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:

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:

Taiwan is the best kept secret in Asia, and is a great destination to travel. But if you come to Taipei on a business trip or layover, what are the best things to see and do in the city with limited time? 
Below we have laid out what we feel are the best one day itineraries in Taipei for those coming to Taiwan for the first time.
in Taipei?
Before we get started, below is a map of the places mentioned in this blog:

The Taipei 101 (aka Taipei World Financial Center) is the tallest building in Taiwan, standing at a height of 509 meters. It was the highest building in the world from 2004 to 2010, and is now the 10th highest building in the world as of 2019. It stands as an icon and symbol of Taiwan's economic prosperity, and may be the most recognizable building in Taiwan. It also features an observatory on the 89th floor with some of the best views of Taipei.

Taipei 101 Q + A:

What is the Taipei 101?
It was the highest building in the world from 2004-2010, with 101 floors above ground (hence the name 101) and 5 floors below ground. It was designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners, and also had the fastest elevator in the world until 2016. It is an icon of Taiwan’s technological advancement.

How was Taipei 101 built?
The Taipei 101 was built in a period of 5 years from 1999-2004. The Taipei 101 is reinforced by concrete piles driven 80 meters below the ground and 30 meters into bedrock. In addition, it made of high strength reinforced steel and flexible materials. It was designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners, and also had the fastest elevator in the world until 2016.

How much did the Taipei 101 cost?
NT$ 58 billion (US$1.934 billion)

How is Taipei 101 earthquake proof? How does the Taipei 101 withstand earthquakes?
The Taipei 101 is reinforced by concrete piles driven 80 meters below the ground and 30 meters into bedrock. In addition, it is made of high strength reinforced steel and flexible materials.
 
How does the Taipei 101 damper work?
The damper works by offsetting strong wind gusts, absorbing the forces and turning them into kinetic energy, moving the damper.

How much does the Taipei 101 sway?
The most that the Taipei 101 damper has ever swayed was during Typhoon Soudelor, swaying 100 centimeters (39 in). See below for a video!

Hours:
The Taipei 101 Observatory is open every day from 9 AM to 10 PM.

When to go:
In my opinion the best time to go is on a sunny morning just after it has rained so that there is no haze in the air. 

Price:
88, 89, and 91, observatory floors: 600 NT (20 USD) per person.
101st floor observation deck (in addition to 88, 89, and 91 floors): 3000 NT (100 USD) per person
Discount tickets can be found online. 

How to get there:
Take the MRT red line to the Taipei 101/World Trade Center station. See below for a map:

The Huangdidian Trail (aka Huangdi Temple Trail) is a magnificent mountain hike in Shiding District of New Taipei. The trail features ladder climbs, rope climbs, and rock climbs with the aid of ropes, and the top has a vertical drop on either side. There are also great views of Taipei and the surrounding area. 

Background:
The rock formations that form the Huangdidian hike formed as sediment under the ocean millions of years ago, and was later uplifted thanks to the collision of the Eurasian and Phillipine 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.
Huangdidian gets its name from the Tianwang Temple below (天王廟) which is also known as the Huangdi Temple (皇帝殿). The Huangdidian trail climbs up Huangdidian Mountain, which has three peaks, the highest of which is 593 meters above sea level. 
Recently rope railings were installed at the top of the mountain to improve safety. Even so, the hike is still really scary.

Hours:
24/7

Price:
Free

Length:
4.5 KM, 300 meters of elevation gain
About three hours total

Difficulty:
Moderate, there are some rope climbs and ladder climbs up sheer rock face, and sheer drop-off on either side with little protection from falls in some places. Also the trail can be quite steep in some places.

How to get there:
By Bus:Take Bus 912 from Taipei City Hall, then switch buses at Wanfu Bridge. Take Bus 666 to Huangdi Temple station, and the trail head is about a 15 minute walk up the hill. 
By Car/Scooter: Take highway 106 past Shiding Old Street, then turn left on a small road Marked "Huangdidian." There is a temple with a bunch of yellow lanterns in front of it.

Map:
​Please see below:

Foreword: Please note that this is not a comprehensive list of questions. This is meant to only give a basic overview of Taipei to those who have never been there.

