Taipei in Taiwan

​The hidden jewel of Asia, Taiwan!  I had the pleasure to spend 5 days and 6 nights in Taipei.  Taipei is for the most part a bustling Asian city full of lights, exotic foods, and plenty of nightlife.  I found myself in the Xinyi district home of the iconic Taipei 101 building that features many restaurants and high end retail stores.  My first night however I stayed at the San Want Residences Taipei right across the street from Linsen Park and near the green line for easy subway access.  The San Want is in an awesome neighborhood that features many Japanese restaurants, and karaoke bars that you can drink the night away at.  I would recommend staying in this area for a few nights and then moving onto to Xinyi if you are pressed for time.

I also had the unique pleasure of going outside the city for the festival of lanterns which was quite amazing and spent some time with new friends I met from across the world.  My tour guide Jill who is native Taiwanese took me to all parts of the city and we had authentic Chinese dumplings, shaved ice, and went to an aboriginal Taiwanese restaurant for a massive seafood platter, singing and dancing.   We also went to several markets, cultural buildings and the famous Mengjia Longshan Temple. Some other recommendations I would like to share are climbing to the top of Elephant mountain for a challenging nature hike and climatic view of the city.  In addition, I highly suggest checking out Yamachan Izakaya near the Taipei city hall station for their fabulous chicken wings.  Our group ate 135 of them.  SOOOOOO GOOD!

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Blog post written by Casey Nolan, check out the full article and much much more on his travel website. Where you can even book your own travel adventures: ​http://caseynolan.com/