Hsinchu
1. High Speed Rail 台湾高铁
Rating: ★★★★☆
Took the high speed rail from Taoyuan to Hsinchu.
Hsinchu station.
Jean: It was my first time taking the Taiwan high speed rail and I took it from Taoyuan to Hsinchu. I realised that it is extremely similar to Japan's Shinkansen. People waiting for the train would queue up in straight lines and it is very quiet inside the train. The interior is also similar to the Shinkansen's. It is clean and the seats are comfortable. The high speed rail is a useful transportation to allow people to travel long distances in a few minutes and I definitely had a good experience on it!
2. Hsinchu Science Industrial Park 新竹科学工业园区
Rating: ★★★★☆
The Hsinchu Science Industrial Park is a scientific industrial park established by the government of Taiwan to foster innovation, scientific and technological development. The park is now one of the world's most significant and technologically advanced centres for computer semiconductor manufacturing and electronics innovation. More than 400 high-tech companies have been established in the park since the end of December 2003 and now, there are still many major companies located in the park, such as Acer and Philips.
Rating: ★★★★☆
The Hsinchu Science Industrial Park is a scientific industrial park established by the government of Taiwan to foster innovation, scientific and technological development. The park is now one of the world's most significant and technologically advanced centres for computer semiconductor manufacturing and electronics innovation. More than 400 high-tech companies have been established in the park since the end of December 2003 and now, there are still many major companies located in the park, such as Acer and Philips.
Gabbie: The Hsinchu Sciene Industrial Park was a really high tech place. There were many many science products that were really cool. The guide there throughly explained to us each of the displays and its purpose, we were even allowled to roam on our own to check out on our own! As almost most of the high tech companies are located near to each other, you can visit the other companies too! So i would recommend this place to anyone visiting Taiwan as their service is really good.
3. Hsinchu Glass Museum 新竹市立玻璃工艺博物馆
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Hsinchu Glass Museum is a museum of glass art in East District, Hsinchu City. The objectives of the museum are to combine cultural and sightseeing resources to help promoting the glass industry of Hsinchu and let the public and business personnel participate in and understand the exploration and application of the glass industry in Hsinchu.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Hsinchu Glass Museum is a museum of glass art in East District, Hsinchu City. The objectives of the museum are to combine cultural and sightseeing resources to help promoting the glass industry of Hsinchu and let the public and business personnel participate in and understand the exploration and application of the glass industry in Hsinchu.
An interesting thing that caught the eyes of our classmates at the glass museum, seems like they're having fun!
Yixiang: The Hsinchu glass museum is one of a kind with different exhibitions held every few months. This allows the museum to be unique and would attract tourists to revisit the museum, due to the change of exhibitions. There will be a guide guiding you through the museum upon request. The guides are very friendly and helpful. There are souvenir shops located near the museum and the things sold there are affordable. I recommend this place to anyone visiting Hsinchu.
Taichung
4. National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts 国立台湾美术馆
Rating: ★★★★☆
The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts is the first and only national-grade fine arts museum in Taiwan located in West District, Taichung. Its major collections are works by Taiwanese artists, covering modern and contemporary Taiwanese arts.
The National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts is the first and only national-grade fine arts museum in Taiwan located in West District, Taichung. Its major collections are works by Taiwanese artists, covering modern and contemporary Taiwanese arts.
The museum guide giving explanations about an exhibit.
Jean: In the Taiwan National Museum of Fine Arts, many of the exhibits had a really deep meaning that the artist wants to spread to people. All the works were very meaningful and I was amazed by all of them. I could not understand what the artist was trying to bring across but after the detailed explanation by the guide, everything made sense. The artists were really creative to try bring across their messages through various forms and most of these messages are related to society too! The exhibits are also very interesting so I recommend people to visit this museum!
5. Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village 九族文化村
Rating: ★★★★★
Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village is an amusement park distinctive for its Formosan aboriginal cultural theme. The park contains the tallest free-fall ride in Taiwan! It is also a place where people can observe Taiwanese traditional tribal lifestyle and observe an abundance of aboriginal traditions.