How do you pronounce Taipei?
Tie Pay.
​
Where is Taipei on a Map?/Where is Taipei in Taiwan?
Taipei City is located in northern Taiwan, laying in the middle of the Taipei Basin surrounded by New Taipei City. Please refer to the map below:

​It’s Mid-September and the unusually oppressive heat of summer is fading at last, replaced by the rich, windy weather (and occasional typhoon) for which Taiwan autumns are known. As a cyclist, it’s my favorite time of the year, and this week’s column would probably be about my upcoming weekend cycling plans, if I’d not been sidetracked by an experience I had in Tainan on Monday, delivering a keynote address on the subject of “Branding Taiwan’s Cities”.
現在是九月中旬，夏天異常炎熱的時候正在消失，取而代之的是秋風豐富的獨特台灣天氣（偶爾有颱風）。 作為一名自行車騎士，這是我每一年中最喜歡的一季節，如果不是周一我在台南體驗的一段經歷，本週的文章可能是關於即將到來的周末自行車計劃。我那時候就這個題目發表主題演講 “品牌化台灣的城市”。
 
 
In typical Friday Column tradition (and in keeping with Lao Tzu’s maxim on travel), I may take a winding route to reach the destination.
在典型的“星期五專欄”傳統（並符合老子在旅行中的格言），我可以採取曲折的路線到達目的地。
 
Before coming on board with MyTaiwanTour I worked as a travel writer, both for travel-guide giant Lonely Planet and several dozen other smaller publications, periodicals and travel websites. Though my work brought me to many places around the world (Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, Belize and all over China, just to name a few), my specialty has generally been writing about urban areas. I have an affinity for cities, and have always said that given 72 hours in any city I can gather enough information to be able to offer sound advice to any first-time traveler.
在加入MyTaiwanTour之前，我曾擔任過旅遊指南領先者Lonely Planet和其他幾家小型出版社，期刊和旅遊網站的旅行作家。儘管我的工作把我帶到了世界各地（台灣，新加坡，馬來西亞，伯利茲和中國各地，僅舉幾例），但我的專業其實在於城市地區的寫作。我對城市有著濃厚的興趣，並且總是說在任何一個城市72小時都可以收集足夠的訊息來讓任何初次旅行者提供合理的建議。
 
 
My usual method for getting to know a city is as follows: Before leaving, I do some basic research on the city I’m about to visit. Local history, must-see sights, signature dishes, that sort of thing. Once I hit the ground, I forget 90% of this and get myself purposely lost for as many hours as possible. This is in line not just with Lao Tzu’s maxim about having no fixed goals, but also with that of American writer Lawrence Block, who writes, “Our happiest moments as tourists always seem to come when we stumble upon one thing while in pursuit of something else.”
 我通常了解一個新的城市的方法如下：在離開之前，我會對我即將訪問的城市做一些基本研究。當地的歷史，必看的景點，招牌菜等等。一旦我落地，我就忘記了90％，並故意盡可能讓自己迷路和，而且浪費很多時間。這不僅與老子關於沒有固定目標的格言一致，而且與美國作家勞倫斯·布洛克（Lawrence Block）的格言也是一致的，他寫道：“我們最快樂的時刻就是在我們追求某物時偶然發現另一件事情，像遊客一樣。”
 
Lawrence Block is from from New York City, and so am I. Which is as good a segue as any to the subject of City Branding.
If I were to walk into a crowded elevator anywhere in the English speaking world singing
勞倫斯·布洛克來自紐約市，我也是。這就讓我們連續到下一個話題：城市品牌。
如果我在講英語的任何國家走進擁擠的電梯唱這首歌:
 
Start Spreading the news…
I’m leaving today…
I wanna be a part of it…
 
And then point to someone at random, chances are better than average that they’d respond
 然後隨便指出一個人，他們應該會回應如下:

New York, New York!
 
