What’s in Yangmingshan (Yangming Mountain) National Park? Top 5 reasons you should visit Yangmingshan, Taipei, Taiwan

Compared to most of the peaks in the Central Mountain Range, Yangming Mountain is just a hill.  Why is it on our list of top 10 things to do in Taipei? Why, despite of so many fun things to do in the Taipei city, you should spend a day in Yangmingshan? Here are the top 5 reasons you should visit Yangmingshan. And you could probably experience it all in a day, if you plan it right. By the way, “shan” means mountain in Mandarin, if anyone gets confused.

·         The hot springs

Huanyi Chun hot springs. photo: Taiwan Hot Spring Directory

Yangmingshan is dotted with hot spring resorts. With the tallest dormant volcano in the national park, Yangmingshan offers great hot spring bathes in quality and variety. 

You can often find hot spring bathes with views of mountains and greens in Yangmingshan, which is rare to see in the hot spring resorts in Beitou.   However Beitou is conveniently located on a MRT line.  

hot springs in the ditch

Huanyi Chun (Floral Manger) hot spring is one of our favorites. The hot spring quality is great. PH 2-4 volcanic hot springs. You can smell and see the hot spring flowing in the ditch nearby. The outdoor nude public bath offers fantastic view and volcanic mud for the most natural skin care.  The price is friendly… $5usd per person for the public bath. The only drawback about this place is their restaurant area. Food was just ok but it gets crowded and noisy.  It’s convenient to eat there after a hot spring bath.  You could also choose one of many healthy restaurants in the national park.

·         The fog

Dreamy foggy view. Photo: aki blog

In my opinion, the best time to visit Yangmingshan is not a sunny day or a blossom day. It is actually… a rainy or cloudy day!! 

In a sunny day, you can enjoy the mountain under the blue sky and bright light. Yet in a rainy or cloudy day, the fog often surrounds the mountain. It offers a surreal experience doing things in the fog, driving, walking, cycling or taking a hot spring bath... and the best part is… you and your party could totally own the place!! 

Yes you read that right… Taipei is a highly populated city. Yangmingshan is the “garden” of Taipeiers. People love to come here to relax and decompress.  The best time to avoid the crowd is on a rainy or cloudy day! We were lucky enough to enjoy a public bath by ourselves for as long as 3 hours on one of the rainy weekends in the winter.

·         The wild veggie (not vegetarian)

A small wild veggie restaurant in yangmingshan

Since Yangmingshan is one of Taipei people' favorite get-away places, many restaurants offer healthy cuisines. Among those, the “wild veggie” cuisine is probably the most signature one for the area. 

These types of “restaurants” are usually hidden in the woods or in the mountain somewhere with very simple ambiance. It could be just a few tables and chairs under the trees… or in a hut. 

You may miss it but it’s not too hard to find them, just follow the parked cars. ^^ The wild veggie cuisine is not vegetarian. It offers all kinds of meat too. They make the dishes with your choice of wildly grown vegetables. 

shansu, chanchi, bitter melon and drunk chicken

One of these restaurants locates at the entrance of a road to a high-end resort, TienLai hot springs. It is close to Huanyi Chun hot spring house as well.

It’s just a little hut owned by a lovely couple. You pick the wild veggies you like from the baskets. Tell them to steam or stir-fry it… (no salad so far).  You can order other dishes from the menu or make a-la-carte order. 

The fresh free-roaming eggs

We recommend their free-roaming drunk chicken, assorted wild veggies, the wild bitter melon with free-roaming eggs and black rice. All fresh and delicious. See the yolk of their free-roaming eggs.

·         The little mountain village

Boulders in the Bayien village. Photo: Ba-Yien Village

This little mountain village is probably the quietest village you can find in the Taipei city. 

Terraced paddy fields reflect the surrounding mountains and clouds. Boulders oddly scattered in the fields. You may forget that you are in a big city… until the next crowd of tourists brings you back to the reality. : )  This little town is popular among photography enthusiasts and Taipei locals looking for a convenient farming, country-like scene. Please do your best to not disturb the villagers.