Formosa Aboriginal Cultural Village is an amusement park distinctive for its Formosan aboriginal cultural theme. The park contains the tallest free-fall ride in Taiwan! It is also a place where people can observe Taiwanese traditional tribal lifestyle and observe an abundance of aboriginal traditions.
Cable car ride
Sun Moon Lake, the largest body of water in Taiwan could be viewed from the ropeway.
Small dessert of ice cream on sliced pineapples at 50NTD
An entertaining aboriginal performance!
Learning the aboriginal dance!
Gabbie: I had alot of fun at the Formosan Aboriginal cultural village learning about the aborigines. As i watched their performance, you could see how much effort they put in as they were all in perfect sync and we really enjoyed watching the show they performed. At the end they also had another performance and we were able to join in to! It was great that they were able to engage the audience even more by letting them participate in the performance. I learnt a few dance moves and it was really fun as nearly most of the class went up to try, it was a really good experience! I really enjoyed our time there and wish to go there again!
Jean: I liked Formosa aboriginal cultural village a lot, maybe partly because of the theme park there. It was an enjoyable experience to take the cable car up to the actual aboriginal village as the sceneries were nice too. I watched the performance there too. It was entertaining and there were also some of the people selling mini desserts there (sliced pineapples with ice cream) even though the heat was unbearable. I enjoyed the performances a lot and we also went to the theme park. The free fall and some other rides were fun. Before leaving, we also had the chance to learn the aboriginal dance. I think that it is a good idea to have the theme park in the cultural village to allow us to learn and have fun at the same time! I enjoyed my time at Formosa aboriginal cultural village, and would love to go back there again. I recommend students to come here too!
Petra: I would recommend tourists to visit this place as it kills two birds with one stone! There is an educational aspect to this place as well as an entertaining aspect! We were able to learn more about the aboriginal culture as well as witnessing their traditional outfits and their dances! What's more we got the chance to interact as they danced step by step with us as we learnt basic steps of their traditional dance! The cultural village has a theme park too with various rides inclusive of a free fall. Tourists will be able to learn about Taiwanese native culture as well as have a fun time. This place is highly recommended to all and even I would like to pay a visit to this Cultural village again!
6. Fengjia Night Market 逢甲夜市
Rating: ★★★★★
Fengjia Night Market is a night market in Xitun district, Taichung. It was claimed to be the biggest night market in Taiwan. There's a predominantly young population here as many of the food stalls are ran by undergraduates who are studying in the universities around the vicinity.
Rating: ★★★★★
Fengjia Night Market is a night market in Xitun district, Taichung. It was claimed to be the biggest night market in Taiwan. There's a predominantly young population here as many of the food stalls are ran by undergraduates who are studying in the universities around the vicinity.
Fengjia Night Market.
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Fried squid stall
Fried squid
Stallholder who was selling cheese potato
Cheese potato
Okonomiyaki stall.
Okonomiyaki
Petra: Fengjia Night Market was definitely one of my favourite place that we visited during this Taiwan trip! The atmosphere of the night market is really joyful! Though it is crowded there is sufficient place to walk around as the walking paths are quite broad with the sides filled with shops selling Taiwanese local delights! The prices are also quite affordable. Apart from food stores there are also stores selling clothing, accessories, cosmetics! Basically they sell things of wide varieties. The night market has popular sport shops such as Nike, Adidas and the clothes they sell are mostly suited for youths! Personally I think they have a wide range of clothes to choose from which can suit everyone's different taste. Most of the shop assistants I encountered are very dedicated to their jobs in serving their customers and are very friendly! I would definitely recommend Fengjia night market as one of your destinations in Taiwan as even I would love to go there again!
Jean: There were many varieties of food sold at Fengjia Night Market, the food was delicious and also not expensive! I went around the place with Petra, Gabbie and Esther so we bought different kinds of food to share. The papaya milk, fried squid and cheese potato are must trys! Other than the food stalls there are also clothing stores that sells fashionable and trendy clothes. There were so many shops to explore that I did not have enough time but I must say that I really had a good time at Fengjia Night Market.