NYC is easily the most well-branded city on the planet. Barely a day goes by in Taiwan where I don’t run into at least a couple of people advertising some aspect of my hometown on their clothing, whether it’s a T-shirt bearing the letters NYC, some variation of the city’s iconic skyline, or just the NY Yankees Logo. I’ve had farmers in rural China ask me where I’m from, and when I’ve answered Niǔyuē (New York), they’ve given me the thumbs up and responded Dà píngguǒ! (The Big Apple!)
 紐約市很容易成為地球上品牌最好的城市。 在台灣我幾乎每天至少會遇到一些穿著廣告我的家某個方面的衣服, 不管是帶有NYC字母的T卹，紐約城的天際線的某個角度，或 只是紐約洋基標誌。 我曾在中國農村有遇過農民問我從哪裡來，當我用中文回答 “紐約” 的時候，他們給了我大拇指，並回應了”大蘋果！”
​
Not surprisingly, New York City has consistently been one of the world’s top ten most visited cities for decades. While I gave up NYC residency about the same time I came legally of age, I’ve never given up my identity as a New Yorker (or the distinctive accent).
毫不奇怪，紐約市數十年來一直是世界十大旅遊的城市之一。 雖然我早就放 棄紐約市居民”法律上的”身份，我還沒有放棄我作為紐約人的身份（或特殊的口音）。

​So, finding myself among esteemed company as one of two keynote speakers at a seminar put on by the Dream Travel Taiwan Alliance (the overarching purpose of which was to share and discuss best practices in international destination marketing and the latest trends in the global tourism industry, specifically as applied to cities looking to develop their own marketability as tourist destinations), I began by speaking about the success that New York has had in branding itself.
 因此，我在 “ 讓世界旅人。看見台灣” (Dream Travel Taiwan Alliance) 舉辦的一個研討會上，發現自己是在重大人物之中當主題講師，主要目的是分享和討論國際目旅遊行銷的最佳實踐和全球旅遊業的最新趨勢 ，特別是適用於希望發展和市場化為旅遊目的地的城市），我首先談到紐約在品牌化方面取得的成功.

I specifically started with New York, despite the fact that I realize the impossibility of any other city replicating NYC’s formula for success. NYC has so many icons (Times Square, The Statue of Liberty, The Empire State Building, a globally-known song called New York, New York, for god’s sake) that it would be impossible for any city lacking these things to ever be as successful at branding itself as a tourist destination.  
Or is it?
 我特意從紐約開始，儘管我意識到任何其他城市都不可能完全模仿紐約市成功的方式。 紐約市有非常多的標誌（紐約時報廣場，自由女神像，帝國大廈，連還有全世界知名的紐約紐約歌曲），任何缺乏這些東西的城市都不可能成功地把自己塑造成旅遊目的地。
還是呢？
 
 First, everything that Singapore does well, it does really well. Great food, great transportation, great nightlife and cool, safe neighborhoods in which to wander. If you’re going to Singapore for those four things, you’re going to have an excellent time. Singapore has fine museums and good shopping, but these are not the things that primarily draw people to visit Singapore. It’s the food, convenience, nightlife and “safely exotic” vibe that brings visitors in by the millions.
 首先，新加坡所做好的一切，確實做得很好。 美味的食物，很棒的交通，良好的夜生活和涼爽，安全的街區，令人放心在其中漫步。 如果你要為了 以上的四件事情去新加坡，你會有一個美好的經驗。 新加坡有很好的博物館和很好的購物場所，但這些並不是主要吸引人來新加坡的東西。 主要是食物，方便，夜生活和“安全的異國情調”的氛圍，帶來數百萬的遊客。
 
 Second, and as importantly, Singapore knows how to get the message out about what it does offer. If I were to walk into any elevator in the world and ask random strangers (in their language of course) about Singapore, chances are better than average that they’d respond with some variation of “Great food, safe, clean and easy to get around.” (I doubt the Merlion would even come up.)   
 其次，同樣重要的是，新加坡知道如何將訊息傳達出去。 如果我要走進世界上任何一台電梯，問任何陌生人（當然是用他們的語言）關於新加坡的話，那麼他們會回應一些“偉大的食物，安全，乾淨，交通方便.” （我懷疑他們會提到魚尾獅。）

​I’m of the opinion that, like in the case of Singapore, iconography will not be the most important part in the success of getting the message out about what Taiwan’s cities have to offer travelers. True, Taipei has done pretty well for itself with Taipei 101 (which kind of serves double duty as overall branding icon for Taiwan), but I don’t believe that people visit Taipei specifically to visit Taipei 101. It may be a focus point, and a good symbol, but a visit to Taipei 101 should just be a small part of any Taipei visit.
 我認為，像新加坡一樣，在傳達台灣的城市能提供給旅客的好處的時候，地標不會是最重要的部分。 的確，台北在101（台灣整體品牌形象的雙重職責）方面做得相當不錯，但我不相信觀光客為了101而專門去拜訪台北.這可能是一個焦點， 且一個很好的象徵，但是參觀台北101應該只是旅遊台北的一小部分。
 
