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Taiwan is one of the most underrated tourist destinations in Asia. With about 10.74 million tourists in 2017, it lags behind Asian neighbours like Thailand (35 million), Hong Kong (58 million), Japan (28.7 million), or  Indonesia (14 million). Nevertheless, Taiwan is a great place to visit due to its amazing food , fascinating history, traditional Chinese culture , friendly atmosphere, safety, and natural attractions. Moreover, Taiwan has a very convenient visa policy. Citizens of many countries, including the United States and most European Union members, can travel to Taiwan without a visa and stay there for up to 90 days. You can literally buy a plane ticket and go to Taiwan without doing any paperwork.     If you travel to Taiwan, your first destination will probably be the capital and largest city: Taipei. Taipei is the political and economic centre of the island, with lots of attractions ranging from modern skyscrapers and shopping centres to ni

Taiwan was a Japanese colony from 1895 to 1945, and Taipei was its capital. Yet visitors  may wonder what is left of those years of Japanese rule. If one visits Taipei, one doesn't see many "Japanese-looking" buildings. Most tourists focus on night markets, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, shopping areas, temples, clubs etc. The Japanese heritage of the city is certainly one of the most underrated. However, the impact of the Japanese colonial era on the urban structure of Taipei is enormous and can be seen until today.  One of the paradoxes of Japanese architecture in Taiwan is that most of it looks 'Western' rather than 'Oriental'. I'm sure that many people who have come to Taipei may have seen a lot of Japanese buildings, but they don't know they're Japanese.  The Office of the President of the Republic of China

Taipei Main Station It was the 4th of November when I arrived at Taoyuan International Airport. In Europe already time to wear jackets and prepare for the imminent snow. In Taiwan, instead, the weather was hot and humid. People wore short-sleeve shirts and short trousers. Taking off my jacket didn't help. I still felt really hot. No wonder, there were around 30 degree Celsius outside, and my warm jeans and water-proof shoes were not exactly ideal. There's no underground connecting the airport to the city centre, so I took a bus. There are many bus companies that take to different places of the city, like Xindian, Nangang, Zhongxiao Dunhua and so on. So be careful to go to the correct counter and ask. I bought a ticket for Taipei Main Station. When the bus arrived, the bus driver got off and began to shout in Chinese, announcing the destination of the bus. Then he asked passengers where they were going, just to make sure they didn't get on the wrong one. Fortunately

While at first sight the area around Taipei Main Station may seem modern and of little historical interest, if you take a closer look at the facades you will discover surprising remnants of the urban landscape of Japanese colonial Taipei.  A few days ago I was walking from North Gate along Yanping Road, one of the most historic parts of the city. The appearance of the street seems to conceal its significance. After the Guomindang's retreat to Taiwan, Taipei became the provisional capital of the Republic of China. As the economy of the island and the population of Taipei grew fast, new buildings inevitably sprang up everywhere, and the old ones were often sacrificed. However, sandwiched between new grey constructions one still finds houses and shops from the Japanese era. One of them is Taipei Futai Street Mansion. Taipei Futai Street Mansion

Zhongshan Hall is probably one of those buildings in Taipei that most tourists won't even notice. Despite being located in the heart of Taipei, just a few minutes walk from Ximending, and around 10-15 minutes from Taipei North Gate, Zhongshan Hall is not a major tourist attraction. The square in front of the building is – surprisingly enough in the bustling city - one of those relaxing and quiet areas that have preserved their clean, calm Japanese-era atmosphere.  Zhongshan Hall (中山堂); the name on the facade must be read from right to left. Contrary to what one may expect, however, Zhongshan Hall is a very important place in the history of Taipei, and thus I think it's worth dedicating a separate post to it. Zhongshan Hall (中山堂) is located on Yanping South Road (延平南路), which during the Qing Dynasty was called North Gate Road (北門街). This long street ran from North Gate down to the Qing government district. In fact, from North Gate one could walk directly to Taiwan

A few years ago I wrote about old houses from the Japanese colonial era  (1895-1945) in Taipei . As a map from 1935 shows , Japanese Taipei was quite small compared to the present-day metropolis.  When British author Owen Rutter visited the island in the early 1920s, Taipei had only about 170,000 inhabitants. In 1945, the population had grown to slightly more than 270,000.   By 2016, however, Taipei City had a population of 2.7 million, while the greater metropolitan area had around 7 million people. Obviously, during the Japanese colonial era districts that are now highly urbanized were little more than countryside.  #Vintage #map (1935) of #Taipei in #Taiwan when is was still under Japanese rule. Source: https://t.co/KLcdSe17tc pic.twitter.com/uN6sXPMujs — Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) October 12, 2017 It is very difficult to reconstruct the urban structure of the residential suburbs in colonial Taipei. Not much remains from that era. As I h