Taipei: The Bradt e-Guide

Visiting Taipei for business or pleasure, yet lacking the time to go down island or explore the east? In that case, you might not bother to pack a guidebook which covers all of Taiwan. For the sake of such travellers, Bradt has extracted the Taipei chapter from my guidebook and repackaged it as a city guide. It's available only in electronic formats; unlike the full Taiwan guide, there's no print edition. 

The Taipei e-Guide can be ordered direct from Bradt, and should be available via Amazon any day now.

ShowMeTaiwan.com

 
ShowMeTaiwan.com is a new website which aims to help backpackers and other tourists plan their trips around Taiwan and book accommodation. The founder, Charlie Taylor, is a friend of mine who also operates two popular hostels in Tainan. So far I've contributed two short articles to the website. Both are about attractions in Greater Tainan: Hutoushan in Yujing District; and Anshun Salt Field Ecology and Culture Village in Annan District.

The photo shows a road bridge near Baoan TRA Station in Tainan City's Rende District, near Ten Drum Culture Village and the soon-to-open Chi Mei Museum.

Taiwan in The New York Times and The Guardian

In a short article playing up swanky new hotels, as well as the much-loved old favourite Kenting National Park, The New York Times last weekend ranked Taiwan no. 11 on its list '52 Places To Go In 2014'.Taiwan's tourism authority is, of course, delighted by such positive coverage.

Also recently, The Guardian featured Taiwan among its 'Holiday hotspots: where to go in 2014.' Putting Taiwan no. 35 on a list of forty destinations, the British newspaper stressed the island's culinary attractions. Unfortunately, both links in the final paragraph are dud. There are contact details for Taiwan Food Adventures here, while the correct website for Jodie's Kitchen is here.

Neither article mentioned Taiwan's stupendous mountain scenery. To redress the imbalance, here's a photo I took several years ago in Yushan National Park.

A super-central place to stay in Tainan

We're welcoming visitors of all kinds to Taiwanfoo Homestay Apartment. Located in the heart of Tainan - within walking distance of the train and bus stations as well as several tourist attractions, it's quiet day and night as well as being clean, safe and comfortable.

Books: A Foreigner's Guide to Taiwan's Indigenous Areas: Hualien and Taitung

This is the second book in a three-volume series by Cheryl Robbins, who is surely Taiwan's most knowledgable English-language travel writer when it comes to aboriginal culture and communities, as well as a professional licensed tour guide. The first book in the series (see this blog post) came out last year; the third volume, which will focus on Taiwan's north, is due out before the end of 2013.

A Foreigner's Guide to Taiwan's Indigenous Areas: Hualien and Taitung (Taiwan Interminds Publishing, NT$380) contains a wealth of easy-to-digest information plus maps and hundreds of color photos. Robbins doesn't limit herself to restaurants, places to stay and attractions. She includes several businesses where tourists can buy aboriginal handicrafts or clothing, plus music venues such as Tiehua Village in Taitung City. If a criticism can be made of the book, it's that for some of the places mentioned, details of opening times and days off aren't included.

One featured place I'd previously heard about (but have yet to visit) is the Taiwanese Aborigine Tattoo Culture Museum. Its founder, Kimi Sibal, has won renown for his photographs of traditional face tattoos.

Books: A Foreigner's Guide to Taiwan's Indigenous Areas

Cultural tourists will find Cheryl Robbins' new book valuable both for the background information it presents about some of the island's aboriginal communities and the practical tips it contains. A Foreigner's Guide to Taiwan's Indigenous Areas: Central and Southern Taiwan - the only English-language travel guide of its kind - is the first part of a three-volume series. Guides to the north and the east will follow next year.

Robbins – who has been done translation work for, among others, Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines – has long been fascinated by Taiwan's Austronesian population, and her passion for indigenous arts shines in every one of the book's six chapters. In addition to descriptions of over 20 aboriginal-run homestays and restaurants where you can enjoy indigenous cuisine, the book includes details of where to find artisans skilled at leather work, weaving, woodcarving and making glass-bead jewelry.

Fans of Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale may want to visit the Mona Rudao Memorial (a sight, as far as I know, not mentioned in any other printed English-language guide or even website), while those who love hiking will find very useful information about paths such as the Mihu Trail and Bird Worship Trail, both of which are in Alishan Township.

This 212-page book, which has color photos on almost every page, as well as several easy-to-understand maps, is published by Taiwan Interminds Publishing. The recommended price is NT$380, but many bookstores are selling it at a lower price. It (as well as a previous book Robbins worked on) can be ordered through this website.