·         The night view

The night view from Zest 35 cafe. Photo: ET News

There are many places to see the Taipei city at night, such as Taipei 101. 

Yangmingshan definitely offers the most nature ambiance to enjoy the night view of Taipei city. 

You can view it in the car, in a restaurant or in a resort up in Yangmingshan. Public transportation to the mountains stops at sunset. You would need a taxi or car to get around the area at night.

To get around the Yangmingshan national park, you could hike, bike, drive, take a bus or taxi in. Just like every national park, there are many well developed trails with great scenery (such as waterfalls) if you are feeling like hiking. The season of blossom could be a great time to visit the mountain. The scenery is insane, so is crowd. Avoid weekend if you would like to avoid crowd. People watching could be interesting too if you can’t avoid the crowd after all.

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Taiwan’s Thanksgiving: Mid-Autumn Moon Festival

Blood moon. Picture: Metro

Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is one of the three main holidays in Taiwan, besides Chinese New Year and Dragon Boat Festival. 

It is a holiday to celebrate the harvest, worship the moon and get together with families. It is sorta like the idea of Thanksgiving without a turkey fest and black Friday.

It falls on the 15^th of the 8^th lunar month when the full moon is typically the largest of the year.  This year it is on the September 27^th. 

Taiwanese people like to celebrate the holiday barbequing with friends and families. Restaurants, parks and roof tops of apartments may be a bit more crowded than usual at this time. We highly recommend you NOT to plan any romantic outings in any parks or roof tops that weekend.

Mooncakes by Howard Plaza Hotel.

Mooncake is the tradition delicacy, the sweet pastry for the holiday. It is offered among friends and families. It is usually in a round shape, representing the moon and the reunion. 

If you happen to travel to Taiwan for business or visiting a friend, it is very likely that you will receive a box of moon cakes as a gift. 

Like all the other food business in Taiwan, moon cake industry is competitive too. Bakers create new flavors every year. 

You can pretty much get whatever flavor you can imagine. For example, Moon cake ice cream can be a great choice in a hot day.

Unlike Chinese New Year or Dragon Boat Festival, there are not too many public events going on for tourists in Taiwan. If you are invited to a BBQ, we recommend you to join your local friends in Taiwan to observe the holiday. 

If not, you can still enjoy it with the moon cakes and moon worship. In 2015, the forecast is predicting a super supermoon (blood moon). Don’t miss out if you are travelling to Taiwan in September! 

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A beginner’s guide to eating hairy crabs (mitten crabs) in Taiwan

Certified Taiwan hairy crabs. Photo: Miaoli Crabs

Autumn is a season of crabs, especially hairy crabs. From September to November, crabs can be found everywhere from the seafood market to restaurants in Taiwan. 

If you like crabs, you won’t want to miss it. If you haven’t tried one, it is definitely worth trying.

How to pick a crab

Wild is better than farmed. Local is better than imported.

Hairy crab is originated from China. Like all the seafood, we are facing a shortage of wild crabs. Hairy crabs’ origin, Yong Sheng Lake near Shanghai, only produces 13,000 crabs per year. But Hongkongers consumed 13,000,000 crabs last year. It is not easy to get a real wild crab from Yong Sheng Lake. That said most of crabs on the market are farmed.

Certified Taiwan hairy crabs. Photo: Muniuhu Crabs

When selecting the farmed crabs, it is the best to select from the local farms in Taiwan. 

A. It is the freshest to eat locally grown food. 

Crabs from Taiwan are delivered live overnight. Crabs imported from China are delivered within 7-9 days. In order to keep the crabs live during the shipment, mainland Chinese farms often inject antibiotics in crabs before they are shipped.

B. Taiwan has more strict food laws to protect consumers. 

According to the Next Magazine HK, mainland Chinese crab farms use two types of feeds: 

  “vegetarian” feeds that contain of estrogen and antibiotics or “meaty” feeds consisting of dead animals, such as dead dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, rats, or shrimps. And these dead animals are likely killed by poisons such as Potassium cyanide. Due to loose to none restrictions in China, these crabs are sold everywhere in China. They may be exported to other countries if the custom inspections fail to catch these crabs.

