All direct flights to Taipei from the UK & Ireland

Mark Says

Taipei has been through turbulent political times, the subject of a protracted custody battle between its Chinese and Japanese neighbours. Under the influence of its leader Chiang Kai-shek - who stressed a need for firm economic bases over decadent Western extravagance - the city was constructed along the principles of Communist functionality, so don’t go expecting too much in the way of architectural delights here. Though, ironically, there are esteemed exceptions to this most general of rules: the Presidential Palace, built during the Japanese occupation of 1919; and the shining marble of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, with its lavish gardens and walkways. The region’s troubled history is just as apparent from the Martyrs’ Shrine, a monument (established in 1969, and styled after the Ming Dynasty) recognising those whose lives were lost during the formation of the Republic of China. On an upbeat note, the National Palace Museum is a marvel: a collection of around 700,000 treasures from the art world which takes a good day (if not two) to explore in any kind of depth. Taipei has a way of bringing together not just diverse artefacts, but entire worlds. Religion is well represented in the form of the Lungshan (Dragon Mountain) Temple. The natural world towers over the city, in the shape of Yangsuin Mountain, with its famed hot springs. And the man-made fights back in the form of Taipei 101: at the time of writing the tallest skyscraper in the world, it’s possessed of a unique ambience - best illustrated by the trippy light-and-sound show in what’s claimed to be the world’s fastest elevator. Those who prefer to remain at street level can work up an appetite at the Shilin Night Market, where the specialties include corn on the cob, deep-fried buns, clam omelettes, and many other euphemistic-sounding foodstuffs…