B&B profiles on Tra News

Tra News is a trilingual (Chinese, English and Japanese) website on which you'll find some useful information if you're planning a trip around Taiwan and want to see what's happening. The short articles reflect Taiwanese rather than Western interests; there's a great deal about local delicacies and festivals which travelers who can't speak Chinese will find dull or bewildering. That said, the photos and details of numerous homestays (B&Bs) are useful when looking for somewhere to stay. Also, several establishments offer discount coupons through the website.

The letters "TRA" usually stand for Taiwan Railway Administration, which manages the island's conventional railroads. However, there seems to be no connection between this website and the railway agency - and there's no explanation on the site of what "Tra" stands for.

National park plans to triple-charge foreign hikers

Paiyun Lodge (aka Paiyun Shanzhuang 排雲山莊), which is where most of those ascending Mount Jade (aka Yushan, 玉山 , Taiwan's highest mountain - pictured here) spend the night before hiking up to the summit, has been under renovation since last year. Around the start of this year, members of Taiwan's hiking fraternity alerted me to an announcement on Yushan National Park's website, in Chinese only, that when the lodge reopens sometime in the summer, non-Taiwanese will have to pay NT$700 to stay there, while local citizens will be charged NT$220. In other words, as the policy stands, foreigners will pay more than three times what ROC citizens will pay.

Dismayed that such a policy would be considered just when Taiwan's government is trying to boost international arrivals - and concerned that it might set a precedent which would lead to museums, national forest recreation areas and other attractions charging foreigners more - I asked my contact in the national park's headquarters for an explanation. Segments below in blue are responses from government officials; those in purple are emails/letters from my side. 

The key part of her reply, which came on February 10, was:

[The] section which is in charge of park entry application explains that we pay more to build an English environment for foreigners, such as hire English specialist staff, built English edition website, bilingual guide sign or instruction…etc.

She suggested I send an email to the director of the national park. I did so on February 17: 

It was suggested to me that I write to you because I have expressed concern about the plan to charge ROC citizens NT$220, but foreigners NT$700, to stay in Paiyun Shanzhuang once the rebuilding has been completed.

I have been told by one member of your staff that the difference in pricing is to fund "bilingual services" and "a bilingual environment." I and several other people are very curious about this.

First, I would like to point out that - to the best of my knowledge - nowhere else in Taiwan are foreigners expected to pay more than locals.

I would like to know exactly what services foreign visitors can expect, and how those services differ from or improve upon what has been available in recent years. In my experience, the signs and information boards on the approach to Yushan are pretty good already. However, I admit that few of the national park workers one meets around Paiyun Shanzhuang speak any English.

Also, I would like to know if all non-ROC citizens will be expected to pay the higher fee, even if they are ethnic Chinese from Malaysia or Singapore, or from mainland China.

Furthermore, I would be most interested to know where this proposal originated. Was it suggested by someone within Yushan National Park? Or did it come from the Ministry of the Interior or elsewhere? Also, is the policy being coordinated with government bodies such as the Research, Development & Evaluation Commission (RDEC), which in recent years has been endeavoring to build a bilingual environment? What does the Tourism Bureau think about the policy?

I would be most grateful for detailed answers to these questions, and I truly appreciate your taking the time to explain this policy to me.

The reply came very quickly:

Your mail sent on February/17/2012, titled “Paiyun Shanzhuang / different prices for foreigners and ROC citizens” has been received and processed by our Park Entry Service Unit and the response is as follows:

We sincerely appreciate that you wrote us and give us an opportunity to clarify your or other potential foreign visitors’ doubts.

First of all, the change of the standard of fee is based on the 10th article of Charges and Fees Act “…Administrative fees: shall be set under the direct cost of goods and materials, wages and salaries, and other costs, and by taking indirect cost into consideration…” and the 11th article of Charges and Fees Act “The executive authorities in charge of the concerned matters shall review the standards of charges and fees on a routine…The forgoing routine review shall be made at least once every three years.” The fee of Paiyun Lodge includes the cost of construction, management, and maintenance, etc. Local visitors staying overnight at Paiyun Lodge will be charged NT$220 per night. As for foreign visitors, the fee of NT$700 contains extra cost of management for the service of bilingual staff, the maintenance of website in foreign languages, English signs, and brochures in foreign languages, etc.

The standard of charge is differed from objective condition, nationality, instead of visitors’ language skills. Thus, visitors from Singapore, Malaysia, and China are also charged NT$700.