7. Lukang Old Town 鹿港老街
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Yi Xiang: Lugang old town is one of Taiwan's oldest town. The town is well known for having the most gorgeous temples on the island, curiously curved streets and fine traditional handicrafts. Examples of temples include longshan temple and the matsu temple. The snacks there were very delicious and I would recommend it to everyone. It is not advisable to visit the street during summer as it would be very hot from personal experience.
Kai Ming: From the perspective of a teenager, this place will be really uninteresting if you do not know the history and culture of the buildings and temple there. The place had no shade and the heat from the sun was directly shone on us, making it unbearable. It was so distracting that we could not even concentrate to our tour guide! Be sure to bring a lot of water to drink there as it can be really hot and the streets may not always sell drinks!
Taipei
8. Ximending 西门町
Rating: ★★★★★
Ximending is a shopping district in the Wanhua district of Taipei and was the first pedestrian zone in Taiwan. Ximending is the source of Taiwan's fashion, subculture, and Japanese culture. It is accessible by many buses and also the metro, via exit 6 of the Taipei Metro Ximen Station (Banqiao Line and Xiaonanmen Line).
Ximending is a shopping district in the Wanhua district of Taipei and was the first pedestrian zone in Taiwan. Ximending is the source of Taiwan's fashion, subculture, and Japanese culture. It is accessible by many buses and also the metro, via exit 6 of the Taipei Metro Ximen Station (Banqiao Line and Xiaonanmen Line).
Ximending shopping district.
阿宗面线, flour rice noodle shop.
Yixiang: One glance and you could see that Ximending is meant for young adults. The shops sold things that were trendy. A wide variety of shops leaves you with no time to stop shopping. Every minute is precious. A must try product in Ximending is the famous Ah Chung flour rice noodles, 阿宗面线. Tourists from all over the world come to Taiwan to taste this delicacy. Ximending is one of the most popular tourist attraction in Taiwan and is highly recommended!
9. Shifen Old Street 十分老街
Rating: ★★★★☆
Rating: ★★★★☆
At Shifen old street.
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Writing well wishes on our sky lantern with a calligraphy brush.
Releasing our sky lanterns as a cid group!
Jean: The sceneries around at Shifen old street were indeed nice, especially on the train tracks and the bridge. Releasing sky lanterns on the railway track is a popular tourist attraction there and a trip to Shifen must definitely not miss it! Even though it was not my first time releasing a sky lantern, this time it was a really different way of doing it and I enjoyed it very much. There was an attendant who would direct us (e.g. where to hold, how to switch sides of the lantern) and guided us through the whole procedure of releasing the sky lanterns. He would also take pictures and he took MANY, in landscape and portrait too. I was really satisfied with the service and the photos turned out good too.
10. Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall 国立国父纪念馆
Rating: ★★★★☆
Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall is a memorial to the Republic of China's National Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen located in Taipei. It contains displays of Sun's life and the revolution he led, and is also a multi-purpose social, educational and cultural center for the public.
Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall is a memorial to the Republic of China's National Father, Dr. Sun Yat-sen located in Taipei. It contains displays of Sun's life and the revolution he led, and is also a multi-purpose social, educational and cultural center for the public.
Witnessed the hourly guard changing ceremony at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall.
Jean: The whole structure of Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall was huge and very impressive. One of the must-see highlights over at Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall would be the hourly formal guard changing ceremony. It happens every hour from 9am to 5pm and it was really worth waiting for. The guards all put on their serious faces and were all synchronised in their movements, it was the result of their hard work and effort! There were displays of Sun Yat Sen's life and the revolution he led too.
11. National Palace Museum 国立古宫博物馆
Rating: ★★★★☆
The National Palace Museum is an antique museum in Shilin, Taipei and it has a permanent collection of more than 696,000 ancient Chinese artefacts and artworks.
The National Palace Museum is an antique museum in Shilin, Taipei and it has a permanent collection of more than 696,000 ancient Chinese artefacts and artworks.
