Time Off In Taipei
On a whirlwind tour in this teeming city of skyscrapers and shopping malls, an encounter with a General and another three glasses of Bordeaux at a family wedding banquet offers a timely, if somewhat head-achey, reminder of Taiwan’s teak-tough roots in Chinese culture which has survived four centuries of invasion from a grab-bag of foreign colonizers and decades of head-long industrialization.
Like most mature Asian cities, the forests of concrete high-rises that dominate the sprawling city of Taipei tell of a breakneck development that hurtled forward for decades, brooking no challenge from town planners or environmental bureaucrats.
But the city emerging from the ashes of that experiment is more pensive, more inclined to delve into its past to unearth cultural gems worth preserving and celebrating, and less spellbound by the glitz of name-brand emporiums.
A stroll down Yongkang Street, an eclectic jumble of restaurants, boutiques and antique-sellers in Taipei’s central Da’an district, provides a case in point, with a group of confident teenagers rehearsing dance-steps in a small public park, while others learn how to play classical Chinese instruments in a free workshop nearby.
The strongest pull of tradition is felt in the neighborhood’s snack outlets, where onion pancakes and other local delicacies have been served according to the same recipes for centuries. Few are adorned with so much as a sign to identify them and the only clue to their reputation is the queues that invariable snake 30-feet or more from their shop-fronts.
A mélange of Chinese regional fare, with the dried fish and roots of the island’s indigenous tribes, Taiwanese food boasts a breadth and a depth to stagger the most jaded of self-professed gourmets.
Presentation often shares a Japanese level of attention to detail, with local chefs at the city’s swankier restaurants determined to put their own post-modern take on traditional dishes like “Three Cup Chicken”.
While many Taipei residents revel in the smaller, quieter places in the city’s ancient backstreets, taking lunch at quiet cafeterias before a quick tea at a pop-up cafe, the first places they recommend to visitors are often monolithic tourist draws - the Palace Museum or the commercial free-for-all at the 101 complex, where the city’s tallest skyscraper rises above yet another teeming shopping mall.
Much lower on the tourist board’s list are the attractions on the outskirts. Those brave enough to negotiate the city’s elevated freeways in a hire car should make their way to 'Yangmingshan National Park; about 20 minutes north of the central business district.
The Japanese occupied Taiwan for about half a century until World War 2 and delighted in bathing in the hot springs that sprout from the forested hills of Yangmingshan. This is where Taiwanese escape on weekends to tiptoe through tulip fields and eat organic vegetables.
Having come out worse for wear after my encounter with the General at the wedding banquet, I retreated to one of the spa resorts on Yangmingshan to take a soak in mineral waters.
Photos by Vincent Lin
Where to stay:
Regent Taipei
Located in the throbbing hub of Taipei’s Zhong Shan district, the Regent offers both a portal and an escape from a glittering galaxy of models, celebrities and well-heeled wannabes that trawl the luxury outlets in the surrounding Regent Galleria mall. American pop singer Lady Gaga was a recent guest while on tour and holed herself up with her entourage in the downstairs reading room while a small army of porters brought piles of dresses from the nearby boutiques for her to try on.
Web: www.regenthotels.com
Le Meridien Taipei
A short stroll to Taipei’s salubrious 101 center, the hotel’s location in the commercial district of Xinyi is within easy walking distance of some of Taipei’s top tourist draws including the Sun Yat-sen memorial hall. The building’s austere facade of glass and steel masks a treasure trove of whimsical modern artworks, from the shimmering metallic giraffe stooping to drink in the foyer, to the technicolor canvases decorating the hallways of the ground-floor lobby bar and restaurant.
