Modern Chinese Life in Taipei

Taipei is a modern Chinese city that is becoming more modern and more Americanized every time I go there. It's not a city for remarkable sights or hidden luxuries, but it's quite easy to immerse yourself into the daily life of this city.

There aren't many foreign tourists visiting Taipei, so it is easy to explore the local sights without being "touristy."

The things one must do there are visit the national museum, eat as many different types of fruits and foods as possible, and explore the city by foot and bus and subway. You'll get a very good flavor for daily life in a modern Chinese city.

Quick Tips:

When traveling from New York City, I highly recommend Evergreen Airways. The flight is comfortable with excellent service and goes through Seattle. About 20 hours getting to Taipei from Newark.

Best Way To Get Around:

Taxis are cheap compared to New York City and plentiful. An average ride of 5 miles or so costs about 60 NT, or .00. The new mass transit railway system is quite easy to use and also very cheap, with the most expensive fare costing about US .00.

The Taipei Hilton is a modern hotel with all the amenities of a Hilton you might find in America. There are several pubs and restaurants with a variety of Chinese and Western foods. I wouldn't say that the rooms here are luxurious, but they are spacious and comfortable with satellite TV and hi speed internet access. There is also a small fitness center with some treadmills and weights.
The hotel is in a very central and convenient area right next to the Taipei Train Station, and it is convenient to department stores, resturaunts, and the subway. This area is also famous for its "cram schools" which cater to high school students who want extra review and study to prepare for college entrance exams. Lots of small sidewalk dining establishments are found in this very lively area. I found the service here quite friendly and helpful.
www.hilton-taipei.com

Beef noodles are a taiwanese favorite and Old Chang's is a popular lunch and dinner place for both locals and some tourists. There are several varieties of these beef noodles, which are all basically very tender stewed beef with noodles in soup that comes in big bowls. I ate there with my aunts, and the I remember that the servers were wearing sweatshirts of US colleges, like Texas A&M and North Carolina State.

There are also a variety of other appetizers that are self serve, and I do recommend like the peanuts and the chilled, thinly sliced pig ears. Sounds gross, but I like them. I also like my beef noodles very spicy!

Tony Roma's is a place my Taiwanese cousins always want to take me when I visit, because it's close to their house and in a popular area of Taipei where several American resturaunts are. We think it is funny that we eat at American places when I am visiting from America!

It is exactly like an American Tony Roma's, including the bar, except the menus are written in English AND Chinese. Most customers are westerners or young Chinese professionals stopping by for a bite after work. I like the Onion Ring Loaf, and the South Carolina Ribs (and No, they don't eat them with Chopsticks!) Even the sauce tastes American, but I wish there was some special fusion Chinese American Barbeque rib dishes. Maybe they could call it Tung Yi Roma's!

This well known place specializes in traditional Taiwanese cuisine. The address listed above is the original store, but there are about 10 of them around the city. One easily accessible on is on the 12th floor of the Mitsukoshi Department store which is at the Taipei Train Station stop on the Subway. You'll find tasty Taiwanese specialties like oyster omlette, rice porridge with yams, roast pork, small fish with peanuts, and various noodle dishes.
If you don't speak Chinese, you'll have no problem because the menus all have English and photographs of the dishes.

This was the best Cantonese style dim sum resturaunt that I tried in Taipei. The food was exceptionally well prepared, and the dining room was also finely decorated with nice wooden chairs and dark blue hues.

I liked this place a lot because dim sum places are usally noisy and crowded. However, our dining experience here was nicer and more serene than most of the dim sum resturaunts in Taipei. Moreover, dishes are not brought out on typical Dim Sum carts. They are freshly prepared inside the kitchen and brought out upon your order.

All the dim sum specialties are excellent, but make sure you order the shrimp dumplings and siu mai. It's easy to get to this restaurant, as it's within walking distance to the Chung Shan Middle School subway stop.

I had been searching for a Mongolian BBQ place in New York for several months, and finally arrived at this superb and bountiful Mongolian Barbeque Resturaunt in this very fashionable part of Taipei. Getting there is easy. It is in the Ming Yao Department store which is at the Chung Hsiao Tun Hua subway station. Just take the elevator to the 12th Floor.
This is no ordinary Mongolian Barbeque resturaunt, as you can immediately tell by its size, service, and relatively fancy decor. This is a buffet specialty resturaunt, with huge variety of dishes and tastes.
There are separate sections for Japanese food, including sushi and hand rolls, Taiwanese food like dumplings, fried rice, and seafood dishes, and a dessert and fruit section as well.
The Mongolian Grill is the highlight. That's where you select from a variety of meats, vegetables, and sauces for cooking on a huge communal grill. The cook takes your selection and uses huge chopsticks to grill your selections.
This is definitely not a traditional meal in Taiwan, but it's worth a try and make sure you are hungry when you go! It's also a one of the best areas for shopping in Taiwan.

My cousins took me to a popular Italian resturaunt in Taipei called Capone's. It's a lively place where any American would feel completely at home. The Italian food is quite good, and the huge Tiramisu dessert is especially tasty and a favorite of my Taiwanese cousins. A live band plays American pop tunes and does a good job at it, and they took several requests from my cousins! They play nightly from 9:30 to 12:30 PM.

This night market is also known as "Snake Alley" for the bizarre and grotesque displays of snake eating and snake blood drinking. But I noticed that very few people actually try the snake.

Excited salesman shout eager invitations into microphones and promise increased vitality and strength from the snake blood. I don't really believe it.

This market is actually a long and narrow covered "Street" with dozens of stands and small shops selling everything from fresh seafood and fruits, to cell phone accessories, and of course, the bizzare snake drinks and snake products. But, I repeat, few people are eating the snakes, and most are just watching with a curious and appalled look.

The surrounding street around this market also has many stalls which sell delicious tradtional Taiwanese eats like custard cakes, rice sausages, and dried squid. You must try these treats to get a real taste of street food in Taiwan.

If you are an American traveler in Taiwan, don't worry about doing without your favorite American resturaunts in Taipei. Of course, I recommend you eating as many Chinese dishes as possible, but be reassured that there are American food establishments everywhere in the city.

McDonald's, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, Au Bon Pain, TGI Friday's, Tony Roma's, are just some of them.