Taipei, Taiwan in Winter/Spring
It’s cherry blossoms season in Taiwan. I’m seeing a lot of throwback suggestions on Instagram and Facebook from last year, thus the purpose of this blog. I’m going back to Taiwan this May so I might do another blog about the place. It was just a 3-day short trip so there’s a bunch more that I was not able to see.
Blog Contents:
The first 3 on my list were from a 1-day tour with KKday which took up Day 1 of our 3-day Taiwan tour. For the tour, we met up with the rest of the tourists around 8:45 am at the Taipei Main Station. There were about 20 of us, if not more. We were confused at first because there were other tour groups also meeting up at the Taipei Main Station. If you want to take this tour, be sure you’re at the right Exit/Gate. Some may be weighing their options as to whether to join a tour or to DIY. Tours are great if you have limited time and wanted to cover as much as possible without wasting time. The downside of it is that you don’t have control of your time. Everything is already scheduled and there’s only enough (sometimes not even) time to go around.
The 4th and 5th on the list were covered on the 2nd day. The cherry blossoms escapade was impromptu. We were supposed to just go around the city but who can let these beautiful flowers pass?
The 6th was on the final day. We were supposed to go to other nearby places but who are we kidding? We got stuck in our photo session at the memorial. The last part was the other places we’ve gone to on our short trip.
Click on the captions to get you to the blog post
Yehliu Geopark:
Yehliu Geopark is situated in the northern part of Taiwan. It is famous for its beautiful rock formations due to erosion. The park is amazing though packed with other tourists. I would have loved to stay longer but our photo session was cut short by the limited time given to us as allotted by the tour company. The main geological formations are also about a 10min-walk from the entrance.
Yehliu Geopark features unique formations such as the Queen’s Head, Princess’s Head, Fairy Shoe to name a few. It’s an expansive park that requires more than just an hour if you’ll ask me. This is mainly because rocks with different shapes, colors, and sizes fascinate me.
Picture was taken from the farther part of the Yehliu Geopark 
If I’m not mistaken, this is one of the famous formations found the Yehliu Geopark. 
Big waves bludgeoning the rocks at the Yehliu Geopark.
We didn’t get the chance to take pictures of the famous spots because there were long queues. We the time that we had, we couldn’t afford to line up. The whole place though is a wonder just as much.
Shifen Old Street:
Shifen Old Street is the home of the old railroad town and sky lanterns. The place has that old town charm where different small shops can be found on the side of the railroad. The shops offer various goods from souvenirs to local food to sky lanterns and others. We were given about an hour and a half to explore the place, but we basically consume everything writing on our lanterns. If you plan to visit this place, it’s good to experience writing down your desires and releasing lanterns in the middle of the railroad.
The railroad is still operational. Since the lanterns are released on the track, they will have to clear the path when a train passes by. It kind of reminded me of the movies when actors visit their hometowns in the province. We call this PNR back home.
The lanterns are actually of different colors with different meanings. It’s more like the colors of candles when you want to pray for something. Prices are 150TWD for single-colored and 200TWD for multicolored lanterns (4 colors, 1 each side).
Lantern Colors: Red for Health, Yellow for Wealth, Blue for Career, Purple for Exam, White for a Bright future, Orange for Love, Green for Success, Magenta for Popularity, and Pink for Happiness.
They will hang the sky lanterns of your choice for the writing of the wishes. You will be provided with markers to write down your prayers and wishes. After this, you will be led out to the railroad for the release of the lantern. The assistants can take videos and pictures so be sure to give your phones or cameras. If you’re with someone, you may just work with 1 lantern because they will not wait for all of you to finish one-by-one.
Jiufen Old Street:
Jiufen Old Street is a very old yet chic compound that used to house nine families. It’s also called Kau-hun in Hokkien which is literally translated as “nine portions” from during the time the nine families who once dwelled here would ask nine portions of every shipment that comes. It is also famous for its close resemblance to the setting of the Japanese animation entitled “Spirited Away”, I’m not familiar with the movie though, my sister just told me it was the movie’s inspiration.
I love the place for its ambiance, the lanterns that go all throughout the streets, and the variety of food sold in the shops. It’s one of the better places in Taiwan to go food trips in, it offers noodles, fish balls, herbal cakes, taro balls, red yeast Taiwanese meatballs, braised food, etc. – given you’re not claustrophobic.
We decided not to go back with the group so our time was not rushed. There was this cozy cafe on the corner of one of the alleys that gives you this beautiful vantage point to sip coffee in while people watching :).
Coffee while trying to get a content pic of the Jiufen alley. 
This staircase led us down to an open space good for taking photos.
Some areas can get jam-packed, and I mean jam-packed, with tourists to the brink of discomfort. Open spaces though are nice spots for taking pictures.
