Oct 13, 2011

By far one of my favorite meals in Taiwan was an unexpected stop at a breakfast stand on Kaishan Road in Tainan. Yung Chi is a popular spot with the locals. For very little money you can get a very hearty, authentic Taiwanese breakfast. Here’s what I had: Yo Tiao (a savory churro type bread), pork rice (with pork liver, not my favorite), duck eggs – I

Oct 9, 2011

I awoke in my room at the Fleur de Chine after the best night’s sleep I’ve enjoyed in a long, long time. Was it the hour-long soak in my room’s mineral bath, the mind-blowing dinner in the Rainbow Cloud teppanyaki restaurant, or the low-key, yet luxurious, room overlooking Sun Moon Lake? Probably all three. I dressed again in the yukata (a kimono-like robe

Oct 6, 2011

The first thing I noticed walking into the original Din Tai Fung was the kitchen to the right, with table after table of kitchen help preparing tray upon tray of xiaolongbao—literally a ‘small steamer dumpling’.   The heat and humidity in the kitchen matched the weather outside and I wasn’t sure this was such a great idea. But after walking up to

Sep 29, 2011

After eight days in Taiwan I realize I’ve only heard one car horn. And I’ve been in cities – Taipei, Tainan, Taichung – with cars and scooters galore. Not to mention pedestrians. A Taiwanese woman told me that the Taiwanese are a very orderly people. Maybe that’s the explanation for the unexpected quiet of the city streets. It’s a contrast to the

Aug 21, 2010

“What is that awful smell?” I wondered to myself as I sat on a low wall, taking a brief rest from the hectic chaos of Shilin night market situated in the heart of Taipei. The answer was right beside me, where a young woman was sitting. No, she wasn’t the source of the pungent odour. It was coming from the food she was eating. This was my first

It was the ultimate game of cat and mouse – or human and monkey, in this case. Rested and wide-eyed from a blissful sleep at the Grand Formosa in Taiwan’s Taroko National Park (www.taroko.gov.tw), I woke up earlier than usual. Nightlife was no issue on this five-star stay, which proved an indulgence in an eight-day sojourn that typically found me up later

Eileen doesn’t just do interviews for In The Know Traveler in English, once in a while she does them in Mandarin as well. In this video, Eileen meets with Vicki Chen of Taiwan Tourism. Check out this video and understand in any language the enthusiasm for visiting Taiwan. We also have a new video coming out on Taiwan in English, look for it. As with all of

Over a bowl of steaming soup in Taichung, Taiwan, I am tempted to ask my sister about its ingredients. The beef-broth soup was a delicious blend of tofu, chicken, noodles, mushrooms and a few ingredients I could not identify. However, one lesson I had learned during my trip to Taiwan was that nothing ruins a great bowl of soup like finding out the brown chunks I

Devin runs into Ling and Tiffany, the recent winners of the Miss Taiwan and Junior Miss Taiwan Pageants, at the LA Travel Expo. They take a moment to share their experience with us. Doesn’t have a lot to do with travel, but we could not resist. For more on Taiwan at ITKT. This podcast was produced by Wayfarer Digital for In The Know Traveler. To see our

A little knowledge goes a long way. If you are considering Taiwan for your next holiday, reading the following is a must. -editor- Location Taiwan is a convenient gateway to Asia positioned midway between Japan (3 hours) and Korea (2 ½ hours) to the north and Hong Kong (1 ½ hours) and the Philippines (2 hours) to the south. The island nation is in the western