Things to Do in Taiwan

The hot springs of Wulai, south of Taipei, have long been known for their health-giving properties. International travelers and Taiwanese alike come here to relax and soak themselves. You can test Wulai’s bubbly bounty for yourself in one of the numerous hotels here which offer pools and other facilities – most are available for day visitors as well as overnight guests. There are also some free open-air springs.

Wulai is also renowned as a centre of indigenous Taiwanese culture, associated with the Atayal aboriginals – enjoy their unique cuisine in the town's restaurants and then investigate their way of life in the Wulai Atayal Museum. The surrounding countryside, with streams, falls and lush green hillsides is well worth exploring if time allows.

On the coast just north of Keelung sits one of Taiwan’s most fascinating geological parks, the Yehliu Coast. Over thousands of years, wind and rain eroded away parts of the softer top layer of rock to reveal interesting patters. Some areas look like honeycombs, others like potholes, a shoe and even a queen’s head. The exposed sandstone landscape is littered with fossils, old relics of a past era. The mushroom rocks and candle-shaped rocks are among the more alien-looking formations.

Since the Yehliu Coast is less than an hour drive from Taipei, it makes a convenient day trip, especially when combined with a visit to the seaport of Keelung and Yehliu’s Baoan Temple. It’s also an extremely popular option on Taiwan tours, so if you want to escape the crowds after you’ve snapped your pictures, take a stroll down to the end of the rocky peninsula to enjoy the views in relative isolation.

During the nineteenth century, the seaside village of Danshui was Northern Taiwan's busiest shipping and commerce port. Today, it's known for its European architecture, delicious seafood and stunning sunsets.

The Danshui area was settled by the Spanish in 1629 and the Dutch in 1641, and one of the most impressive remnants of Danshui's colonial days is the Hongmao Castle, also called Fort San Domingo. The structure briefly served as the British Consulate before being returned to Taiwan in 1980.

After you've visited the castle, spend the rest of your time in Danshui wandering through the waterfront area and Old Street. It is here you'll find a majority of the city's famous seafood restaurants and traditional handicraft shops. Try the fish ball soup, it's a specialty of the town. As the sun sets, head down to Fisherman's Wharf to watch with views of Lover's Bridge, the large pedestrian bridge that spans the harbor.

Yangmingshan National Park is busy Taipei’s safety valve. When stressed city dwellers feel like they’re going to erupt they come to this protected volcanic landscape for an instant fix of relaxation. It is particularly popular in spring when its gentle green hillsides are garlanded with azaleas, rhododendrons and (briefly) cherry blossoms.

All year round you can enjoy bird-watching or hiking numerous trails through the area’s famous grasslands. Like Wulai, this area is known for its hot springs, with the added twist of sulfur which turns the lake of Lengshuikeng an eerie milky pale blue.  

Xing Tian Gong temple (Hsing Tian Kong) is one of Taipei’s busiest working temples and an excellent place to visit if you want to witness modern Chinese Buddhism. Devotees come to worship Guan, a war general who after his death became deified as the god of war and the patron saint of businessmen. Guan lived from 162 to 219 AD and was a famous general during the Three Kingdoms period.

Xing Tian Gong wasn’t built until 1967, making it one of the youngest in the city. In the inner courtyard, you’ll often see throngs of worshippers kneeling and bowing in front of various alters; many leave flowers and tea as offerings on the main alter to Guan. The temple is said to bring good luck, and dozens of fortune tellers line the path outside of the temple to offer spiritual advice and guidance to those passing through.

Taipei’s Xiahai Chenghuang Temple, also called the City God Temple, houses the largest concentration of deity statues of any temple in the country. Though the temple is dedicated to Chenghuang, the protector of cities, young single locals come here to visit another deity, that of the Chinese version of Cupid, to pray for a marriage partner.

As one of the busiest temples in Taipei, Xiahai Chenghuang Temple attracts more than just lovesick youth. You’ll see students leaving pink paper offerings on the alter in hopes of divine intervention on their exams and older citizens paying their respects to Chenghuang himself to help tip the balance of their good and evil deeds for a more favorable outcome in the afterlife.

Visiting the temple offers a fascinating look at how religion plays out in Taiwanese day-to-day life. The Xiahai Chenghuang Temple is particularly interesting for its blend of Daoist beliefs and practices with local Taiwanese folk religion.

Visitors come from throughout Asia and the world to soak in the healing waters of Taiwan's natural hot springs, many of which are located in the close vicinity of Taipei. One of Taiwan's most famous collections of natural volcanic hot springs are clustered in Beitou District in an area known as Hell Valley, or Geothermal Valley.

Upon entering the valley, you'll understand how it gets its name. An ever-present sulfurous mist permeates the air with billowing clouds of hot steam rising up from hidden cracks in the ground. The hot springs pools here reach up to 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit), rendering it too hot to swim. Locals used to come here to boil eggs in the highly acidic waters.

To experience the supposedly healing waters that generate in Hell Valley, visit the Beitou Hot Springs, a public hot springs that maintains pools at a much more comfortable temperature.