Taipei, the capital city of Taiwan, is a wonderful place to spend your holidays, and it is said to be the most dynamic, comfortable cities in which to live in all of Asia. It is best to visit the city during fall, when there are low temperatures and minimal rainfall. During the summer the weather is hot and sticky.
Taipei, officially Taipei City, is the capital[a] and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan).Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about 25 km (16 mi) southwest of the northern port city of Keelung. Most of the city rests on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed. The basin is bounded by the relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city’s western border.
The municipality of Taipei is home to an estimated population of 2,646,204 (2019), forming the core part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, also known as “Greater Taipei”, which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and Keelung with a population of 7,047,559,the 40th most-populous urban area in the world—roughly one-third of Taiwanese citizens live in the metro areas. The name “Taipei” can refer either to the whole metropolitan area or just the municipality alone. Taipei has been the political center of the island since 1887, when it first became the seat of Taiwan Province by the Qing dynasty until 1895 and again from 1945 to 1956 by the ROC government, with an interregnum from 1895 to 1945 as the seat of the Government-General of Taiwan during the Japanese rule. The city has been the national seat of the ROC central government since 1949, it became the nation’s special municipality (then known as Yuan-controlled municipality) on 1 July 1967 from provincial city status.
Taipei is the economic, political, educational and cultural center of Taiwan and one of the major hubs in East Asia. Considered to be a global city and rated as an Alpha ? City by GaWC,Taipei is part of a major high-tech industrial area. Railways, highways, airports and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports – Songshan and Taoyuan. The municipality is home to various world-famous architectural or cultural landmarks, such as the former tallest building in the world between 2004 and 2009, Taipei 101, other notable tourist attractions include Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Hsing Tian Kong, Lungshan Temple of Manka, National Palace Museum, Presidential Office Building, Taipei Guest House and Zhinan Temple. Popular shopping districts including Ximending as well as several night markets dispersed throughout the city. Natural features such as Maokong, Yangmingshan and hot springs are also well known to international visitors.
Source: Wikipedia
Typhoons and flooding plague the city during the months of June to October; therefore avoid taking a holiday to Taipei in this season. On the other hand, there are a lot of tourists visiting at this time, making it cheaper. For those who hate the rain, it is best to visit in December to January, the driest time in the city.
Getting cheap flights to Taipei is easy, with domestic flights landing at Songshan Airport, and international flights landing at Taiwan Taiyuan International Airport. China Airlines and Eva Airways offer affordable tickets to the city, and you should best book your trip in May.
Taipei is the cultural seat of Taiwan, and one can enjoy several festivals and events. The Lantern festival, which attracts media attention from the whole globe, involves the lighting of sky lanterns accompanied by awesome laser displays.
The Ghost festival is yet another event, which involves using small boats and lit lanterns to guide the lost ghosts along the river. Other events of note are the Tomb-Sweeping Day, the Dragon Boat Festival, and the Mid Autumn festival.
Taipei has several tourist attractions, of which the most popular is the Maokong Gondola, the cheapest of all gondolas. The National Palace Museum has numerous historic treasures.
