The term ‘hidden gem’ probably gets used more often than it should
when it comes to describing travel destinations,
but it feels right when you’re talking about Taiwan.
There are so many things to see and experience on this beautiful island
and, in this video, I’m going to show you some of my top picks.
Check out the rest of our Taiwan series, too, and make sure you subscribe for more.
One of the things I noticed in Taiwan is that people value the past
and take care to reinvent it for the present.
Old buildings and properties aren’t torn down.
They’re transformed into unique, multifunctional places.
Whenever I see cities embrace this sort of urban regeneration, I just think they get it.
They just get it.
And Taiwan gets it.
There are lots of examples of this around the country,
like the train tunnel that was turned into a bike path,
and the warehouse that’s become a treehouse,
so I’ll link the video where I talked about those too.
But my favourite repurposed place – and one of my top recommendations for visiting Taipei –
is the Huashan Creative Park.
Huashan used to be a wine factory.
It was saved from demolition by arts groups who saw its value and potential.
Thank god.
Now it’s where you’ll find cafes,
restaurants,
an independent cinema,
art exhibits and performances,
and some of the best shopping in Taipei.
And I don’t just mean the Mr. Potato head store either.
There’s a bunch of shops to look through,
including a whole maker section full of vendors,
and home goods like ceramics,
prints,
postcards,
and stationary.
There’s also a store called Wooderful Life
that’s full of wooden toys,
figurines,
music boxes
and little gifts and keepsakes.
There’s a whole area here for kids to play inside,
but even if you’re big kids like us this place is worth popping into.
Also, because cool places attract cool people,
there is a noticeably higher amount of stylish people here.
Like this adorable couple twinning with their coffees and stripes.
Further south in Kaohsiung, local artists saved a group of 25 warehouses from the 1970s
and turned them into an area for arts and culture.
We’re in downtown Kaohsiung in the old part of the city at a place called Pier-2
and this used to be full of warehouses and instead of just knocking the warehouses down
they repurposed them into an arts and culture centre.
So there are different buildings in this little district
and there’s a large sculpture here.
It’s made of red containers from a container ship on a huge scale
and as you’re walking outside the buildings you can see different public art
as well as different things on the buildings.
Every surface is an obliging space for some art or cheer.
And I loved seeing all the artwork and murals
as well as the Eslite Spectrum book store which is a chain in Taiwan.
If you see one, it’s worth going inside to browse the books,
the magazines,
and the gifts.
I thought Huashan and Pier 2 seemed like large scale transformations
until I experienced the biggest of them all.
We’re in Tainan at a place called Ten Drum Cultural Village
and this actually used to be a sugarcane factory
and when this factory was abandoned it was taken over by a group of drummers.
And I love the story of the fact that they were just looking for basically a practice space
and they came across this abandoned warehouse space, factory, whole little area
and they just started practicing here
and then they decided to actually turn it into what it is now, which is a lot of things.
There’s a used bookstore.
They have theatre shows here twice a day where you can see the drummers performing.
I really love how it just shows appreciation for heritage and past history
and all the little details that you see all around here really reflect that.
The coolest part is that the group of drummers that was just looking for a practice space?
They’re now Grammy-nominated musicians
and people come from all around to hear their show
inside the factory floor that’s been converted into their own theatre.
We’re about to go line up to get into the theatre to see this drum show and I can’t wait.
Ok unfortunately we weren’t allowed to film inside the theatre
to show you the actual drumming but I loved it.
The theatre is incredible.
It feels…I mean you are just sitting in an old factory
and just the drums like you feel it in here.
So many drums at one time going and they’re screaming ahhhh.
They’re so into it.
Full body shivers.
But don’t worry, we found drums in the bookstore to recreate the show for your viewing pleasure.
Yeah, that’s pretty good.
That was just like what happened in there.
We also got to try sugarcane juice for the first time
at the factory where it used to be produced
so I’ll link that video below if you want to hear about how that tasted.
Ten Drum Cultural Village was really fun to explore
and I love how they’ve not only repurposed the buildings
but even little things, like helmets and welding masks.
Wait, are you one of the drummers in Ten Drum Cultural Village?
Yeah, I kind of moonlight here.
Oh I thought so.
Also in Tainan is one of the most photographed spots in all of Taiwan:
it’s the Sicao Green Tunnel.
To get there, you have to get out on the water.
We’re in Taijiang National Park doing a water tour through the mangrove.
And this is the first canal that they’ve built here
and it’s 13 km long so we’re seeing some really beautiful birds quite close up.