As for your first question, there are indeed scenic spots and national parks having different standard of fee according to nationality or citizenship, such as the historic spots and museum in Tainan City, Aconcagua Park, Kinabalu Park, Taj Mahal, etc. As your reference, this is the standard of permission fee for Aconcagua Park: http://www.aconcaguatrek.com/aconcagua-expediciones/permisos_in.asp

I wasn't nearly satisfied by the park's response. Apart from it failing to answer some of my questions (I was especially curious if the Tourism Bureau had been consulted, and if the park had sought bilingual-project funds from the RDEC), the statement about Tainan City's historic spots and museums is simply wrong. People who live in Tainan (ROC citizens show the address on their ID cards; foreigners show the address on their alien resident certificates) can enter places like Fort Zeelandia for free. Those who live outside the city limits - be they Taiwanese or foreign - have to pay, and they pay the same regardless of national origin. Also, the Aconcagua Park website clearly states that foreigners living in Argentina pay no more than Argentine citizens.

Accordingly, Robert Kelly (principal author of the Lonely Planet Taiwan guide) and I sent the following letter to the director-general of the Tourism Bureau on March 12.

In recent weeks, two changes in the hiking policies of Yushan National Park have come to our attention. As we are authors of two of the most popular English-language guidebooks on Taiwan (Taiwan: The Bradt Travel Guide and Lonely Planet Taiwan), and are well connected with the foreign hiking community within Taiwan, we hope your department will be interested in hearing our views on this matter.

Our first concern regards Paiyun Shanzhuang currently under reconstruction. When the cabin reopens later this year, the national park plans to charge ROC citizens NT$220 for an overnight stay; and NT$700 for foreign visitors. We have been told by the national park that the much higher foreign fees will go toward recouping the costs of funding “bilingual staff, maintaining the park's website in foreign languages, erecting English signs, and making brochures available in foreign languages.

All foreign visitors appreciate the efforts being made by Taiwan's national parks and other government agencies to deploy English-speaking staff, improve signs and make other sources of information clearer. Long-term residents such as ourselves also recognize that Taiwan has made impressive progress over the past decade.

But we are both surprised and dismayed by Yushan National Park's decision to charge foreign guests higher fees, believing it sends a negative signal to those thinking of visiting Taiwan. If followed by other agencies and site managers (such as those at forest recreation areas, museums, historical sites, etc), it could make Taiwan a significantly more expensive destination to visit; and as a result significantly less attractive as a destination.

Within Asia, Taiwan is already considered a fairly expensive place to travel. Compared to Thailand, Vietnam and China, for example, is can be two to four times more expensive for food and lodging. The lack of high user and admission fees, however, is one way that Taiwan balances out the expenses, allowing a visitor to Taiwan to spend not much more than one to China, for example, when all expenses are added up. If Taiwanese sites begin to charge high admission rates this will surely be a strike against them in the eyes of many travelers.

We also think the new policy has not been thought through carefully if in fact it is a fund-generating measure. Yushan National Park receives hundreds of thousands of visitors per year, many of who are foreign travelers. Yet not a single visitor (with the exception of hikers) is asked to pay even an entrance fee, though they may in fact benefit from bilingual staff, signposts, and brochures.

One argument put forth by the national park is that at many attractions around the world foreign visitors are required to pay more than locals. This is certainly true but in our experience it is almost always in countries where local salaries are significantly lower than the visitors'. For example, in China or Thailand, wages are far below Western levels and so it is not entirely unfair that foreign visitors are asked to pay more. However, that said, in recent years among the biggest complaints now from visitors to China is the discrepancy between local and visitor entrance fees and the huge rise in the latter. For Taiwan to replicate unpopular policies elsewhere does not seem wise to us.

Furthermore, Taiwan is not a third world country: GDP per capita is now almost US$20,000 according to the latest GIO reports. This is higher than the GDP per capita of many of the countries from which visitors to Taiwan originate (such as Malaysia) and is quite comparable to South Korea, and not so far below Japan. The higher charge of NT$700 could also be quite prohibitive for the average young traveler or backpacker from a Western country; the type of tourist, we should add, that will be most interested in climbing Yushan in the first place.

In short, Taiwan is not a poor country and this kind of unequal treatment of guests is counter-productive to the image the Tourism Bureau wishes to spread: i.e., that Taiwan is a safe, prosperous, advanced nation, steeped in tradition but enjoying all the advantages of the modern world. In our opinion, if the national park is in need of higher revenues then it would be much preferable to see entrance fees charged to all visitors.

Our second concern regards the high mountain hiking permit system. While Taroko National Park has long forbidden foreign hikers from climbing its mountains without a Taiwanese guide (a policy that is at odds with every other national park) it has come to our attention that Yushan National Park is also about to engage in selective rules for foreign hikers: in this case refusing to issue permits for a one-day ascent of Yushan.

