Taiwan

Regions of Taipei

Ximending

Taipei's teenage heart beats loudest here: cosplay kids queue outside Wannian Building's anime stalls, tattoo-lane shopfronts glow neon past the Red House's century-old brick octagon, and the smell of braised pork-intestine noodles drifts from Ay-Chung's standing-room counter into the crowds pouring out of Ximen Station's six exits.

Wanhua / Longshan Temple

Old Taipei condensed into a few blocks around Longshan Temple: incense smoke from the 1738 shrine drifts past Bopiliao's red-brick Qing-dynasty arcades, herbalists weigh dried roots in the 45-metre Herb Lane, and after dark, lantern-strung Huaxi Street ('Snake Alley') fills with tonic-soup and seafood stalls.

Zhongshan

Taipei's stylish crossroads of incense and espresso: Xingtian Temple's smoke-free courtyard gives way, along Zhongshan Linear Park, to MOCA's red-brick galleries, Eslite's book-lined boutiques and Chifeng Street's vintage cafes.

Da'an / Yongkang Street

Taipei's food-and-tea heart — Din Tai Fung's original xiaolongbao counter, a Michelin-listed beef-noodle line, and lantern-lit tea houses packed into the lanes off Yongkang Street, a five-minute walk from the jogging paths of Da'an Forest Park.

Xinyi / Taipei 101

Taiwan's tallest tower anchors a grid of glass malls and rooftop bars built on reclaimed rice paddies since the 1990s, while a twenty-minute climb up Elephant Mountain's steep stone steps rewards hikers with the postcard sunset shot of the skyline lit gold.

Shilin

North Taipei's day-and-night hood — the world's finest collection of Chinese imperial art sits on a quiet hillside a short bus ride away, and after dark Taiwan's biggest night market fills the streets around a 1796 Mazu temple, frying oyster omelettes and palm-sized fried chicken past midnight.

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