I want to visit Taiwan before it’s too late. What are recommendations to do there?

In Taiwan all seems to breathe freedom and peace and to make one forget the world and its sad turmoils.

When I visited Hong Kong in 2013, my tour guide was talking about all the promises the Chinese govt had made to them about freedom of the press, personal freedoms, etc. that they had broken. She was saying that she was going to leave HK eventually, and she was probably going to go to Taiwan. I didn't say anything, but I thought wow, that's like going from the fire to the frying pan.

[quote]What are recommendations to do there?

Escape

I'm a bit of a train geek and was intrigued by their new high-speed train line (this was back in 2007) so I rode down from Taipei to Zuoying to visit the dragon and tiger pagoda. Then I had a nice lunch and went back to the city.

I was such an idiot that I didn't have the hotel write out the destination in Chinese, so when I got to the station, I was completely lost as to how to get the (before Google maps). A very handsome young man noticed my predicament and helped me get a cab and told the cab driver where to take me. (it's actually only about a 30 minute walk, but he probably figured I was a lazy American and would prefer a cab).

OT: Despite their unquestioned convenience, one of the things I miss about the pre-smart phone era is the exhilarating and somewhat scary feeling of anyone who knows where are has no idea who you are, and anyone who knows who you are has no idea where you are.

Was Taiwan an independent country prior to 1949? If so, then China has no right to claim it.

It wasn't.

It was under the control of the Japanese from 1895 (Sino-Japanese War) until 1945. But it's ethnically and historically Chinese. When the Nationalist government of Chiang Kai-Shek fled the mainland, that's where they ended up.

First country in Asia to allow same sex marriage

They have a pretty big gay nightlife scene. In fact Taipei is the only country in Asia that has leather bars! Go on a Friday night and squeeze, you will have some fun

Night markets - lots of good cheap food - thriving gay scene. Buddhist/Confucian temples everywhere.

The National Palace Museum is stunning. Enormous, takes at least a full day. Houses Taiwan's massive collection of imperial Chinese art that the Kuomingtang liberated/stole in '48 when mainland China went Communist.

Their televised puppet show wuxia dramas are breathtaking. They make these puppets do the coolest stunts that look almost lifelike, and combine it with amazing CGI Fx. The stories are really entertaining and deep, too, real Asian folklore. I’d love to go to their studios in Taiwan just to see how they’re made and filmed.

My favourite character from those shows is the rogue wandering assassin named Drunken Sword (the tall unsteady one dressed in all black in the clip at the link). He’s such a funny, clever, devious asshole, but an incredible swordsman ultimately a decent person deep down.