My first trip to Taiwan is such a great one. I visited Taipei, Hualien, Danshui in 9 days. I have boarded a Taidong (Green Island 绿岛) flight but the airplane couldn't land Taidong for bad weather.

I have taken many photos I will post them in batches.

Cheers :banana:

Starting from the hot spring spa in Spring Hotel (春天酒店) in Beitou (北投）

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Songshan Airport (a small airport) - flying to Taidong (flew back after 2 hours :( )

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Taipei from the air

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Outside of Songshan Airport

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Taking Taipei MTR (捷运) to train station (to Hualien)

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MTR map

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artistic

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We couldn't get the HSR

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_5823_resize.jpg

at Hualien

槟榔 (Betel nut) -- sorry its not my best favorite

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_5828_resize.jpg

阿美麻糬 (Mashu store)

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_5849_resize.jpg

Fruit 释迦, my first try -- very nice!

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_5863_resize.jpg

Visiting Tzu-Chi 慈济, the buddhist charity organization (a lot of mosquitos there :) )

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Will post Taroko 太鲁阁 photos next...

nice pics:banana:

Why didn't you stay one more day for the national day celebration?

Beautiful

Thanks for sharing!

Why didn't you stay one more day for the national day celebration?

Good point. I was dying to stay one more night for the celebration but there's an important meeting on 10.10 so I have to leave. What a pity.

continue my pics with Taroko 太鲁阁

very good scenery and nice resort, reminding me of those in North China not the south

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hiking trail

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Taking HSR to Taipei from Hualien

Hualien station

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inside

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6122_resize.jpg

the train

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6138_resize.jpg

lunch box on the train 便当， Best train food I've ever had

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Arriving Tapei, Taipei Railway Station

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Taxi outside the station

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Bought some 槟榔 from this girl (not for me!)

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heading for Danshui Old Street 淡水老街

Fried Chicken

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A'gei is my favorite

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6230_resize.jpg

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And fish ball

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My lifetime favorite fruit 番石榴 (it's called Bale 芭乐 in taiwan, looks a bit different)

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6224_resize.jpg

love the vivid night market, full of people, life and culture

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6244_resize.jpg

Next stop, Taiwan National Palace 台北故宫...

thx for sharing. i enjoyed them.

Thanks for sharing! Oh how I miss Danshui & Agei. I'll be going back to Taiwan soon and hopefully I'll get to go to Lan Yu :)

hi Big Dog,
where do you buy the bento box, at the station or on the train?

Thank you all.

hi Big Dog,
where do you buy the bento box, at the station or on the train?

At Hualien station. I keep the iron box as a souvenir.

continued...

Taipei National Palace 台北故宫

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sorry its not allowed to take photos inside

This is a good and expensive restaurant

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翡翠白菜

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肉型石

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6310_resize.jpg

Finally Taipei 101, up to the top in a foggy day

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this LOVE statue looks good, its similar to the Love in love square, philadelphia

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fastest elevator in the world

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660 ton damper, my favorite

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observatory deck

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in elevator down to the ground level

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Love taiwan, love taizhong, love nantou, thank you for sharing

here comes the interesting Taiwan motel, very different from that in other countries; it's like lover's hotel.

I got a soccer theme room though;

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another hotel nearby

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6465_resize.jpg

is the last one in beitou or neihu?? i say that because there are hills on the background.

is the last one in beitou or neihu?? i say that because there are hills on the background.

I think it's neihu. Its near the MTR 捷運劍南路站 and a ferris wheel (美麗華摩天輪).

City center area

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city hall

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parliament

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Dunnan Chengpin, a 24-hour bookstore, my favorite

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President office

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office of the public prosecutor

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an interesting residental at city center

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an old biker

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Yuanshan Hotel, a landmark hotel of Taipei.

Looks fabulous

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http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6562_resize.jpg

the facility is a bit old though

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6552_resize.jpg

view from the balcony

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Nice pictures :).

That old 11-story building from one of the photos above seems to have been stripped down to the bare bone! It used to have signs all over the building.

Is it possible that they are renovating...or even...tearing it down and building a new one? That would be awesome! That building gives me headache every time I walk by.

^^ It is going to be renovated, and it is office building not residential, once I managed to get to this building roof from the back staircases.

Thanks for the tour, made me miss Taiwan :)

big dog,
did you join a tour group? love your itineraies. i plan to go next year.