If you are eating crabs in Taiwan, it is safer to choose locally grown crabs in Taiwan. It is slightly more expensive. But it is worthy for your health.

How to eat hairy crabs

You basically go through the same process as you would back home. But there are some customs eating hairy crabs in Taiwan.

4 parts of crabs to avoid. Photo: coolsforza at youtube

Tips 1: Crab parts that you should avoid

Crabs may not be born the same. 

When consuming hairy crabs, we recommend you to avoid the heart, stomach, lung, and intestines. They are believed to be too “cold” for your body in the Chinese medicine’s perspective.

Tips 2: Starting with legs

Crabs legs are quicker to turn cold then the body. Starting with legs can ensure you to consume all parts of the crab in the right temperature.

Crab butter. Photo: Miaoli Crabs

Tips 3: Tasting the crab butter

It is THE point of eating hairy crabs! 

It may look disgusting… but it tastes really good. If you haven’t tried it, close your eyes and try a bite. Let us know what you think.

Tips 4: Drinking ginger tea or rice wine after crab eating

Crabs are considered “cold” food in the Chinese medicine’s perspective. Most of the restaurants serve hot ginger tea after the crab meal to balance your system. 

You can also “warm up” your body with rice wine or any types of hard liquor.  If you are taking a cab home, try Taiwan’s special liquors such as Kinmen Kaoliang sorghum wine or Matsu Shaohsing rice wine.

Eating crabs in Taiwan is a fun experience. Schedule some crab time when you travel in Taiwan in the fall! Happy crabbing !

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The Tour of Messes, a French Documentary about Food in Taiwan

Crab Rice. Photo : La tournée des popotes

A French food TV program “La tournée des popotes” (i.e. “The tour of messes” per Google Translate) of France 5 channel recently filmed a documentary about food in Taiwan. 


The host, chief professor Chien-Hao, showed his French guest Gregory some authentic and refined Taiwanese food on the streets and in the restaurants. 


Introduced in this film were some of the signature food such as Ding Tai Feng Dumplings, traditional breakfast, Stinky Tofu, Oyster Omelet, Boba MilkTea, Tofu Pudding and Crab Rice. The film only scratched the surface of our food culture. But it is pretty entertaining and enlightening. It is a film that foodies would not want to miss; a film that you would not want to watch when hungry.

Food is one of the distinctive cultures in Taiwan. It's everywhere. It is pretty hard to ignore when you visit Taiwan even if you try. Check our website for more information about the food culture in Taiwan.  

Bon appetit ! Click if embedded YouTube link is not working.

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Tofu Pudding and a Hot Seller

A picture of a guy in a tofu pudding shop in Taipei, Taiwan went viral in the local market recently.  I thought it is a great opportunity to talk about the delicious snack… and of course the guy.

Photo Source: Tonji Tofu Pudding

What is tofu pudding?

Touhua is the Chinese name of tofu pudding. The delicious snack is originated from China and evolved in various forms in different parts of Asia. The Taiwanese style of tofu pudding is made of soft tofu and some sort of sugar water.

What makes good tofu pudding?

It might look simple but there are many techniques hidden in this simple recipe. As mentioned in our travel website, food is a big thing in Taiwanese culture and the industry is competitive. This little simple snack is not an exception.

Vendors compete on the ingredients and techniques of making sweet tofu. Majority of tofu pudding places make their own tofu and every shop has its own special taste. Some health conscious vendors make tofu with non-GMO soybeans or black soybeans.

Vendors also compete on the “sugar water”. They don‘t just mix sugar and water. It is like the soup base to beef noodles or ramen. It plays an important role. Vendors usually cook and filter their own sugar water from the sugarcane juice or honey. Some would add ginger in the mix. Milk is a new alternative for those who want to try something new.

