Flying into Taipei, you'll find out quickly that you've actually landed in Taoyuan. You'll need to take a bus to Taipei Main Station to get to the center. The city of Taipei is not actually all that large. It's only a drop in the largely populated New Taipei City, but Taipei is certainly where all the action is. Soon after making it to the city, we grabbed some lunch at the station and hailed a cab to take us to the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial, but I would try other Taiwanese known pronunciations like Chiang Chieh-shih or Jiang Jieshi when referring to the former leader of Taiwan as our driver had no idea where we were trying to go. Google Maps remedied that.

The memorial park consists of a large, beautiful paifang (Chinese gate) that marks the entrance of Liberty Square - the courtyard between the gate, the memorial hall, and the twin exhibition halls built of traditional Chinese architecture. The panorama experience once stepping into the courtyard can be pretty overwhelming. The Square alone is incredibly impressive.

The memorial hall itself is massive and led in by well-maintained foliage. Although the hall is as heavily protected as any historically significant mausoleum would be, it isn't a tomb. The changing of the guard is exciting to experience, but all that's really guarded is the large statue of Chiang Kai-shek that sits inside the hall.  

*We were approached by a local couple that recommended we stand in the center of the central circle of the courtyard and clap. If you do this, you'll hear a strange squeaking sound. It's totally bizarre.

If temples are your thing, this really is the one! Although an inner-city temple, Longshan Temple (sometimes romanized as Lungshan) is an immaculate, nearly 300 year old temple of three faiths: Buddhist, Confucian, and Taoist. At many corners of the temple, you'll find prayer visitors using jiaobei (crescent shaped wooden carvings) to assist in determining yes or no answers from the gods. This temple is locally maintained and rarely empty. It's also easily accessible via the Taipei Metro, which uses recyclable plastic purple coins as entry and exit tickets. Keep in mind that if you take a bus to Longshan (or anywhere in the city) you'll need exact change for the bus fare. Coming from Japan, this was surprising for me and embarrassing when I had to request donations in order to exit the bus.

The National Palace Museum is incredible, but prepare to stay there for at least three hours if you want to see it all. It's enormous! Rightfully so, however, as it houses hundreds of thousands of ancient Chinese artifacts ranging over thousands of years of history. You'll encounter anything from Neolithic tools and weapons to documents signed by emperors. There are many floors with many exhibition rooms, and you'll want to see it all! I suggest you do, but don't be afraid to take a break on a bench every hour or so. There is a restaurant in the museum and a cafe near the entrance, but I recommend filling up beforehand as these places often sell out of food and/or have extremely long lines.

One of the largest and most famous night markets in Taipei is Shulin Night Market. The market consists of over 500 stalls not just limited to food. Shulin's market also sells merchandise and has a great deal of carnival and crane games. Cixian Temple is an interesting site in this market. Originally over 200 years old, it's a temple dedicated to the goddess Mazu. With many hanging lanterns and decorated door frames, the vibe at the start of market time is truly exhilarating. Make sure to pay a visit to the temple before eating as much as you can possibly stand. 

Christmas morning, we woke up with a mission to get to Jiufen Old Street in New Taipei City as early as we could. Finally making our way to Songshan Station, we waited in thirty minute intervals as buses stopped in, one after another, completely full and not acceptable additional passengers (this can happen). Lucky for us, we made friends with two girls from Shanghai who offered to share an Uber with us. Always keep ride sharing on the table! We arrived to a misty but lively market of merchandise and local delicacies. The busy street can seemingly go on and on as you march your way through huddled site-seers, but every stall you pass in one way or another stimulates the senses. The road finally turns off at an open view of the ocean beneath the gaze of Keelung Mountain (which you can hike). I can't recommend Jiufen enough! Stop into one of the mountain cafes and grab a coffee, tea, or Taiwan beer. Some of my favorite memories of my trip are here, and I hope you get to find out why. 

Formerly the tallest building on Earth (currently the 11th), Taipei 101 has 101 floors (91 being accessible to tourists) and one of the fastest elevators in the world (currently the third fastest at 37 mph). You can get from the 5th to the 89th floor in only 37 seconds. The pressure in your ears is the only evidence of such a dramatic change of environment as it's a rather smooth ride. Needless to say, the views from the top are stunning. Make your way to the 91st floor to step outside! You can also observe the massive steel pendulum that keeps the building balanced from the 87th floor.

We ended our final night in Taipei at Raohe Night Market, and, like many other Taiwan night markets, it was full of some of the most impressive street food imaginable. The entrance is marked by Ciyou Temple, which is a massive Mazu temple of many layers and colors that's definitely worth a stop in. When you're done, loop around the night market as many times as your stomach will allow (I recommend the dim sum, but you may have had a lot in Taiwan already). The music was loud, the food was fast, and the energy was grand! We woke up the next day with full hearts as we headed to a morning flight back to Fukuoka, but I've thought longingly about this trip ever since.