Again, we believe this sends the wrong message to the world. Foreign hikers within Taiwan are already complaining to us that they believe the “no one-day permit policy” is simply a way of forcing them to stay at Paiyuan Shanzhuang (and hence be charged more). While we don't believe this is the case, we do agree that the impression such a policy gives is not positive.

A “no one-day policy” will also reduce the number of foreign hikers coming to Taiwan, especially the very experienced. While Taiwan's mountains are very beautiful they are not a great challenge for skilled hikers. However, such people do enjoy the challenge of a one-day ascent. We know of several who live within the Asian region that make regular trips to Taiwan. If national park policy begins to alienate such people, Taiwan's mountain reputation could take a large hit.

Thank you for taking the time to read our concerns. We would be most interested in hearing your views.

On April 16 we received a short message in Chinese from the Tourism Bureau, stating that they had received our letter, had assigned case number 10100106051 to it, and forwarded a copy to Yushan National Park.

The park's most recent response, dated April 18, reads:

This is a reply to official document No. 10100106051 of Tourism Bureau submitted on April 16, 2012.

The “fee-charging standards for the usage of Paiyun Lodge of Yushan National Park” is based on user pays principle and the differences on costs and taxes.

1. Local visitors: NT$220 per person per night
2. Foreign visitors: NT$700 per person per night
3. The fee-charging standard for local visitors is applicable to foreign visitors who hold ROC (Taiwan) Resident Certificate.

According to “National Park Law,” national parks are established for protecting specific natural scenery, wildlife, and historic sites and also for the recreation, education, and research purposes. Mt. Jade main peak and west peak is within the ecological protected area and scenic area in Yushan National Park. For satisfying the aims of ecological conservation, recreational quality, and hiking safety, our park has set up daily maximum capacity for years.

Presently, the maximum capacity of single day ascent to Mt. Jade main/west peak has been increased from 20 people per day to 40 people per day due to the reconstruction of Paiyun Lodge. For single day ascent application, our park strictly inspects the fitness and experiences of applicants and the training purpose(s). It is suggested that foreign visitors hike this route with a Taiwanese guide and be careful on hiking safety.

We appreciate your advices to our park.

Robert and I then waited a while, hoping the Tourism Bureau would chip in with comments of their own. Hearing nothing, on May 9 I sent an email, the core being:

We have now received a response from Yushan National Park which has addressed some but not all of our concerns.

We are still hoping for an official response from the Tourism Bureau about the issues raised in our letter. If the bureau plans to make a response, we should be most grateful if we could receive it by May 18, as we are discussing these issues with a number of newspaper and magazine editors (in Taiwan and overseas) with a view to writing about the new pricing policy, and would very much like to know the bureau's stance.

Possibly because of the deadline I included, on May 16 we received the following letter from David W. Hsieh, the new director-general of the Tourism Bureau:

Thank you for your email concerning the pricing policy of Paiyun Lodge in Yushan National Park. From the standpoint of international promotion, we think that it is not proper to charge foreigners differently from local citizens for the use of tourist facilities. As we mentioned before, national parks are outside the jurisdiction of the Tourism Bureau; we will, however, make strong suggestions about this matter to the Ministry of the Interior's Construction and Planning Agency, which is the agency in charge of the parks.

We do appreciate your efforts to promote Taiwan, and thank you again for your concern.

At the time of writing this blog post, the triple-pricing announcement is still on the national park's website. It'll be very interesting to see how this pans out. If the park sticks to its guns, it'll upset a good number of foreign visitors while raising very little extra revenue. Snow Mountain is looking even more attractive than before!

Taiwan and Thailand: A few comparisons

Among people who've never set foot in Asia, Taiwan is sometimes confused with Thailand. Taiwan is an up-and-coming tourist destination, yet Thailand still receives far more visitors.

We've just returned from a 20-day trip to Thailand, so I thought it would be interesting to compare the kingdom with Taiwan, from a traveller's perspective.

National Parks and museums

We entered two national parks, both of which charge foreign adults 400 baht and foreign children 200 baht - at today's exchange rate NT$391 and NT$191, respectively. Thai citizens pay 40 baht and 20 baht. None of Taiwan's national parks charge admission, and none of them get as crowded as Erawan's waterfalls. Entering the island's forest recreation areas costs between nothing and NT$200.

Thailand's major museums do charge for admission, sometimes up to 100 baht (NT$95). Few of Taiwan's museums charge more than NT$100. (One that charges exactly NT$100 is Lanyang Museum). Seeing the world's leading collection of Chinese art and antiques in the National Palace Museum will cost you NT$160, and half-price tickets are available are certain times each week. The National Museum of Taiwan History is currently free.

