Loving Taipei

Taipei is the indie band of Asian cities. It's cool, gritty, and totally underappreciated. Here is your backstage pass.

Most visitors land in Taiwan and head straight for the same two places: the soup dumplings at Din Tai Fung and the tourist spectacle of Snake Alley. That's fine for a start. But if that is all you see, you are missing the real city.

My name is Cindy Liu. I am a Taipei native, a massive food nerd, and your honest friend on the ground. This isn't a guidebook written by a travel influencer who spent three days here taking selfies. It is a collection of the street smarts, cultural quirks, and brutal honesty that only a local can deliver.

Inside, we are going to skip the fluff and get to the good stuff:

• The Hotel Warning: Most tourists assume a subtropical island is hot year-round. They don't know that Taipei winters dip to 15°C (59°F) and many hotels do not have heating. I'll tell you how to prepare so you aren't shivering in your room in January.
• The Night Market Truth: Shilin Night Market might be famous, but I'll tell you why locals think it's mediocre and why you should head to Raohe or Ningxia for the food that actually tastes like Taiwan.
• Cultural Curiosities: We will decode the marriage detective ads you see on buses, learn why you might find old men fishing for shrimp in indoor pools at 2 AM, and visit the Love God who demands your home address.
• Better than Famous: I'll show you where to get braised pork rice that beats the tourist spots for a fraction of the price, and which beef noodle soup is actually worth the wait.

Navigation made effortless: Taipei addresses can be tricky to navigate on the fly. Loving Taipei includes scannable QR codes and direct Google Maps links for every recommendation. You don't need to type a thing - just scan, open the map, and go.

Whether you are here for business, a family vacation, or just to eat your weight in stinky tofu, let me show you the city the way locals see it.

Scroll up and join me for the best trip of your life.