Around Taiwan – Sun Moon Lake

We decided to take a day trip to Sun Moon Lake* (leaving from Taichung), as it is one of Taiwan’s main water attractions. And we were not disappointed!

*Take the Nantou (Taiwan Tourist) bus not far from the Main Taichung Train Station – the information desk will give you directions.

Once we got there it was clear that they had looked after this body of water very carefully. The whole lake was pristine blue clear water with very little of it’s lake edge used. Taiwan has carefully built a cycle track/walk-way along one side of the lake (no hills) for you to explore at your own pace or use the water taxi’s to go to two other locations on the lake.

The first thing we found out is that there is no swimming in the lake. They want to keep the lake free from disturbance as it is a man source of food for locals and the edges of the lake are silty. They also have quite a lot of boat traffic and do not want any one to get hit by a boat. You can however book a spot on one side of the island to swim in its waters – you will need to book this in advance and have transport to get there. The only time swimming is legal is in September with the annual lake swim challenge. However, if you accidentally fall in…

When you arrive there is a small tourist village where you can find accommodation, hire a bike to ride, grab some food or head down to the pier to catch a water taxi.

We headed straight to the boats and set out for the other side of the island where the first stop did not disappoint. Here we would find a bustling little market with some local delights! Of course we had to try – when in Rome!

Then we headed for the gondola’s to get a higher view of the lake. What we didn’t know is that the rain had decided to set in just as we were nearing the highest vantage point.

At the end of the gondola was the Aboriginal (native) Village / Show which we did not have time for but we could see that there were quite a few similarities to South American and even Maori carvings on their buildings. I think you would need a good half a day to go through this tourist attraction.

This all took a bit of time so we didn’t get to stop off at the last water taxi destination and walk up to a monument erected for Chiang Kai-Shek (quite a steep walk). Darn. Another time (perhaps).

A real gem of a day-trip and you will want the whole day to explore. So get on the bus early.

Around Taiwan – Taichung

So I decided that it was time to do a little bit of exploring so I went to the next closest big city – Taichung.

It was very easy to get to via the HSR (High Speed Rail) system. You can book tickets in advance (I used klook.com because they give you a discount for advanced bookings). Unless there is a public holiday or special event you should always be able to get a seat. and you can just purchase on the day. There are plenty of local trains (cheaper too) that also come out of Taipei and head south to Taichung.

Taichung was the second stop out of Taipei, a mere 30-40mins. Unfortunately I fell asleep and missed the stop, so went all the way to the bottom of the island (Kaohsiung – second biggest city) fortunately they kindly let me get on the next train back to Taichung (for free).

Taichung is a new growing city. With one of the largest and oldest universities in the Taiwan it seems to have a younger feel about it (as only university cities can do). They also have some great antique shops where you can find some quirky items.

The first thing I noticed was how clean everything felt. The air, footpaths, roads and shops seemed much cleaner than where I live in Taipei, which was a welcoming start. Even though there were quite a few universities and students, there wasn’t many scooters on the roads, compared to Taipei – which I found out later was because of the high numbers of foreign students not being able to drive in Taiwan.

Staying in a great little backpackers in the Tunghai (pronounced Dunghai) University area (www.tlifehostel.com) was a good choice as it was close to a student area where all food is cheap, accessible and delicious! All the restaurants and takeaways were so well presented you could have your pick of food styles. Below is a local spot where they also sell alcohol (not always and option in Taiwan), we had spicy chicken with nuts, beef with vegetables and a local leafy green which I can’t remember the name of.

The weather here is much more stable and settled than Taipei’s due to the large mountain ranges providing protection from the east. So it was very pleasant change from the humidity and continuous rain showers that I had been experiencing in Taipei.

Taichung doesn’t have a MRT (Metro) system but it does have a pretty robust bus system that works a lot like the MRT in Taipei.

It was really nice place to visit and a slightly slower pace. I definitely will come again!

New Taipei City – Wifi / Internet

Unless you have some great flatmates that will share their WiFi with you, best to get your own. Just pop down to your local MyPhone shop and get a pre-pay sim card that comes with data. I found that I couldn’t always hotspot to my flatmates wifi cause certain times of day/night the connections slow down – I’m guessing because the families are home and everyone is using it. Plus I had to be where they were at all times if I needed it.