Eating out

To our surprise, eating from night markets and street vendors in Thailand wasn't significantly cheaper than in Taiwan. That said, mid-range restaurants are less expensive in Thailand than Taiwan.

Supermarket supplies

Milk and fruit juices are around 30% cheaper in Thailand than Taiwan. Packaged snacks and toiletries are also less expensive. Local beers and spirits bought from convenience stores are very slightly cheaper in Thailand than in Taiwan, but wines imported from Europe and Australia are pricier.

Getting information

Offices of the Tourist Authority of Thailand (TAT) are helpful but not conveniently located, even in heavily-touristed areas like Kanchanaburi. Taiwan's policy of putting visitor information centres in train stations and other transport hubs is very sensible.

Cleanliness

The amount of litter beside Thailand's major roads is truly depressing; if anything, the situation there is currently worse than it ever was in Taiwan, the latter having made considerable progress in recent years. That said, the two national parks we toured in Thailand (Erawan and Khao Yai) were just as clean as Taiwan's national parks.

Language barrier

In tourist areas, a good many Thais – even street vendors – speak some English, but few have a really good grasp of the language. There's a very widespread and heartfelt willingness to assist. In Taiwan, it sometimes seems as if the first five people you address in English are so unused to talking with non-Taiwanese they freeze up – but then the sixth turns out to speak excellent English. When exploring Thailand's countryside on motorcycle, we didn't notice many English-language or bilingual signs to attractions. When navigating Thai towns on foot, it's often hard to find road names. Almost everywhere in Taiwan, roads and streets are clearly labelled in both Chinese script and some form of pinyin.

Public safety

Thailand isn't an especially dangerous destination in my opinion, but almost every year there are stories of travellers being robbed at knifepoint, or drugged on long-distance buses and waking up to find their bags have been plundered. Also, in recent years there have been violent political protests in central Bangkok, and at one point the international airport was closed. In terms of both political stability and conventional criminality, Taiwan is exceptionally safe for tourists. To put it simply, Taiwan's felons and gangsters have bigger fish to fry.

Road safety

The standard of driving in Thailand has improved since I first visited in 1991, yet in both countries crossing the road must be done with great care. Also, central Bangkok is rather like certain urban areas in Taiwan in that motorcyclists treat the pavements/sidewalks as a lane along which they can zip in either direction. For foreign tourists, renting a motorcycle is far easier in Thailand than Taiwan.

Accommodation

Compared to Southeast Asia, the cost of lodging in Taiwan is a major disadvantage. On average, a room in a Taiwanese hotel or guesthouse costs two to three times what its equivalent costs in Thailand. Also, because many destinations in Taiwan are dominated by the domestic visitors, some very attractive homestays do not have signs in languages other than Chinese. That isn't an issue in Thailand.

Travelling around Taiwan during Lunar New Year

Don't do it. Between Lunar New Year minus three days until a week or so afterwards, trains and long-distance buses are packed with people returning to their hometowns or going sightseeing; room rates in hotels and homestays double or triple (compared with those places' usual midweek prices); famous attractions are extremely crowded; and quite a few restaurants and other businesses close for a few days. Moreover, the roads get very busy indeed.

Christmas in Taiwan

Fewer than one in ten Taiwanese is Christian, and December 25 is not a public holiday (it used to be until about a decade ago but not because it was Christmas, rather because it was the anniversary of the promulgating of the ROC Constitution in 1947). The retail sector obviously loves the idea of Christmas, and young people are getting into the habit of sending each other Christmas cards, but the festive season is still very much a minority activity. Most people save their money and energy for the Lunar New Year.

If you're thinking of coming to Taiwan at this time of year and worry about places being closed or packed with people, don't be. The weather can be a little cold, but all in all it's a good time to be touring the island.

Homestays / B&Bs

Learn to recognise this emblem: It's the sign given to homestays (also known as bed-and-breakfasts, though not all of them offer breakfast) which satisfy fire safety and other regulations and are thus legal and licensed. Homestays have become very popular in Taiwan in recent years because they offer a different experience to hotels - one that's friendlier, less formal, sometimes quirkier...

In the guidebook I recommend dozens of good homestays.

Visitor information centres

These kiosks (in the book I refer to them as VICs) can be found in major train stations, high-speed stations and some of Taipei's MRT stops. They live up to their name: The staff are helpful, many of them speak excellent English, and if they don't know something they're willing to keep making phone calls until they've got the answer. Make good use of them!