The national park includes habitats that are critical for all sorts of rare species
of fish, crustaceans, mammals and birds.
The spot where you’ll notice everyone grabbing for their cameras
is in the mangrove where the trees stretch towards one another
and form a natural archway.
The reflection of the water makes it look like a green tunnel, hence the name.
And while it is indeed very well–known,
the top attraction in Taiwan has got to be Taipei 101,
a skyscraper that once held the title of ‘world’s tallest building.’
I talked about it in another video which I’ll link below.
And while most people visit Taipei 101 to see the view outside,
there’s something just as cool buried deep inside the building.
It’s called the Tuned Mass Damper and its purpose is to reduce the swaying of the building
during strong winds and earthquakes
and it’s the only operational damper you can see on public display in the world.
With a diameter of 5.5 metres and a weight of 660 tonnes,
it’s also the largest and heaviest mass damper in the world.
It’s made of 41 steel plates and hangs by 8 enormous cables,
suspended between the 87th and the 92nd floors.
There are cute little characters called Damper Babies that explain how it works
and you can see footage of the damper in action during a typhoon and an earthquake
where it sways up to a metre and a half to keep the building as straight and steady as possible.
The damper was designed and made by engineers in Taiwan, France, Italy
and – I was proud to see – Canada.
Once you’ve seen this engineering marvel, and the view from Taipei 101,
you don’t want to miss seeing how Taipei 101 dominates and defines the Taipei skyline.
The best view for this is from Elephant Mountain,
so-called because it’s shaped like a long nose.
Be prepared for it to be busy
because it’s an iconic view
and especially popular for watching the sunset.
Even though it’s not that high and it’s all steps,
it felt punishing because it was just so. damn. hot. when we were there.
Like really hot.
Like this panting dog was my Elephant Mountain spirit animal hot.
Marc is the hero of the hour - I can’t even talk.
Marc is the hero of the hour because he’s carrying a drone on his back,
a tripod in his hand, and a DSLR with a mic and lens.
I just can’t stop because of the mosquitoes.
And he…he is ahead of me, I would just like to point out.
Then we saw this guy who, yes,
was going up the mountain backwards on his hands.
Like a show off.
I don’t even know how he came up with this idea, let alone thought it was a good one,
but colour me impressed.
Or just colour me red because that’s what colour my face actually was.
It is so hot right now but I’ve decided that if the guy who’s going up backwards
on his hands makes it up here before I do, that’s not a good thing.
We went up to take a time lapse of the sunset
and it’s a lovely spot to watch the shadows grow longer and longer
until all the lights come on across the city.
And after dark is the perfect time to hit a night market.
They’re great places to wander through,
find inexpensive and delicious foods to try,
or other random things to shop for.
There are lots of night markets throughout Taiwan
so I want to quickly mention a few of my favourites.
My favourites in Taipei are Raohe and Tonghua, also called Linjiang.
If you want to see more of Raohe I’ll link our street food video below.
Tonghua is a nice narrow walking street that feels more local and more relaxed.
It’s also where we gave these arcade games a try
which are really popular in Taiwan.
Oh!
Oh, I didn’t mean to do that.
Oh you went?
I didn’t mean to!
If you head to the east coast to visit picturesque Taroko National Park –
where we rode a scooter to see the beautiful marble gorge –
you’ll likely be based out of a city called Hualien.
It has a huge and wonderful night market
and even though it was raining when we visited, it didn’t dampen the experience.
It even inspired some rain dance type moves from Marc.
Back in Taipei, my favourite area to walk around after dark is Ximending.
It’s the biggest pedestrian district in Taiwan
and you’ll find restaurants,
artists,
and shops, including Roots – a Canadian store that is super popular in Taiwan.
I love the bright lights and flashing signs.
And Marc and I felt it reminded us a lot of the Shibuya area of Tokyo
so we weren’t surprised to find out
that it’s actually referred to as the ‘Shibuya’ or ‘Harajuku of Taipei.’
This area was built while Taiwan was under Japanese rule
so the similar feel makes sense.
And Ximending attracts more than 3 million people every month
which means big crowds and great people watching.
I hope you enjoyed this little sightseeing tour around Taiwan.
Give it a like if you did and subscribe for more travel adventures.
Check out the rest of our Taiwan series for more videos and tips
about Taiwanese cooking,
foods,
drinks,
desserts,
shopping,
and other sights like the abandoned UFO village.
Thanks for watching!