Best Things to Do in Taipei

Taipei packs imperial art collections, centuries-old folk temples, volcanic hot springs and forested mountain ridges into a compact river basin served by six colour-coded MRT lines. Pair outdoor walks in the morning and late afternoon with museum visits and night-market grazing after dark.

1. Ride the lift up Taipei 101 and hike Xiangshan (Elephant Mountain) at sunset. Inspect the 660-tonne golden steel wind damper suspended between the 87th and 92nd floors of the 508-metre skyscraper, then climb the stone steps of Xiangshan one MRT stop east for the classic twilight skyline view.
2. Cross Liberty Square to Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall. Walk between the twin classical palaces of the National Theatre and National Concert Hall to the white marble memorial hall crowned with a blue octagonal roof.
3. Spend a morning at the National Palace Museum in Shilin. Explore one of the world's greatest collections of Chinese imperial paintings, bronze ritual vessels, celadon ceramics and carved jade (including the famous Jadeite Cabbage).
4. Visit Longshan Temple and Bopiliao Historic Block in Wanhua. Watch worshippers chant and cast divination blocks beneath the dragon-carved bronze and granite columns of Taipei's 1738 flagship temple, then stroll the red-brick Qing-dynasty lane of Bopiliao next door.
5. Wander Dihua Street in historic Dadaocheng. Browse 19th-century baroque and brick merchant shophouses selling oolong tea, dried shiitake mushrooms, mullet roe and fabrics, and watch sunset at Dadaocheng Wharf on the Tamsui River.
6. Eat your way through Raohe Street and Ningxia Night Markets. Queue for clay-oven black-pepper pork buns right under the illuminated rainbow arch of Songshan Ciyou Temple at Raohe, or crispy taro balls and oyster omelettes at Ningxia.
7. Soak and stroll in Beitou Hot Springs Valley. Ride the MRT north to Xinbeitou to see the emerald-green sulphuric steam rising from Thermal Valley, the timber Beitou Public Library and the Japanese-built Hot Spring Museum.
8. Ride the Maokong Gondola to mountain tea houses. Glide in a glass-bottomed crystal cabin over green hills to sip high-mountain Alishan or Muzha Tieguanyin oolong tea overlooking the Taipei basin.
9. Browse Huashan 1914 or Songshan Cultural and Creative Parks.Converted 1914 sake brewery and 1937 tobacco factory warehouses now filled with Taiwanese design shops, indie galleries and roasteries.
10. Take a day trip to Jiufen, Shifen and the Northeast Coast. Wander lantern-lit stone steps above the Pacific and release a sky lantern along the Pingxi branch railway line.