Overview
** TAIWAN TOURS **
Read travel tips for Taiwan from our amazing community of BLACK AND BROWN TRAVELERS that will help you find some of the best places to visit in Taiwan.Our variety of travel tips will definitely help you plan your next trip. Our tips range from best places to visit in Taiwan, affordability, nightlife, local food, where to stay and even what it is like Traveling While Black. Lastly, we are working diligently to create a comprehensive city guide for Taiwan tours. Stay tuned! But in the meantime, scroll down to read tips below!
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Taiwan is recently in the news because of potential conflict with China but that shouldn’t defer anyone. It is an extremely safe country, you can go out at anytime of night to buy a snack and have no fear at all of having a problem. However I gave romance and traveling while black only 3 stars because of culture and language barriers. Taiwanese people are shy and even if they can English most people will not engage you despite the fact that black people don’t travel there much so its a missed opportunity for a cultural exchange. I dont really like shy people(shy and quiet are different things btw) and the fact that is so hot and humid in the summer i mostly stay in my room. Because there a few black people here when we see one we typically will engage with each other. There are also the Native Taiwanese who have their own culture and are different from the Chinese but they are further down south. Its rare to see them in Taipei.
I moved to Taiwan to Teach English. I always say that 5 (US) dollars goes a long way.
My Wifw and I went to Taichung,Taiwan Jan 2019, it’s where my Wife is From so it was all normal things for her but different for me. They have this thing called “The Night Market” If you ever go make sure you go out to the Night Market. They have amazing food to try and cheap places to get clothes and different things you can bring back to the states that we don’t have. We stayed with her mom who lives over in Taiwan. The restaurant and mom and pop shops are delicious. 7-Eleven was way different from ours they had actually full course meals inside lol. People there were every Friendly, I can say there is a lot of building up because the island is so small so yes it’s lost of cigarette smokers and the smoke ? is kinda overwhelming.
Taipei was cool, but people smoke cigarettes here like I drink water. It was a bit much and overbearing. I could barley breath in the clubs. Everything is pretty cheap and the people are nice. However, you can tell they don’t see black people often as the stares were obvious. Folks for sure party harder than I’ve ever seen. Even in college I’ve never seen so many people get carried out of the club or throw up in a club in my life, but I guess that’s what happens we you drink boatloads of cheap liquor (couldn’t find anything other than well liquors). Wasn’t a fan of the food so I mostly ate snacks from a family market. Folks weren’t as nice here as they were in the Philippines, but it was cool. Overall cool experience, but not my favorite in the trip.
I was in Taipei for two full days. Taipei is well developed and equivalent to any big cities in the US. They have amazing food choices to pick from and they pretty cheap. I kept stuffing my face with food cause it was just so hard to resist them when they are good, and I know it will be new to my taste buds. There are tons to do. Their temples are nice as well, there are more content to it than the ones you see in Bali. The night life is good as well. They have a night market where you can buy a lot of products from fruits to clothing at an affordable price. There is also a big mall close to Taipei 101 (tallest building in Taipei and possibly the second tallest building in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai). You can shop for brand name clothings there, and numerous rooftop lounge/bars in that area as well. The landscape in Taipei is beautiful as well and lush green outside downtown. The drive from downtown to Yehliu Geopark is very beautiful. I would recommend going to see the Queen’s head in Yehliu Geopark. People mainly use the metro, it is affordable and very clean. You need to know Mandarin for ease so download a translator app of choice, I would recommend SayHi translate app.
Traveling while black: When I was there, I literally saw only two black men, one for each day that I was there. Also note that I did a lot of sightseeing, so I was not cooked up at my lodging and not seeing a lot of people. This was very shocking to me. You will get a lot of stares as though they don’t see black people much which is true. While a bit uncomfortable, I got the feeling that it was an admirable stare. I came to visit my friend and every now and then she would tell me that a person who we are interacting with thinks I am very beautiful. Now, I did not have my natural hair out, I had a bob style Brazilian weave so that may have tripped them a bit from what they are use to seeing.
Took a train from Taipei to a neighboring town 2 hours away to view this unique Rainbow village. The village housed veterans. Out of 1200 homes only a few homes remain standing Due to redevelopment of the neighborhood. To prevent demolition, one former soldier preserved those homes by painting murals on them making it a tourist attraction. The homes re used as a museum today.
I lived in Taiwan for a full year and I loved it! It was an incredible experience. It was so cheap to eat in the night markets !! The people were so friendly. I loved it and so will you! Try the red bean buns.