The first part is a tour group, but all members are my MBA classmates. The last 2 days are free tour all by myself, then I visited a couple of personal interests and rented a bike to look around the Taipei 101 area.

It was a very nice trip overall, its very worth visiting, I'll go again hopefully in the near future.

The Jiufen 九份 old street is located on the top of a hill, very unique

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6606_resize.jpg

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http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6620_resize.jpg

a tea house on the top of the hill

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good view while drinking tea

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6626_resize.jpg

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yummy..

big dog, where r u visiting from? i am in north carolina.

^^ :)

I'm visiting from Shanghai.

flying lantern in Pingxi 平溪放天灯

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西门町

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one of the best noodles I've ever had (the other one is from Sichuan Yibin)

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bars, haha

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6544_resize.jpg

in ximending, you have to visit the red house too. Very nice old building with creatives shops inside.

^^ really? I think it is more famous for something else than "creative shops inside" :lol:

nice pics. they should sell off grand hotel to a private firm and do a major renovation as govt. has allowed this once "grand hotel" to become second rate hotel. ive always thought they should put in a big long water fountain in the front to jazz it up. it would look especially nice illuminated at night. rooms look really bland and needs to be completely updated. they need balcony furniture on those huge balconies; talk about a waste of space.

and they should renovate taipei city hall. that is one of the most blandest boring buildings ever.

^^ really? I think it is more famous for something else than "creative shops inside" :lol:

I'm a bit slow. Is there something funny inside?

wandering on Taipei street myself

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Lunch: beef noodle

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so good, love it

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go take a subway

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6705_resize.jpg

metro card (yoyo card)

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subway station

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city hall stop, renting a bicycle

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the bike lane is good!

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6755_resize.jpg

me

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Nice! Thanks for sharing!

I'm a bit slow. Is there something funny inside?

Not inside, outside at the back square, have you been there?

an old news:
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2007/07/20/2003370529

^^ I obviously missed the Raibow over the Red House Theater :) Thanks for letting me know.

random photos at Taipei 101 area

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http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6759_resize.jpg

what is he asking for? :)

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http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6752_resize.jpg

an interesting new building

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6767_resize.jpg

a singer

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6780_resize.jpg

National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall 国父纪念馆

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who are they?

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bike returned here

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff426/big-dog1/IMG_6821_resize.jpg

going to Shilin Night Market next 士林夜市。。。

^^ I obviously missed the Raibow over the Red House Theater :) Thanks for letting me know.

let the 3 of us meet over there the next time u guys r in taipei

sure! (BTW Im not a gay :) )

you know what's gay? those bikes.:sly: they are so flowery and uncool looking. who would want to ride them let alone a guy? i wouldnt!!

compare those to the rental bikes in europe. european design is just so frickin' cool.

http://blog.hostelbookers.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/London-cycle-scheme-UK-e1293097181533.jpg

http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1848/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1848-560857.jpg

yes when I first saw the bike I said "hmmm... the color...", then I realized it's designed as is for safety reasons (bright yellow and red), as a traveller I'm not so picky on public bikes :)

BTW the european public bikes are so cool. Here's the public bike from the area where I live (Shanghai Pudong). The design is so plain!

http://www.jfdaily.com/jfimg/2011-13/3642120.jpg

Anyway let me finish the trip pictures today.

taking subway to Shilin Night Market, all people recommended this market as a must-go to me, they are right!

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The Haodada fried chicken attracted over 30 people in the line...

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my dinner -- kezaijian 蚵仔煎 and Octopus and Taiwan beer!

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Taipei Taoyuan Airport -- Bye bye Taiwan!

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THE END

Can't see any of the pics, it says bandwidth exceeded.

my free photobucket account has a bandwidth limitation, it may take a while to appear again, sorry about that.

my dinner -- kezaijian 蚵仔煎 and Octopus and Taiwan beer!



So weird, nobody says "kezaijian" in Taiwan, it is only known under taiwanese (minnan) name, something like o-a-chian, I am not sure if there is transcription for this :)

Wow, details of everywhere. Nice shots!

thanks for sharing your photos! Love them all.... I also did walked around the Xinyi district by my self and trully taipei is really amazing! brought back a lot of memories there....
Next time i hope to visit central and southern taiwan =)

here are my memories of taipei
http://brownmantrips.com/category/series/taiwan-series/