Beidahuang in Nangang serves gigantic and delicious boiled dumplings, just east of Nangang  Train Station, with more meat per dumpling than a pork bun. They are the largest boiled dumplings I have ever seen. If you are in the area, this restaurant is worth a stop. 

Hours:
11AM–9:30PM

Price:
Big boiled dumplings 大顆水餃: 8.5 NT for one
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How to get there:
Beidahuang is just east of Nangang Train Station on Nangang Road. 

Map:
See the map below:

Two weeks ago I asked all of my followers which products they missed from their home country, and these are the results. In the process, a lot of people gave great suggestions on where to buy these products in Taiwan. I am giving out this information for free to anyone that wants to use it as market research, or wants to know which products people are missing in Taiwan, so that someone will start importing these products to us!

Which products do you miss from your home country that you wish were sold in Taiwan? I'll go first: graham crackers, Pop Tarts, and Old Spice.

It turns out that these three products have been found in Taiwan. 

Baqi Rest stop along Coastal Highway 11 in Hualien has some of the best views of the East Coast, right alongside the road. The rest stop also includes hiking trails, a restaurant, gift shop, bathrooms, viewing platforms, and covered seating areas. 

Background:
Highway 11, also known as the Hualien-Taitung Coastal Highway, first began as a trail during the Qing Dynasty in 1877. During the Japanese era of Taiwan, the road was improved and open to vehicles in 1930. The current two lane highway as we know it today was completed after WWII in 1968.  The Baqi rest area (named after the nearby Baqi village) was probably also completed at that time. It is a popular stop along the highway.

Price:
Free

Hours:
24/7

How to get there:
By car/scooter: Travel along Highway 11 until you reach the spot. There is usually plenty of free parking here. 
​By bus: There is a stop here on Bus 304's route, or take bus 1140 from Hualien Station to Niuliuaokeng bus stop, and walk about 15 minutes. 

Map:
Please see below:

I am a native born American learning Mandarin Chinese as a second language. I have a bachelor's degree in Chinese, and at this stage in my Chinese learning, I have hit a peak with spoken Chinese and I have been putting all my energy into learning more written Chinese. Chinese idioms are special because normally they are only four characters and you need to memorize what they mean in order to understand; this is the education that is taught in Taiwan elementary schools that I was never able to be a part of. If you can memorize these, you can drastically improve your formal Chinese reading and formal Chinese writing skills.

It can be hard to pick up idioms just out of context. However there are not a lot of English resources that focus on just idioms, and the ones that do don't filter out the commonly used idioms. Chinese idiom dictionaries also have too many idioms that are not widely known or used, or are too formal for normal writing or speech. Some idioms are more formal variations of other more common idioms with the same meaning. In this blog, I am focusing on the more commonly used idioms that most native speakers will recognize, and which are commonly used in formal speech and writing such as news reports and newspapers.

Therefore I have created this list using commonly used idioms selected from the dictionary with the help native speaker, filtering the idioms by asking whether or not the native speaker has ever heard of or knows of the idiom.

This is a major project, and it will probably take me a few years to catalog all of the useful idioms in the dictionary. The list below is organized according to character stroke order and will be added upon regularly. Some words have two definitions, which are separated by a semicolon. Similar meanings are separated by a comma.
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FYI: the reason I do not use a table is for SEO purposes, so this list can be found in Google. Also, all these English translations are from yours truly, using a Chinese to Chinese idiom dictionary, translated with my knowledge of Chinese and referencing various other dictionaries when needed. 

在這個階段我的中文學習主要專注於閲讀及寫作。成語特別難因爲每一個都需要背起來，但是有太多沒有用的成語，所以我請了一位台灣朋友幫我整理比較常見的成語。以下是常用成語的中翻英對照表，我會陸陸續續把字典裏面所有有用的成語寫上去，可能要花個幾年的時間。以下所有翻譯都是我親自從中文字典里面的解釋直接翻成英文，如果有問題可以在下面留言。

Fuzhoushan Park in Da'an District of Taipei is a lesser known hiking area around a small forested hill. The park also has some of the best views of Taipei anywhere in the city. If you want the views of Elephant Mountain with an even easier walk and no crowds, this is the place for you. 

Background:
Fuzhoushan is only about 105 meters above sea level, and the entire hike takes less than an hour. 
The park also includes an old artillery bunker and some grave sites. Some military buildings were destroyed to make the park more fit with nature when the park was created in 2001.

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: From central Taipei, take Keelung Road south until you get to Liuzhangli MRT station, then turn right onto Fuyang Street until you reach the trail entrance. There is free scooter parking and paid car parking nearby.
By MRT: The park is within 2 minutes walking distance from either Linguang MRT station.