I have lived in Taiwan for the past 7 years and would love to share some of the tips that I think would be quite beneficial for tourists. Firstly, Taiwan is not just Taipei. The further south you go, the more culture you get to explore. The East Coast is home to the most beautiful beaches on the island. The only time I would not advise visiting Taiwan is during the Lunar New Year, because it would be a waste of a trip. Everything shuts down and major cities turn into ghost towns because it’s time to be with family. Other holidays are great vacation times as you can even get a peek of the culture through some of the celebrations that are held around the country during those times. For example, during the Dragon Boat festival in June, which is one of my personal favourites, you get to watch dragon boat races and indulge in zongzi or as the rest of us call it, rice dumplings. There are many different ways to get from the airport to whichever city you decide to visit in Taiwan, but if like most tourists, you decide on Taipei, the best way is to take the MRT. Get yourself an easy card at the airport MRT station. You can use this card on public transportation such as buses, local trains, MRT and some taxis as well as at convenient stores. Do not get the tourist easy card, I suggest getting the normal adult easy card as it is cheaper at NTD 100 + whatever amount you want to add onto the card, and is not restrictive. A trip from the Airport to Taipei Main Station on the MRT is about 50 minutes and costs NTD 160 whether you take the express or commuter trains. AirBnBs are very prominent in Taipei. Depending on what time you visit, you can get a room from as low as NTD 600 a night to as high as your budget allows. There are also a number of hotels that you could check out deals from on Trip.com, Trivago, Booking.com or my current favourite Agoda, with its awesome flash deals. Getting around in Taipei is quite easy with the MRT. Important to note is that other cities except for Kaohsuing in the South do not have the luxury of the metro. So, if you do decide to visit other cities, you will have to rely on buses, taxis or Ubers. Another important thing to know about Taiwan is that English is not a major language so expect to have incidences of language barrier and miscommunication. If you go to the touristy or popular places, you will come across a few people who can communicate in English but the further out of Taipei you go, the less English speakers you will encounter. However, this does not stop Taiwanese from going out of their way to help you as best as they can especially if you are a foreigner. Taiwanese are wonderful people who are selfless, which is one of the many reasons I have stayed here for so long. There are plenty of things to do in Taiwan especially if you are in Taipei. Visit Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall (CKS), Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall (SYS) and the Grand Hotel for a taste of Taiwanese architecture and a short history lesson. Swap out the top of Taipei 101 for a hike up Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain) or visit The Top, a restaurant on YangMingShan for a beautiful view of the city especially in the evening. CKS and SYS are easily accessible by MRT. There’s a shuttle bus for the Grand Hotel from Jiantan MRT station on the red line and for The Top, you will need to get a cab or an Uber. Another must-do in Taipei is a visit to the many night markets especially Shilin Night Market near Jiantan MRT station to try stinky tofu, fried chicken, bubble milk tea and of course do a bit of souvenir shopping. The Shilin Night Market has a number of stalls selling all kinds of Taiwanese street food and a food court underground. You can also take a bus from the main station to Jiufen, which is an old street with beautiful views, stalls and fascinating historical stories or take a bus to Yehliu Geo Park to see some beautiful sculptures created by nature. Taipei has a lively night life with bars and clubs that cater to all different beverage and music tastes. Some of the clubs are all you can drink with pretty affordable cover charges. When you are tired of Taipei, feel free to jump onto the HSR and head down south to check out the awesome amusement parks in either Hsinchu, Taichung or Kaohsuing. The Dragon and Tiger Pagodas and Fo Guang Shan Buddha Museum are a must-see in Kaohsuing and whilst in Taichung, you can also visit Sun Moon Lake. You could also hop onto the local train and head East to discover Taiwan’s hidden natural treasures at Taroko National Park and Qingshui Cliff in Hualian. You could go further SouthEast to Taitung to catch a ferry to one of the Taiwanese islands called Green Island. Access to Green Island will of course depend on the weather. Taiwan is also pretty affordable and safe but that does not mean you can be careless with your possessions. As a black person, travelling in Taiwan is similar to some of the other Asian countries that I have been to but they are definitely a bit nicer here. You will encounter the stares, kids pointing at you and gossip about your hair or sometimes random fingers in your hair (which never makes sense to me) but that’s it. Taiwanese really care about people’s feelings so they will not say something that will intentionally hurt you, both in English and in Mandarin. It is also important to take the language barrier into account when having conversations with most Taiwanese. Some things may be said without any malice intended but come out wrong to you. With all that said, Taiwan is one of my favourite countries in South-East Asia and I would urge more people to visit.
I’ve lived in Taiwan for almost 5 years now, if you plan to travel here, it’s quite affordable in terms of food. You can find many different times of Asian cuisines and also they have a wide variety of American restaurants. In the American restaurant most workers intend to speak mandarin, compared to the local restaurant, most won’t be able to and most of the menus would written in mandarin so please have your google translate ready at all times.
I spent 4 nights in Taipei and I was able to spend some time there before it really got hot during the summer. One of the things to do is to check out the various Night Markets across the city. Some are more local while some are bit more catered to tourists. You’ll find various food stalls and pop up shops. Taipei also has one of the tallest buildings in the world (and was the tallest for a brief moment), the Taipei 101 tower. You can also do some hiking within the city to Elephant Mountain. Great views but a pretty good hike (very steep). I also took a day trip to southeastern Taiwan to visit Toroko Gorge which is a good break if you want to get away from Taipei.
I had a layover of 20 hours so I spent a day in Taipei (Taiwan). It was in the summer and I wasn’t ready for the heat. It was above 38 celcius degrees. It’s a big and really modern/clean city. We went to the memorial hall and the architecture it’s just really beautiful. You should also eat the beef noodle soup at YongKang beef noodles. It was so delicious!! Also try the bubble tea. I didn’t really liked the taste but you should definitely try it. Then we went for a hike at the elephant mountain. It was really exhausting for me but when at the top you have the most amazing view of Taipei with the Taipei 101 (Tower). Before heading to the airport we also went to the shillin night market. You can buy fruit, gadgets, souvenirs and clothes. I was amazed by the cute and nice clothes they were selling. I wasn’t prepared for that. So if you are a woman you should definitely bring extra money to buy some outfits.