The outside of the Museum.
Jean: The exterior of the National Palace Museum was amazing and it definitely looked like a palace. However when we got inside the whole place was extremely crowded and filled with many different tour groups. So when we wanted to view the more famous exhibits such as the Jadeitte Cabbage and Meat Shaped Stone we had to queue for quite long and of course some people even cut the queue. It was good that there were specific microphones and headsets for each tour group. I did not get to spend all day there to view the collections but I feel that it is surely an interesting experience to check out the artefacts from the past!
12. Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall 中正纪念堂
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Yixiang: Two sets of white stairs, each with 89 steps to represent Chiang's age at the time of his death, lead to the main entrance of the memorial hall. Representatives of the armed forces guard the main hall during its open hours. The changing of the guards take place every hour, attracting many visitors.The ground level of the memorial houses a library and museum documenting Chiang Kai-shek's life and career and exhibits related to Republic of China-era Chinese history, and Taiwan's history and development.
Gabbie: i would really recommend those going to Taiwan to visit this museum, its a really meaningful placeand its significant to Taiwan. Even before entering the museum, the stairs which had 89 steps had a meaning too, which was Chiang Kai Shek's age before he passed away. As you enter the museum there would be guards which will change every hour, its really grand. The exhibits inside explains everything about what Chiang Kai Shek did in the past and his contributions to Taiwan, there were even exhibits about what kind of cars he used in the past! So i would highly recommend this museum.
13. Eslite Bookstore 诚品书店
Rating: ★★★★☆
Eslite Bookstore is one of the largest retail bookstore chains in Taiwan. It also provides one of the largest English language publications and translation materials in Taiwan.
Eslite Bookstore is one of the largest retail bookstore chains in Taiwan. It also provides one of the largest English language publications and translation materials in Taiwan.
Kai Ming: This book store is one of the best book stores in Taiwan, with books of different genres. This book store is really big and gives everyone a really easy way of finding what they want with specific corners that sold specific items. Despite having Chinese as their first language the book store sold many English books! Everything was sold at a cheap price and I would defintely recommend everyone to come here in search of their favourite books. What more, there were several food stores under the book store in level one and other levels which served as a good method to let ourselves take a break from finding books!
Jean: Eslite Bookstore is open 24 hours a day and there is really a wide variety of books to be chosen from there. There are many sections of genres which help us to find English, Chinese books more easily and I also saw a section of Japanese books. Music albums were sold there too. If you're feeling hungry there are cafes there and on the other levels there are also many interesting shops to explore!
14. Metro 台北捷运
Rating: ★★★★☆
Kai Ming: The metro was similar to American subway and a little similar to Singapore's mrt. Be sure not to get lost in the station! Throughout the whole day, the station will be filled with citizens going through their daily routines like going to work or leaving work for home. It is a good experience and a really easy way of getting around!
Jean: I got to experience taking the Taiwan subway, taking it to Ximen station at Ximending. The inside of the train looked a bit older than the MRTs in Singapore but it is a wonderful experience of how the Taiwanese commute in their daily life.
Jean: I got to experience taking the Taiwan subway, taking it to Ximen station at Ximending. The inside of the train looked a bit older than the MRTs in Singapore but it is a wonderful experience of how the Taiwanese commute in their daily life.
Restaurants
15. iNoodle, Hsinchu (beef noodles 牛肉面）
Rating: ★★★★☆
We had beef noodles for dinner at a restaurant in Hsinchu.
We had beef noodles for dinner at a restaurant in Hsinchu.
