuisine
- 3C Products
- Hot springs
- Religion
Taiwan has never been a popular destination to travel despite Taiwan having many spectacular natural sceneries.
Here are some reasons below, I would like to share with you, Why Taiwan should be your next destination.
Travel Taiwan’s Scenery
If I tell you the cliff in Taiwan in the top 16 epic Cliff sides in the world. Are you a little interested now?
Taiwan is a small island country divided in two by a large mountain range. Eastern side of Taiwan faces the Pacific Ocean and you can see the magnificent views when driving along the Su Hua highway.
While driving on the highway, you will see two very different sceneries on each side; on the one side you can see the Pacific Ocean and on the other Qingshui Cliff and the Central mountain range in the background.
Besides this beauty view, there are many more gorgeous views all over Taiwan.
Travelling by car to Maolin national park from Kaohsiung will take less than an hour. Travelling by car around Taiwan is very quick and you will see magnificent views along the way!
Travel to Taiwan with Cuisine
Not long ago, I read an article, it claiming that Taiwan’s food is boring. It shocked me at first however, I realized that the majority of food in Asia for me is quite spicy or salty; and I also realised that too many people might find Taiwanese food to be boring or tasteless.
Nevertheless, everyone has their own taste when it comes to food! There are some foods that originally come from Taiwan that you might not expect and I would say Taiwanese food definitely is a highlight and that is why you should travel to Taiwan. You may have heard of Bubble tea for instance.
Something you should try
The classical Bubble tea is (Fresh) Milk and bubble known as pearls (which are Tapioca balls) combined together, they make the drink even tastier with additional toppings.
The bubble shops now are spread across many different counties, and of course some countries started inventing their own favors now. But you should travel to Taiwan and try the original one.
There is a street about 1km long near my parents’ home, and bubble tea shops probably occupy half of the street, Taiwan truly is the home of bubble tea!
3C Products
Some of you may have heard about companies like ASUS or Acer, you may not have known that these companies are from Taiwan.
As I mentioned before, Taiwan is never a popular destination because Taiwan’s economy does not rely on tourism, but relies heavily on manufacturing instead.
Taiwan produces a lot of high tech that you can see everywhere including ASUS, Acer and MSI and many more. You can buy the 3C products in Taiwan and it usually will be cheaper than others.
Here is my experience
Early this year, I went back to Taiwan to visit my parents and friends with my partner, and unfortunately, my phone’s battery had something wrong with it and needed replacing. I did not make an appointment, instead, I just went to a phone shop which is a licensed Apple reseller.
They had nice service and they were willing to help me out and rushed to fix my phone asap. By the time, I left the shop and headed to see my friend, within 50 mins just as we were leaving the MRT and headed to Taipei 101, they called me to pick up my phone.
Boom, that is not gonna happen in Melbourne. Why not? Because my partner has had previous experience in authorized Apple stores and the service is never as good as the service I got in Taipei.
Hot spring
Visiting the a hot spring during the cold winter period is the best thing ever! If you are a fan of hot springs, Taiwan is a country you do not want to miss to travel around.
In this small island, there are three hot spring areas that are very famous, Beitou Hot Spring, Zhiben and Green Island.
Green Island’s Zhaori Hot Spring
The Zhaori hot spring in Green island is one of only three seawater hot springs in the world, the other two are in Japan and Italy. The Zhaori hot spring is next to the rocky beach spectacular Pacific Ocean view.
Green island is a small island next to Taiwan which takes about 50-60 minutes to get to by ferry or a 15 minute flight. Green Island is so small it only takes about 30-40 minutes to explore by scooter, 3 hours by bicycle or 19km by walking.
If you cannot afford to fly to Green Island, Beitou or Zhiben might be a good option.
Beitou Hot Spring in Taipei
Beitou is located in New Taipei city and is suitable for the tourist short-term stay in Taiwan. From Taipei Main MRT station to Beitou station takes only 25 mins by Metro system.
The admission fee for Beitou Public Hot Spring costs only NTD $40 (USD $1.4 OR AUD $2).
Of course if you prefer a private one, there are some hotels nearby,too. The price range NTD $400 to $2800 (USD $13.5 – $93.65 OR AUD $20 – $140)
Religion
Religion in Taiwan is very diverse, however Taoism is the biggest one and some Christian, Buddhism and a very few Jewish or Muslim people. Of course Atheism is getting popular with the younger generation now.
In one street, there are different temples or churches next to each other and nobody feels offended about that.
I know some of you probably confused about the culture between China (Republic People of China) and Taiwan (Republic Of China).
Indeed, the majority Taiwanese’s ancestors came from the Ming dynasty or the Qing dynasty which the country was not PRC yet.
They brought the religion of old china (or previous dynasty) to Taiwan. That is why Taoism is still the main religion in Taiwan.
After those reason above, I hope you have a little bit interested in Taiwan now. Taiwan’s travel/living cost is not as cheap as some southeast Asian countries. The price below is just a simple example.
Costs
The cost of traveling in Taiwan is not as cheap as some of southeast Asian countries besides, price in Taipei, it is always higher than other cities.
Accommodation Price in Tawan:
- Backpacker one bunk bed hostel is about NTD $450 – $800 per night (USD $15-26.74 OR AUD $22.66 – 40.69) (07.03.20 currency)
- Hotel start from NTD $1800 per night (USD $60 OR AUD $90). It all depends on the season, location and hotel level.
Food Price in Taiwan:
- Food Street food in Taiwan is relatively cheaper than small shops or restaurants.
- Roughly price is between NTD $10 -100 and restaurants NTD $150 – 300 per dish.
Conclusion :
Everyone plans their trip for a different reason, it can be a food trip, a scenery trip and even a religious trip. People curious about what they can feel, explore and taste in Taiwan.
Taiwan is a country with people from different groups and backgrounds gathering together and living together. Since Taiwan has been colonised by the Dutch, Spanish and Japanese, things such as the food and language has been blended over the years by these different cultures.
Travel tools
*Both offer cheaper entry tickets to many attractions, such as museums and theme parks. You can even get discounts on sim cards, transportations and much much more.
When I look for flight tickets I usually go to:
Skyscanner is the biggest flight ticket search website
When I look for accommodation I usually go to:
- Agoda (Tip: if you book without a refund policy, you can usually get a very good deal).
- Booking.com (my favorite website, easy to manage your bookings).
- Hotel.com (If you need to book more than 10 nights, you will get one night for free).
Read more about Travel Tips
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