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 HOW TO USE THIS E-BOOK

Getting around the e-book

This Insight Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration for your visit to Taiwan, as well as
comprehensive planning advice to make sure you have the best travel experience. The guide begins
with our selection of Top Attractions, as well as our Editor’s Choice categories of activities and
experiences. Detailed features on history, people and culture paint a vivid portrait of contemporary
life in Taiwan. The extensive Places chapters give a complete guide to all the sights and areas worth
visiting. The Travel Tips provide full information on getting around, activities from culture to
shopping to sport, plus a wealth of practical information to help you plan your trip.
In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a
hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are
also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go
directly to the website for more information.

Maps
All key attractions and sights in Taiwan are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps.
Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also
double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images
You’ll find hundreds of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Taiwan. Simply
double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides.
We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations
across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.
Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and
cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure
our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we
strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best
places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really
mean it. Tây Bang Anh: https://www.facebook.com/taybanganh
© 2017 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

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Table of Contents
Taiwan’s Top 10 Attractions
Editor’s Choice
Introduction: The Beautiful Island
Land and Climate
Decisive Dates
Island Settlement
Colonial Intrusions
The Rise of the Republic
Modern Taiwan
The Taiwanese
Tribal Minorities
Religion and Rituals
Insight: Dajia Mazu
The Role of Confucianism
Contemporary Culture
Arts and Crafts
Chinese Opera
Martial Arts
Traditional Medicine
Food and Drink
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Shopping in Taipei
Introduction: Places
Taipei
Insight: Night Markets
Taipei’s outskirts
Yangmingshan and Tamsui
The North Coast
The Northeast Coast
South of Taipei
Taichung and Environs
The Central Cross-Island Highway
Nantou County
South of Taichung
Alishan and Environs
The Taiwan Strait Islands
Tainan
Kaohsiung
Insight: The Umbrellas of Meinong
Kending
Hualien
Taroko Gorge
Taitung Tây Bang Anh: https://www.facebook.com/taybanganh
Ludao and Lanyu
Transportation
A-Z: A Handy Summary of Practical Information
Understanding the Language
Further Reading

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 TAIWAN’S TOP 10 ATTRACTIONS

From dramatic mountain landscapes to white-sand beaches, via some of the world’s
best food and its finest collection of classical Chinese architecture, here is a shortlist
of Taiwan’s most alluring attractions.

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 Top Attraction 1

Chiang Kai-shek Memorial . Built in memory of the generalissimo who long ruled over Taiwan, this
is a grand architectural masterpiece built on an imperial scale that rivals Beijing’s Forbidden Palace
for magnificence. For more information, click here .
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications

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 Top Attraction 2

Taipei 101 . Soaring 101 stories and for a time the world’s highest building, this is a wonder of
engineering that offers tremendous views from its observation deck near the top. For more
information, click here . Tây Bang Anh: https://www.facebook.com/taybanganh
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications

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 Top Attraction 3

National Palace Museum . Home to the world’s greatest repository of Chinese art, collected over
the course of a thousand years by China’s emperors, with approximately 700,000 individual works,
each priceless. For more information, click here .
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications

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 Top Attraction 4

Taroko Gorge . A deep, breathtaking 19km (12-mile) -long chasm of lofty, marble-laced cliffs and a
cascading river strewn with massive boulders, traversed by a slow highway at the bottom literally
chiseled from sheer rock. For more information, click here .
iStockphoto

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 Top Attraction 5

Kending National Park . At Taiwan’s tropical southern tip, this top tourist destination with an
emphasis on conservation is a natural playground of upraised coral, exotic flora and fauna, sandy
beaches, and blue-water recreation. For more information, click here .
Dreamstime

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 Top Attraction 6

Matsu Islands . The remote Matsu Islands in Taiwan’s straits, within sight of China, are a living
museum of military and traditional East Fujian history. For more information, click here .
Dreamstime

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 Top Attraction 7

Food . The country’s history and location has made it a crossroads of humanity – and a grand gourmet
bazaar. The best initiation to Taiwan’s fantastic traditional snack culture is Taipei’s incredibly
diversified Shilin Night Market. For more information, click here .
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications

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 Top Attraction 8

Longshan Temple . When China was busily destroying its cultural heritage, Taiwan’s was being
preserved and celebrated. Taipei’s Longshan Temple is a place of beautiful art and ornate ritual. For
more information, click here .
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications

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 Top Attraction 9

Cycling . A high-quality nationwide system of dedicated paths and lanes has been built. Circle the
entire city of Taipei by riverside, and head to the north coast, on inexpensive rental bikes. For more
information, click here . Tây Bang Anh: https://www.facebook.com/taybanganh
Chris Stowers/Apa Publications

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