Destination of the Week: Taiwan
Taiwan is the most underrated tourist destination in Asia. It's hard to understand why – it has some of the most captivating scenery anywhere on the planet, sensational cuisine and a fascinating cultural mix. In the 1990s Taiwan became the first true Chinese democracy, developing a sense of civil society bewildering to its giant neighbour across the Taiwan Strait. Since then popular culture has blossomed on the island, an eclectic mix of Chinese, Western, Japanese and indigenous influences.
But Taiwan is also an intensely traditional place, with Chinese and aboriginal festivals, performing arts and religious belief preserving a legacy that goes back millennia. Taiwan's hinterland offers more surprises: towering mountains, including Northeast Asia's tallest, six national parks, a selection of alluring offshore islands and, thanks to its volcanic past, numerous hot-spring resorts.
Taiwan's political and financial heart, TAIPEI is one of the most densely inhabited cities on earth. Surrounded by mountains at the northern tip of the island, the capital is a bustling melee of motor scooters, markets, skyscrapers and temples, with almost three million people packed into the Taipei Basin. Despite being crammed with world-class attractions and some of the best Chinese food on the planet, the city is vastly underrated as a tourist destination.
Though you could spend months here and still not absorb all the city has to offer, a week is usually enough to get a decent taster. Many tourists come solely to visit the mind-blowing National Palace Museum, but they risk missing out on a host of other attractions. West Taipei is the historic core of the city and where many of its best sights are located: tour the Presidential Building, National Taiwan Museum and Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to grapple with Taiwan's complex history, while Longshan Temple is the best introduction to its religious traditions.
Further north, Dihua Street is packed with traditional stores, while Baoan Temple is one of the country's most elegant shrines and the Shunyi Museum of Formosan Aborigines is an excellent introduction to Taiwan's indigenous peoples. East Taipei offers a change of pace and scenery, with Xinyi district a showcase of gleaming office towers and glitzy shopping malls, all of them overshadowed by cloud-scraping Taipei 101, the world's tallest building.
Eating in Taipei is always memorable, with a huge choice of exceptional restaurants, teahouses and some of Taiwan's best night markets, while a vast range of department stores, specialist shops and antique stalls makes shopping in the city just as rewarding. To the north, Yangmingshan National Park and Beitou are where the best hikes and hot springs are located, while Wulai to the south provides a taster of Taiwan's wilder hinterland.