Haven’t found any internet cafes but I’m guessing that is because it is so easy to get pre-paid data.

And you will need data for bus timetables, map directions and to contact people. They use Line App for most conversations rather than calling or texting.

New Taipei City – Food

The great thing about Taipei is that no matter where you live you have everything you need within about 5-10mins of home. At the bottom of our apartment block* we have two dairy’s and a toddlers english school. Across the road every morning there is the fruit and veg markets and a pharmacy. Up the road is a 7-11 (American convenience store) however they do a lot more than sell dairy items. You can pay your utilities here, withdraw foreign currency from he ATM’s and get cooked food! It really is a one stop shop.

And of course there are restaurants and street food for Africa! Unlike some other Asian countries I find that Taiwan doesn’t assault the senses with strange smells and fragrances. So when you do smell something yummy go with your instinct and try it out. A lot of the food here is fried so be careful how much you eat cause the oil isn’t always changed often.

Some of the great things I have already experienced are their bakery breads, beef noodles and their teas (bubble tea, oolong, mountain red, green tea). They also have really good Korean and Japanese restaurants, which make ordering particularly easy, as there are pictures of every dish so you know what exactly you are getting.

One thing to watch out for is the use of blood in their soups. You can identify if it does because it will look like heavy grey-brown congealed egg-whites. If you want to be on the safe side ask the waiter to make sure it has no blood.

However, all tourist must try the Taiwanese specialty dish “stinky tofu” the smell is foul but if you get it deep fried (hold your nose) its not so bad. Try it once to impress the locals.

*Moved house but pretty much a similar set up below our apartment.

New Taipei City – Getting around

Our apartment is close to the Xingshijiao station (last stop on the orange MRT line) which makes it very easy to get everywhere. Your never more than 20-30 mins from any destination that is accessible to the MRT. I suggest using the MRT as much as possible as it is clean fast and never that crowded (unlike the roads).

I have been given a push bike*(because I didn’t obtain an international drivers licence before leaving NZ), which is quite an experience. On my first week here I saw a scooter accident, so I decided to play pretty cautious about how I ride around on these busy streets. If you obey to rule of “everything bigger than you has right of way”, then you should be ok. To ride a bike from one MRT station to another takes about 10-15 mins (traffic depending) but only 2mins on MRT. Download the Taipei Bus Tracker App as well – very handy for all types of public transport.

Obviously there were some things that I needed to learn pretty quickly, like they dive on the other side of the road. So look three times before crossing. They don’t stop at pedestrian crossings, even when you have the green man, so keep an eye out as you are crossing the road (or just stay in close to the crowds) they will try weave in and around you.

Leave early and go slow. You are less likely to get trampled on if you have more time to avoid thoughtless drivers. If you on a main road and want to turn left into another street, check that it is legal to do so. Some left-hand turns require you to firstly go into a side street on your right, u-turn, then wait for a set of lights to cross over to the other side. I’m starting to get a better understanding as to why we think they do some strange manoeuvres when they are in NZ. I still get off my bike and use the pedestrian crossing if I am unsure. Better safe, than sorry.

*Stopped using this bike and shaped out for a U-Bike which is a community bike that cost you NT$10/hour to hire all around the city, so really cheap and convenient no matter where you are. The first 30mins are free and there are lots of places to pick them up and drop off/park up. They are also well maintained by the council so no need to worry about maintenance.

New Taipei City – Living

I live in Zhonghe District, which is counted as one of the districts that make up outer Taipei or New Taipei City.

There are a few 14-20 storied buildings/apartments in our area but most apartment complexes are usually only four storied and have two apartments on each level.

Our 14 story apartment block is very well situated beside the …. mountains (see picture), so we get quite sheltered from any oncoming inclement weather (so I am told); which will make my Mum and Dad worry less about Typhoons (which one will be hitting tomorrow). You can also see a massive buddhist statue in the background as well.

If you want to find an apartment to rent, I suggest that you take a Taiwanese speaking person as they do not deal with foreigners very well and English isn’t particularly well received/spoken.

