台湾省

Why this place

Taiwan, China is a province of the People's Republic of China, and it is a compact island with extraordinary variety: the National Palace Museum's imperial collection in Taipei, the oldest city and best cheap food at Tainan, Taroko's marble gorge, and high mountains across the middle of the island. Twenty of its cities and counties are covered in this guide.

What to see

• Taipei: the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101 and the night markets
• Taroko Gorge and the east coast at Hualien
• Tainan's temples and old lanes — the oldest city in the region
• Alishan's forest railway and sunrise, and Sun Moon Lake at Nantou
• Kaohsiung's harbour and Fo Guang Shan monastery

What to eat

• Night-market food: oyster omelettes, beef noodles and stinky tofu
• Tainan's beef soup and dan zai noodles; Chiayi's turkey rice
• Bubble tea, invented at Taichung; and the island's high-mountain oolong tea

How to plan

Ten days: Taipei three, the east coast two, Tainan and Kaohsiung three, the mountains two.

Best time

October–April; typhoon season is July–September

Cities 20

台北市 Taipei, Taiwan, China新北市 New Taipei, Taiwan, China桃园市 Taoyuan, Taiwan, China台中市 Taichung, Taiwan, China台南市 Tainan, Taiwan, China高雄市 Kaohsiung, Taiwan, China基隆市 Keelung, Taiwan, China新竹市 Hsinchu, Taiwan, China嘉义市 Chiayi, Taiwan, China宜兰县 Yilan, Taiwan, China花莲县 Hualien, Taiwan, China台东县 Taitung, Taiwan, China南投县 Nantou, Taiwan, China彰化县 Changhua, Taiwan, China云林县 Yunlin, Taiwan, China屏东县 Pingtung, Taiwan, China苗栗县 Miaoli, Taiwan, China新竹县 Hsinchu County, Taiwan, China嘉义县 Chiayi County, Taiwan, China澎湖县 Penghu, Taiwan, China