2021 Year of Cycling Tourism

Enjoy your Ride on the Island!

Feature Articles

2021 July/Aug.FeatureIslands

Fun in the Penghu Sun

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2021 July/Aug.FeatureNorth

Go With the Flow

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2021 July/Aug.FeatureIslands

The Kinmen and Matsu Islands

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2021 May/JuneCentralFeaturePeople

Meeting the Seediq

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2021 May/JuneCentralFeatureFood/Accommodation

Roast Boar, Salted Fish, and Bamboo-Tube Rice

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2021 May/JuneCentralFeature

Adventure-Perfect SUN MOON LAKE

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Random Picks

2021 Mar./Apr.

Hualien Homes Away from Home

Hualien County in eastern Taiwan is one of the island's most popular tourist areas. There are many great accommodation options to choose from.
2021 July/Aug.

All Aboard the Good Ship “Little Liuqiu”!

Little Liuqiu is the small island just to the south of Kaohsiung City. It is a wonderful place where you can enjoy the summer doing fun things like diving among…
2021 Jan./Feb.

Visual Diaries

Tom Rook's hand-drawn maps of Taipei and other major cities on the island offer a serene bird’s-eye view of Asian municipalities.
2021 Jan./Feb.
A Seafoodie’s Paradise
2021 July/Aug.
Feeling Free
2021 July/Aug.
Go With the Flow
2021 Jan./Feb.
The Great TAINAN Cultural-Creative Bloom
2021 May/June
Bike-Friendly Places to Stay
2021 Jan./Feb.
Riding in the Harbor City
 

Things to Do in May~June

This year’s Dragon Boat Festival falls on June 14. If you want to witness exciting dragon-boat races on that day, head to rivers like the Keelung River in Taipei and the Love River in Kaohsiung.

Facebook
 

Forest Recreation

Good news for lovers of Taiwan’s mountains and forests. Twelve years after Typhoon Morakat caused severe damage in Kaohsiung City’s mountainous Taoyuan District, obstructing access to the remote Tengjhih National Forest Recreation Area, the area was reopened to visitors this May. Located at an altitude of 1,500m to 1,800m, the area, managed by the national Forestry Bureau, is excellent for escaping the summer heat in southern Taiwan and going on invigorating forest walks. Often shrouded in mist, the forest here is home to members of many precious tree species, including the stout camphor tree and Chinese guger tree.

Forestry Bureau
 

Things to Do in May~June

If hot weather and strong sunshine is what you are looking for, head to the beaches of Kenting National Park in the far south, the popular tropical playground of Taiwan.

Kenting National Park
 

Offshore Islands

In late April a new ferry service was introduced, connecting Anping Harbor in Tainan City with Magong Harbor in the Penghu Islands, giving travelers a new option for reaching the archipelago from southern Taiwan. Plying the route three times a week (Wed/Fri/Sun) is the Natchan Rera. Trips one way last about two hours, and return tickets are NT$1,850/pers., with a surcharge of NT$100 for bicycles. In comparison, return tickets for flights between Tainan and Magong are NT$2,655, with a flight taking about 30 minutes.

Penghu Ferry Service
 

New Hotel

OLAH Poshtel, opened late last year; backpacker-friendly hotel in Hualien City

OLAH Poshtel
 

New Hotel

Kaohsiung Marriott Hotel, located in central Kaohsiung City; currently the hotel with the most guestrooms in the city (700)

Kaohsiung Marriott Hotel
 

New Hotel

T11/T12 Hotel, motorsport-themed hotel, part of Lihpao Resort in Taichung City

T11/T12 Hotel
 

Things to Do in July-September

One of the most exciting cultural festivals of the year takes place August~September in Keelung City on the Northeast Coast, the Keelung Ghost Festival.

Keelung City Government
 

Things to Do July~September

The summer months are great for whale-watching trips off Taiwan’s eastern coast, from ports such as Wushi Harbor in Yilan County.

Northeast and Yilan Coast National Scenic Area
East Coast National Scenic Area
 

Things to Do July~September

August is the best time to visit Sixty Stone Mountain and Chike Mountain in Hualien County, when the mountain slopes are covered in orange “carpets” of blooming daylilies.

East Rift Valley National Scenic Area
 

New Museum

Taiwan’s first museum dedicated to photography and image arts, the National Center of Photography and Images, was opened in Taipei this April. The home for this museum is a three-story building with a distinctive Japanese architectural style on busy Zhongxiao West Road, just a stone’s throw from Taipei Main Station. The building dates from the 1895-1945 Japanese colonial period, and was originally occupied by a Japanese shipping company, later by the Taiwan Provincial Highway Bureau. From 2017 through 2019 the structure was restored, returning what had become an unsightly office building to its colonial-time splendor, complete with rooftop lookout tower. The museum’s mission is to provide space for exhibitions, other education initiatives, and promotion, with the main focus on photography and image arts in Taiwan.

National Center of Photography and Images
 

Tourist Shuttle

Accessing the marvelously scenic East Coast region between the cities of Hualien and Taitung by public transport can pose a bit of a challenge for travelers, since buses are infrequent. To address this problem, last November the administration of the East Coast National Scenic Area introduced the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle network’s Yuchang Fengbin Line as a cruise-style bus route, with buses (operating once a day) stopping at tourist sites long enough to give passengers time to walk around, take pictures, and hop back onto the bus to continue the ride. Stops made by the bus, which departs once a day (10:50am) from Yuli Railway Station in the East Rift Valley, include Jingang (“King Kong”) Boulevard (30min stop) and the Shitiping coastal rock-formation area (1hr). Another East Coast bus route option, since May also operating cruise-style, is the East Coast Line 8101A, following the coastal highway from Taitung Bus Station (departure once a day at 8:30am) in Taitung City all the way north to the Sanxiantai Recreation Area (1hr) and back, on the way passing tourist attractions such as Xiaoyeliu (45min) and the Jinzun Recreation Area (20min). This service is perfect for a one-day trip; shorter bus routes for half-day outings from Taitung City are available as well.

Taiwan Tourist Shuttle
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