Rent is about NT$31,900/month (NZ$1,420/month) for a three bedroom apartment (so about NZ$473/ room/month or NZ$327/week) and you pay one month in advance – so compared to NZ its pretty good value. Utilities are the more expensive living item, so turn everything off when not in use.

Disposing of rubbish. This is a pretty communal event. Every night from Tuesday-Saturday at 8.15pm (on the dot) the rubbish trucks park outside our complex (because we are slightly bigger than other complexes) and you bring your rubbish out to them.

Arriving in Taiwan

So I better start with flights first.

Coming from NZ there are a few airline options depending on budget, (checkout skyscanner.com) but I decided to treat myself and fly AirNZ to Hong Kong. The flight from Auckland to Hong Kong is approximately 11 hours and then the connecting flight from Hong Kong to Taipei is about 1 hour. You will need to fill in an immigration card if you have to transfer to another flight and haven’t already got your tickets for the connection. Otherwise you will not need to do this step.

Hong Kong Airport is immense! About the same size as a large town in NZ from what I could see. To give you an idea of how big it is, it took us approximately 15mins to taxi to our gate after landing, and I counted about 60 aircraft at the gates, just on one side of the airport.

Next was figuring out how to get your bags for your next flight connection. You will need to take a (free) train to immigration/customs (all sign-posted in English), go through immigration and get your bags. Keep following the arrows and people is my advice.

Then to find the terminals you will need to go out of customs and head upstairs to find your next flight/airline. This took me about 1 hour, so make sure you have plenty of time between connecting flights.

I took China Airlines to Taipei and as it isn’t a particularly popular airline with Taiwanese people (on reputation and principal), I got upgraded to Premium Economy for free. Yay! I travelled at lunch time as well so I got a free lunch as well – winning!

Arriving in Taipei was almost as hard to navigate as Hong Kong but on a much smaller scale. I fortunately had been given some pretty straight forward instructions on how to get to my accommodation*. One bus (NZ$2 and one taxi NZ$3) and I was home sweet home.

*Note the MRT (or subway) does not go to the airport however the High Speed Rail does.

Getting there…slowly

Working full time, moving house, meeting nights, study nights, fitness bootcamps and a busy social schedule doesn’t make it easy to fit in a lot of well meditated pre-travel planning.

However, I was fortunate enough to have several good friends to help me with the research into moving to Taiwan.

First thing you need to know…

Taiwan is a big small island!

There are pages of information to get through to even try and understand what you are going to experience! So what are the highlights?

1. Taiwan has a population of 23.5 million people (about 650/sqaure km!)
2. Taiwan is part of the Republic of China
3. There are three main languages spoken in Taiwan; Hokkien, Hakka and Mandarin
4. Only 2.3% of Taiwanese population consists of the native indigenous people
5. Annual average temperature is 22degrees celsius – ranging from a winter low of 12 degrees  to summer high of 38degrees
6. Taiwan’s scenery ranges from beautiful lakes, large mountain ranges to surfing coastal towns and large metropolitan cities – you want it? They’ve got it!

So what did I do to get there?

Well, why not ask for extended time off to go…no harm in asking.

I am taking 4 months to go there and learn Mandarin as part of personal development and work agreed to hold my job till I get back. Happy days!

Where to from there?

1. Check your budget – Taiwan isn’t cheap for accommodation (but its way cheaper than Auckland) especially if you want to live in Taipei. But there are cheaper options like renting a room / flatting with others. Other costs such as food etc… are cheaper but check out numbeo.com for a detailed look into costs of living.
2. If english is your first language and you have some experience in teaching, you could easily get a job as an english speaking tutor while you are there, to help with living cost while you are there.
3. Ask around at work, friends, family that have any contacts there – you might be surprised who pops up out of the woodwork. This is the best way to decide where you’re going to base yourself for the duration of your stay and you might even catch a break with an excellent offer for accommodation options.
4. Check what your passport allows you to do going into Taiwan. Some countries like NZ are able to stay in Taiwan for up to 90days without a visa. Check out this site for more information.
5. All you have to do now is book those tickets!