Map:
​Please see below:

Liyu Lake is a scenic lake in Hualien. Here you can paddle across the lake, or take a scenic bike ride around the shore. There is also many food options here. It is like the Sun Moon Lake of eastern Taiwan.

Background:
Liyu literally means carp, so named because there are many carp fish in the lake. Therefore it is also known as Carp Lake.
Liyu is the largest lake in Hualien.
During Taiwan's logging days, an old logging railroad track (Halun Forest Railway 哈崙森林鐵路)
ran through this area, and parts of it can be seen nearby.
In 2002, the area around the lake was proposed as a scenic tourist area. In 2014, completion on the area was finished, which included a bike path, visitor's center, bus routes, and a pier.

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: From Hualien city, take highway 台9丙線 southwest until you reach the lake, it will be hard to miss. There is free parking nearby.
By TRA/Bus: From Hualien TRA station, take bus 1139 about an hour to the lake. You can also take a bus to there from TRA Shoufeng Station.

Map:
Please see below:

Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Square in Xinyi District of Taipei commemorates a pioneering Taiwanese physician and notable activist against the Japanese rule in Taiwan. The park also has some of the best views of Taipei anywhere in the city.

Background:
Chiang Wei-sui was born in 1890 in Yilan during the Qing Dynasty. He later studied medicine at Taiwan Medical College, and started a Ta'An hospital in Taipei. He would later go on to found the Taiwan Cultural Association and Taiwan People's Party, and protest against Japanese colonial rule. He was imprisoned over 12 times. In 1931 he died of typhoid and the Taiwan People's Party was disillusioned by the Japanese government. He was later known as the Sun Yet-sen of Taiwan, and is respected by all political spectrums. 
In 2006, National Freeway 5 was named after him.
When he died in 1931, Chiang Wei-shui was buried in Neihu, and later in 1952 his bones were moved to a gravesite at the current location of this memorial square, probably to be closer to Taipei Medical University. However in 2012 his bones were moved back to Yilan, his place of birth. Despite this, the park was renovated in 2019 and still commemorates this fighter for democracy and freedom. 

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: From central Taipei, take Keelung Road south until you get to Liuzhangli MRT station, then turn right. Take a small alley up the mountain on Chongde Road. There should be free parking on the side of the road. 
By MRT: The park is within 5 minutes walking distance from either Liuzhangli MRT station or Linguang Station on the brown line MRT. 

Map:
​Please see below:

Hualien‘s Dongdamen Night Market is the largest night market in Eastern Taiwan. It is actually four night markets in one. The night market lies on the spot of a former train station, and is also connected to the beach via pedestrian bridge. Popular delicacies here include fried chicken, shish kabab, coffin bread, and braised duck head. 

Background:
Dongdamen gets it's name because it lies on the east side of the city, literally meaning "east gate" however Hualien has never had walls or gates. 
Dongdamen Night Market was formed in 2015 over the site of the former Hualien TRA train station. The Night Market features four night markets in one: Fuding Night Market, Aborigine Street, Gesheng Street, and Ziqiang Night Market.  The night market has over 400 stalls and sees over 200,000 visitors per month. 

Hours:
5:30 PM to 11:30 PM open every day.

Price:
Free

How to get there:
By Car/Scooter: The night market lies on the central eastern part of the city along Chungshan Road and Chongching Road. There is free car parking inside and free scooter parking too. 
By Train: From Hualien TRA station, take bus 301, or walk about 30 minutes. 

Jinmianshan is a popular hike in Neihu, Taipei that leads to a rocky hilltop with great views of Taipei and the surrounding area. Because of the ease of transportation, short hike, and great views, it has become an Instagram hot spot. 

Background:
The rock formations that form the Jinmianshan formed as sediment under the ocean millions of years ago, and was later uplifted thanks to the collision of the Eurasian and Philippine plates. The rocks are mainly sedimentary and are part of the same formation that forms the special rock formations on the northern coast around Keelung, and the waterfalls in Pingxi.
Jinmianshan sits at 250 meters above sea level.
During the Qing Dynasty, the area was used as a rock quarry to build the old Taipei City Wall. 
Jinmianshan literally means "Gold Face Mountain" which comes from the light shining of the bare rock faces on the sides of the mountain, which makes it look like a gold faced mountain.

Length:
1-2 Hours 
3 KM
100 meters in elevation gain

How to get there:
There are basically two ways to get there, by coming from up the mountain on Jinlong road, or from the MRT Xihu Station.
By Car/Scooter: Park near the trail entrance on Jinlong Road (where there is more parking) or below near Xihu MRT station. 
By MRT: The trailhead is within a five minute walking distance from XIhu MRT Station. 

Map:
Please see below: