Originally Posted by
DanielW
Looks like a great few days. How does it compare overall with similar places in Asia, i.e. Hong Kong and Singapore?
Thanks DanielW. You'd definitely enjoy TPE for one of your short, action-packed trips.
Never been to SIN. We actually stopped in HKG on this same trip for a one day layover, and I went to HKG for a few days 10 years ago. HKG and TPE are similar in that there are a few cool tourist highlights but not a ton of famous sites. It's personal preference and I know some people love visiting HKG, but I find it a bit sterile and boring and lacking character. I realize I'm generalizing entire countries based on a few days in each, but my impression is that the TWese are more fun and friendly and the HKese are more serious and businesslike. To me, HKG just seems like a bland place with a bunch of expensive luxury brand shops everywhere, and TPE has much more character. Though, if we were ever expats, we'd probably enjoy life in HKG much better than TPE for the much bigger expat/Anglo community.
Originally Posted by
michlflyer
Absolutely agree with your comment about Taiwanese people being a big highlight of visiting. I recently spent a month there and that trip confirmed the positive impression two previous short trips had made.
Seems you got a lot done in only two days. The Maokong gondola trip provides great views as well as being surprisingly inexpensive, as you pointed out. Did you go in one of the glass bottomed gondolas?
I think 101 is best appreciated from Xiangshan, though given the humidity climbing the path up requires a certain amount of stamina.
Taking the red metro line to the final stop at Tamsui is another possibility if you want to get out of the city.
Thank you for sharing. Your trip notes are a great guide for people thinking of a short visit to Taipei.
Thanks michlflyer. We didn't want to wait maybe an extra 10-15 minutes for the glass bottomed cable car, and it made us a little nervous anyway. The views were beautiful, even in the covered bottom car.
Yeah, the view of 101 from Xiangshan does look great. It would have been nice to get there for sunset or at night to take some photos, but with 2 nights in TPE and cloudy/rainy December weather most of the time, the timing seemed too difficult.