A Jaunt to Taipei

Last week, I flew to Taiwan to do a story for The Wall Street Journal. I had some extra time and spent a day in Taipei, the bustling, beautiful capital of Taiwan.

The must-see National Palace Museum in Taipei. 

Taiwan is so diverse, a narrow island with mountains in the middle and coastal cities around it. A friend told us it's one of the rare places where you can be on the beach and in Alp-like mountains in the same day.


And I found Taipei is like China, but without the downsides. People are friendly, the streets are clean, individuals line up for the subway and throw trash away. It really made me stop and think what Beijing could be like, if the Communist Party didn't rule and if the Nationalists had come to power. There's something to be said about giving people a bit more freedom and seeing how that translates into a productive, healthy society.

A perfect queue in the Taipei subway. 

Glorious mountains from National Palace Museum outlook.

The do-not-miss attraction in Taipei, of course, is the National Palace Museum, which houses the biggest collection of Chinese art and artifacts in the world. My friend Tom told me that when the Nationalists fled to Taiwan, they sent almost 3,000 containers full of art and artifacts from the port in Nanjing, China to Taiwan. As such, this museum houses furniture, jewelry, rare documents, jade, calligraphy and more from the neolithic period through the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Go here for Chinese Art 101. 

Overlooking the Palace Museum gardens.

I spent nearly four hours in the museum, fascinated by the history and explanations of art in China. I adored by art history classes in high school, but Western schooling truly lacks an education when it comes to Eastern art. I never knew why jade was so important to Chinese culture, the art of picking the right hair for calligraphy brushes and why snuff bottles were delicate and finely decorated until visiting this museum. It was Chinese art 101 and I was enthralled.

Corn dogs galore at the night market.

A 7-year-old girl's heaven. Hello Kitty everywhere to win at the Shilin night market.

After the museum, I made my way to Shilin, the mother of all night markets, which are extremely popular in Taiwan. These markets are a mix of a town carnival, food carts and flea markets all rolled into one. I found myself overwhelmed by the choices of food -- from sausage to waffles shaped like penises (you've NEVER see that in China) to frog eggs -- and the sheer quantities of stuff for sale. T-shirts, gym shorts, baby bibs, iPhone cases, local Taiwanese snacks, hats and lingerie. Rounding the corner, there then would be a random station for dog grooming, next to some dresses for sale.

Sausage, anyone?

Hen and gun shaped waffles. The kid next to me wanted the motorcycle one.

After wandering around Shilin for about two hours, I made my way back to the area where I was staying and stopped at a smaller night market, which just had food. I slurped down a delicious bowl of stir-fried rice noodles with squid, sipped some oolong tea and then called it a night.

Of course they have dog grooming. 

Penis-shaped waffles, anyone?

While I definitely didn't spend enough time here, I got a great sense of the place and look forward to coming back with Scott for a vacation.