Food ★★★★☆
Service ★★★★☆
Atmosphere ★★★★☆
16. Dian Shui Lou 点水楼, Taipei (xiao long bao 小笼包）
Rating: ★★★★☆
Food ★★★★★
Service ★★★★☆
Hotels
17. Howard Plaza Hotel, Hsinchu
Rating: ★★★★★
(picture from Google)
*convenience stores less than 5min walk from the hotel
Location ★★★★☆
Sleep Quality ★★★★★
Rooms ★★★★★
Service ★★★★☆
Cleanliness ★★★★☆
Petra: I would definitely recommend this hotel to all tourists! Although the exterior of the hotel does not look that grand and eye-catching, the hotel rooms are great! As they say, do not judge a book by its cover! I personally thought the hotel would be a lousy one but upon entering the room I thought otherwise. What impressed me the most was their toilet! A high class toilet means a high class hotel! The toilet was well lit and had grayish black tiles all over and had a mirrored wall opposite the shower place and even had a bath tub! Among all the hotels I stayed in during is Taiwan trip, I have to say this is one of the best! The breakfast meals are also delicious with many different type of food to choose from. I had a fun and enjoyable stay in Howard Plaza Hotel!
Kai Ming: This would probably be the best hotel of the three. Located amongst stores on a busy street, one can buy anything they want from the convenience shops located left and right of the hotel. Even though the lobby may not seem grand but the rooms are the ones that matter! All rooms, located in different parts of the hotel, are generally big, clean and pleasant looking, making you enjoy staying for as long as you like! This hotel has all kinds of things that every hotel needs, a room card instead of a key, an easy to understand telephone for you to call your friends, good wifi connection, a big and clean toilet and a comfy bed for one to rest on. I would defintely recommend you this hotel!
18. Talmud Business Hotel, Taichung
Rating: ★★★★☆
(picture from Google)
*near Fengjia Night Market
Location ★★★★☆
Sleep Quality ★★★★☆
Rooms ★★★★☆
Service ★★★★☆
Cleanliness ★★★★☆
Jean: I only stayed at Talmud Business Hotel for 1 night when we were in Taichung. The hotel is quite small and has only 1 lift, which makes it hard for us to get to our rooms quickly as there are so many of us. The room was fine and the bed was comfortable. However, the toilet was really small and it did not look as nice as the room. There was no hook behind the door or a rack to place clothes. The shower area is really small and only big enough to fit 1 person. It was only a glass dividing the shower area and the toilet bowl and there was no shower curtain, resulting in the floor being quite drenched after showering. I think that this hotel would be ideal for people stopping over in Taichung for one night. It is one of the hotels near Fengjia night market too.
19. Ferrary Hotel, Taipei
Rating: ★★★☆☆
(pictures from Google)
*around 10min walk from Ximending (Ximen subway station)
Location ★★★★☆
Sleep Quality ★★★★☆
Rooms ★★★☆☆
Service ★★★★☆
Cleanliness ★★★☆☆
Jean: The exterior of Ferrary Hotel may seem really old but I honestly think that it's not a bad hotel since there was some renovations done inside, and the rooms had more modern bathrooms. The room was quite dim but the beds were fine and comfortable. It was a little troublesome that we had to use keys to open the room door but well isn't that a cool experience? I was quite disturbed as when I looked up at the ceiling of the room I spotted quite a number of insects crawling around. It was just not really pleasant to know that there are insects on the ceiling. The bathroom was modern with a bathtub and black tiled floors so it was good. The wifi was only available for some rooms and some rooms the signal was quite weak and had to use other room's wifi. At the restaurant I could feel the air really thick and hard to breathe. I also kept sneezing at the restaurant, but when I went back to the hotel (the hotel rooms and restaurant are in a separate block) I was fine. It only happened when I was at the restaurant so it was weird. At the last night of our stay, some of my classmates felt really scared because of some supernatural thing they felt, it scared most of them until many of them cried. But I didn't experience anything and I think that this hotel is fine, I had a good, comfortable sleep! It is ideal for travellers too as it is around 10 minute walk from Ximending!
School
20. National Experimental High School, Hsinchu
Rating: ★★★★★
Jean: When we were in Taiwan, we also visited a local school in Hsinchu, National Experimental High School. Even though we only spent a short 2 days at the school joining in their lessons, I got to experience a different education system which allowed me to compare with Singapore. The trip to the school has allowed me to better appreciate the education system we have in Singapore and in RV. Also, the friendships forged between our Taiwan buddies and us would never be forgotten!