Besides sweet tofu and sugar water, most of vendors also provide extra toppings, such as peanuts or boba (i.e. tapioca balls. Please see this post for more details)

The tofu pudding guy in the news

Photo source: blogger Yuanba

Recently tofu pudding becomes a hot topic in Taiwan due to a viral picture of a hot and shirtless seller at a local tofu pudding shop posted online. According to the post, the author claimed that he followed the long line outside of a local tofu pudding shop and discovered that it was the hot tofu pudding server, not the tofu pudding, that attracted ladies in line. The series of candid shots of this tofu pudding guy went viral quickly. But many people argued that it was yet another marketing campaign of the model agency that the hot server worked for or a campaign of a mobile phone company, Samsung that the author mentioned at least 10 times in his post. Haha.  

Is he the hottest tofu pudding guy you have ever seen in Taiwan? Please leave a comment below and let us know. If you are travelling in Taiwan, stop by the shop and check out yourself. Don’t forget to taste the delicious Taiwanese snack. People watching can be an alternative tourism sightseeing attraction in Taiwan.  Haha. According to the post, he is nephew of the owner and he doesn’t work in the shop every day.  BUT the good news is that the tofu pudding shop is well known for the great taste and their all nature tofu. THAT is guaranteed. 

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Wheel Pie – A Must Try Food in Taiwan

What is Wheel Pie?

Wheel pie is a common street snack in Taiwan, similar to the Japanese snack, Imagawayaki. It’s often sold by street vendors. Look for vendors with little “wheel” looking baking molds. That’s probably it. They usually start their business in the afternoon at 3 pm or 4 pm. But I have had luck at as early as 10 am. So look around when you travel in Taiwan. You can easily find one on the street.

It is made of starch and fillings. The most common fillings you would find on the street are cream, red bean, sesame, and pickled radish. Pickled cabbage, taro and peanut are popular too. As stated in our website, quality food plays a very important role in our daily life. Food industry is extremely competitive due to a large population of foodies with spoiled taste buds.

This little wheel pie is a good example.  Although it’s a small pie, street vendors thrive to compete on the ingredients and baking techniques. A popular vendor can attract a long line of people waiting for the fresh made wheel pies.     

New Wheel Pie Flavors

Clockwise from the top left: Fillings of
meat, Oreo, curry, and cherries

Recently a trend of innovative fillings in this classic Taiwanese snack swirls in the local market. From fresh fruits like banana, cherries and strawberries, chocolate, Oreo cookies to eggs, curry and… MEAT..?! .. Yup, that’s right. And people like it! It’s kinda like the idea of ice cream topped with bacon. It tastes better than it looks. LoL.

It is best to eat it fresh. But if you are travelling us, we could arrange a delivery for you. Check out our adventure menu today. 

Picture source:  737 Wheel Pies  and Fushiki 

How to make Wheel Pies?

Not travelling to Taiwan any time soon? No worries! Try these wheel pie recipes at home and see how it comes out! We have never tried these recipes so we are very curious if it actually works. If you do try it out, please let us know. Write us an email or leave a comment below.

Recipe #1: A blog post in English

Recipe #2: A 10-minute YouTube video in English and Japanese

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Seafood Guide #1 : Sustainable Seafood in Taiwan

Taiwan is one of the world’s top seafood exporters. The cold and warm current converging in Taiwan’s water make it a rich fishing ground.  Our fish market never runs out of the fresh fish. The seasons also bring us a great variety of seafood selections. Seafood is on the top of our Must-Eat list for travelers in Taiwan. 

However, Taiwan is not exempt from the global overfishing issues. Seafood lovers, do you know that we might not be able to eat wild fish in 20 years?!?! 

   

It is important to know the sustainable seafood in Taiwan before you go.

The shortage of fish stocks

There are a few reasons that cause the dramatic decline in our fish stocks, overfishing, illegal fishing, habitat damage and regulations.  

Overfishing: Catching Fish Faster than They Can Reproduce

Today, 90 percent of the world's fisheries are either fully exploited, overexploited or have collapsed. The global fishing fleet is operating at 2.5 times the sustainable level—there are simply too many boats chasing a dwindling number of fish. One reason is the advent of industrial-scale fishing invented in the 80’s.

Illegal Fishing

The fewer fish there are, the more desperate we become to catch them. Inevitably, this leads to illegal fishing. International fisheries management agencies report that at least a quarter of the world's catch is illegal, unreported or unregulated.