 
Other Taiwanese cities offer their own unique variety of experiences and, like Singapore, defy traditional single-sentence branding.
 台灣的其他城市也有自己獨特的體驗，也像新加坡一樣不符合傳統的 “單句品牌化。”

Tainan (where the meeting was held) is a hotbed of culture – not just traditional Han Chinese culture, but a sort of new, hipster culture with a vibrant nightlife featuring artist-run coffee shops and collectives in winding cobblestone alleys built during the Qing dynasty. (Not for nothing is one of the chapters of my upcoming book called “Tainan is the Portland of Taiwan”.)
 台南（會議的地點）是一個文化焦點，不僅是傳統的漢族文化，而且是一種新興的時髦文化，擁有充滿活力的夜生活，藝術家經營的咖啡店和聚集體在清朝修建的鵝卵石小巷。 （順便提一下, 我即將出版的“台南是台灣的波特蘭”書的其中一個章節是關於這個）
 
I spent a most excellent week in Taichung earlier this year, visiting world-class museums, art parks, restaurants and night markets. I also went scuba diving in a hotel in the middle of the city. (Google “Dive Cube Hotel Taichung” for more info on this most unique venue, a hotel with an 18-meter-deep scuba diving pool).
今年早些時候，我在台中度過了一個非常好的一周，參觀世界級的博物館，藝術公園，餐館和夜市。 我也在市中心的一家酒店去潛水。 （去谷歌:“台中潛水立方酒店”了解更多有關這個最獨特場地的資料，一家擁有18米深潛水游泳池的酒店）。
 
Kaohsiung, which many international visitors have traditionally seen as a place to pass through on the way to Kenting, is working to brand itself as a sort of slower-paced Taipei, an international harbor city with art, music and culture, not to mention amazing temples and superlative food. I spent several days there earlier this year and found it to be all that and more. Still, I’d be hard pressed to summarize this into a single sentence, let alone an icon – besides that hotel with the two legs (and maybe the Love River).
高雄，一個許多國際遊客被視為去墾丁必經過的地方，正在努力將自身品牌作為一種節奏慢台北的國際港口城市，藝術，音樂和文化，更何況驚人寺廟和最高級的食物。今年早些時候，我在那邊待了好幾天，發現它真的是這樣子, 還有更多。儘管如此，我還是很難把以上所說的總結成一句話，更不用說一個地標- 除了那個有兩條腿的酒店（也許愛河）。
 
And this may be for the best. To paraphrase another speaker at the seminar (one whose finger was firmly on the pulse of current travel trends), today’s travel trends are increasingly being shaped by millennials, and millennials are increasingly looking for experiences matching their own interests and passions, rather than some great collective consciousness’ idea of what a vacation should be.
Taiwan’s cities offer a vast array of experiences catering to a wide variety of interests. Though this wide appeal makes Taiwan’s cities difficult to “summarize”, it make them way more worth visiting.
 這可能是最好的情形。我套用在研討會上的另一位發言人的話:（一個非常了解當前的旅遊潮流趨勢），今天的旅遊趨勢日益受到千禧狀，千禧一代越來越多人尋找配自己的興趣和愛好的經驗，而不是一些 “偉大集體” 認為怎麼樣才是渡假。
台灣的城市提供廣泛的經驗，迎合各種各樣的利益。雖然這個廣泛的呼籲使台灣的城市難以“總結”，但這讓它們更值得一看。
 
 
It’s just a question of getting the message out.
And New York City boy though I am, my advice to my friends in charge of doing this is to look to Singapore for inspiration.
Until next week, Joshua Samuel Brown  
Editor in Chief, MyTaiwanTour
 這只是一個讓消息傳播出來的問題。
儘管我是紐約市的男孩，但我對負責這個工作的朋友的建議是: 向新加坡尋求靈感。
直到下週，喬舒亞·薩繆爾·布朗 (Joshua Samuel Brown)
MyTaiwanTour主編
 
(Branding Taiwan’s Cities 品牌化台灣的城市) originally ran at the MyTaiwanTour Journal.  All photos and text posted in the above blog were taken from https://www.mytaiwantour.com/blog/. Follow this link for more stories like this one!
 
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