Yangmingshan National Park
The original main purpose of our Taiwan trip was actually to see the Taiwanese cherry blossoms, but we’re only there for 3 days and we wanted to explore so the idea was pushed back. On the second day though, when we were trying to figure out where exactly we wanted to go, we saw these beautiful cherry blossom pictures on Instagram taken in the Yangmingshan National Park. It was a no brainer for us, we decided to see for ourselves. I can’t remember how we got there, but you can take bus 260 from the Taipei Main Station.
“Cherry Blossom: is a flower of several trees of genus Prunus, particularly the Japanese Cherry Blossom, Prunus Serrulata, which is called sakura after the Japanese.”
“Yīnghuā: oriental cherry (Prunus serrulata or Prunus yedoensis), prized for its blossom”
– various sites
Cherry blossoms or not, Yangmingshan National Park is a gem in itself, I would love to go back here and explore the hiking trails, hot springs, and the rest of its wildlife. The park is extensive with different distinct geographical features.
For this trip though, we were only in Yangmingshan for the cherry blossoms. The cherry blossoms are not in full bloom yet as we ideally have in mind but the flowers ranged from the palest to the most shocking of pinks, piercing through the various shades of green. We walked around a bit and found a spot perfect for our photo session.
We were dead-set focused on capturing the beautiful flowers that we even hopped off the bus in the middle of who-knows-where when we saw a bunch of super pink cherry blossom flowers on the side of the street – of course, we weren’t the only ones.
Elephant Mountain: Taipei 101 Sunset View
If you’re looking for a better view of the Taipei 101 and you don’t mind a short hike, then the Elephant Mountain has the best vantage point in my opinion. It’s about a 20min walk from the Taipei 101 and is accessible from the Xiangshan Station MRT station. It offers not only a view of the tower but the whole Taipei as well.
If you prefer comfort over fashion, sneakers are the way to go as it is a series of steps going up. I strongly suggest not to exchange fashion over safety (lol)…as much as possible, wear something flat and low, the stairs can get steep in some parts and the steps – not too wide.
A view of Taipei 101 from the foot of the trail. 
It’s hard to find a nice picture of Taipei 101 minus heads of other tourists. 😛 
Taipei 101 at night
If you want to get the perfect sunset view, try going there at least an hour to an hour and a half before the scheduled sunset. We went there around 5 PM in the afternoon and stayed until 7 PM for the sunset and night views. You can stay longer or shorter depending on your preference. Atop is full of tourists so be sure to bring patience with you when you try to find that perfect spot and shot, It’s worth it!
Sun on it’s way to set. 
Almost twilight zone. 
You can never go wrong with a natural mixture of orange, lavender, indigo and a touch of pink.
The view from Taipei 101 is not bad as well, Taipei is a well-lit city at night and the tower gives you a perfect 360 view. You may need to be resourceful when taking pictures though as the light inside reflects in the glass. You can try hiding by the pillars, that’s what I did, or just cover the area surrounding your lens – I can’t remember if they provide covers for the sides of your lens.
Chiang Kai-shek Memorial
Before heading to the airport, we decided to have a go for a half-day DIY Taipei tour only to end up stuck in the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial taking pictures and Instagram stories. Growing up, I only knew of Chiang Kai-shek as a school of math-wiz, but it was named after a General who served as the leader of the Republic of China from the early to late ’90s.
The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial is a huge complex built in honor of its namesake. It features an octagon-shaped building with the number 8 symbolizing wealth and fortune, as well as two staircases in both sides with 89 steps each symbolizing the age when Chiang Kai-shek died.
Inside the hall is a bronze statue guarded by military personnel with guards changing every hour.
Outside is a wide space with buildings at each side leading to the gate where we took most of our pictures in. The tiled floor gives a really nice accent if you want an “instagrammable picture”.
The Chiang Kai-shek memorial is close to Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station.
Others
Raohe Night Market: Like any other place, night markets are huge hits, especially for tourists wanting to find cheap and affordable souvenirs and personal finds. Night markets are also great places to go to if you want to try street food and some local delicacies.
The nearest and most accessible night market from our place was Raohe Night Market. It’s one of the oldest night markets in Taipei and has this very pleasing old Chinatown vibe. It’s right beside the beautiful Ciyou Temple, I was curious and wanted to take pictures inside as it looked great outside but I didn’t want to disrespect.
We walked through the entire street and checked a few shops and food stalls – highly recommended, just don’t expect it to be a walk-in-the-park as it is a night market, there will always be a heavy people traffic.
Taipei Main Station: The Taipei Main Station is technically the Grand Central Station of Taipei in terms of commute. It served both the city metro and the High-speed rail. We weren’t there for a longer period so we never really got the chance to explore and try their high-speed train.
There were a few people inside the station when we went there, I’m not sure if they were all passengers.
There goes our Taiwan trip, hoping to see more of the city and other provinces in Taiwan when we go back, I’m particularly interested to see what other things the Yangmingshan park has to offer as I love myself a good nature hike.
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