Habitat Damage

Gears that drag across the seafloor like trawls and dredges can destroy delicate habitats that provide shelter, food and breeding grounds for fish and other species.

Regulations

Around the world, regulations dealing with overfishing and other ocean issues are, with few exceptions, weak and poorly enforced.

For more research information, please visit

SeafoodWatch by Monterey Bay Aquarium

Overfishing in One Minute

Smithsonian  Museum

World Counts: Overfishing Facts

What can WE do NOW? Selecting Sustainable Seafood.

We can do it. It is not so hard. There are plenty of general sea food guides available and guides specific to certain countries or areas.

The choice of sustainable seafood can be complex sometimes when you don’t have much information about where it is from. It adds a bit more complication when you travel to a foreign country where you may see seafood that you have never seen before. No worries. Follow the rules of thumb below and save some seafood guides in your phone. You are good to go.

Rules of Thumb

1.         Common > Rare species

2.         Silver > Colorful species

3.         Migratory > Sedentary species

4.         Sand > Reef Rock inhabitants

5.         Avoid seafood transported in long distance (energy consuming)

6.         Avoid long-lived large predator fishes (high in heavy metal accumulation)

7.         Farmed > Wild Caught species (depending on the species)

8.         Species farmed by botanical feeds > by fish meal

9.         Choose lower trophic level species

10.       Avoid seafood caught by unsustainable fishery methods

Taiwan Seafood Guide by the Fish Database of Taiwan (click for the link)

This guide is awesome. It lists photos and Chinese names (pinyin) for popular seafood you will see in the restaurants and markets in Taiwan. If you can’t recognize it by the photo, you can ask them to tell you in mandarin and search by pinyin. The best way to use this guide is to open the link on your phone and save the screen shots. When you are out at the restaurants or markets, just pull your phone out and there you go.

Alternatively, you could click on these photos and save them.

  

NEW! Taiwan Fish Database released a PDF version of Taiwan seafood guide. Please feel free to download here if you would like a print out copy. 

We will cover the seafood recommendations in Taiwan soon. Stay tuned and choose good fish.

FYI, we also recommend some cool, handy seafood guide apps. They are not specific to Taiwan but it might work for where you live. Check them out.

Seafood Watch

Android

Apple

Good Fish Guide

Android

Apple

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What is Boba? - A Must Try Food in Taiwan

What is Boba ?

Boba could be short for the Boba Tea. Boba also refers to the black little things in the tea. They are tapioca balls, made of the starch. It could be white too but most of the time it is black. The round shape of tapioca balls earns its name Boba, which means “big boobs” in Mandarin slang… For the sake of the clean look, we won’t be able to show you any visual illustrations... Please use your imagination to make sense of it…   A side note, you can also refer to a female with big boobs as “boba”. But it’s not the classiest compliment. I would probably just use it behind her back.

Back to the Boba Tea. It was invented in a tea house in the 80s in Taiwan. It wasn’t popular until the super sized straws were invented two years later. It has became a national beverage in Taiwan ever since. There are 8,000+ Boba tea cafes in Taiwan alone. You can buy it almost any time anywhere when you travel in Taiwan.

How to Order and Drink Boba Tea ?

The classic Boba Tea comes with black tea based milk tea. However you can pretty much add boba in anything you like. Green tea, fruit tea, juice, grass jelly, shaved ice, smoothies… etc.  Boba is usually covered with honey or syrup during the cooking process. Be sure to indicate a preferred sugar level when ordering your beverage. You can also replace milk with soy milk or no milk.  

Like all the food, it is the best when fresh. Drink your tea asap. Typically you would drink it with a big size straw.  Chew boba before swallow. 

What Makes Good Boba Tea?

The tea and Boba, duh.  Taiwan is famous for its tea. Many tea houses use quality tea leaves and fresh milk (not condensed or powered milk).  If you have a choice, go for it. It might cost a few dollars extra. It’s all worth it. Good Boba should be chewy, not hard (undercooked) or mushy (overcooked or left out for too long). If you are having it in its home town, the boba quality is very consistent throughout the island. 

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