On the day after Taiwan Pride, I had an opportunity to do some sightseeing within the city. Three locations I’ll cover in this post are Longshan Temple, Bopiliao Historical Block, and the National Taiwan Museum.

Before we continue, I’m on Instagram! Add me at @bekpackr.sg 🙂

This is also part of a series of posts on Taiwan. I’ve written about the Ximen WOW Hostel (where I’m staying at) and the Ximen Pedestrian Area (Day Version and Night Version). Feel free to check those out too!

Longshan Temple

The Longshan Temple is a Buddhist temple built in 1738. I read that it was destroyed and rebuilt a few times through the centuries. It is one of Taipei’s most well-known temples and is frequently by locals and tourists. It is served by nearby Longshan Temple metro station.

Bopiliao Historical Blocks

A few steps away is the Bopiliao Historical Blocks which is celebrated for its 18th-19th-century architecture. They look like old shophouses but inside are alleys with some boutiques and cultural mini-museums. With Terrence, we discovered a traditional Chinese puppet show.

National Taiwan Museum

After the Longshan Temple and Bopiliao Historical Blocks, I took the train to get to Taiwan Main Station metro and walked to the National Taiwan Museum. Built around 1908, it’s Taiwan’s oldest museum. I read that it was built by the colonial government at the time (Japanese). Which explains why the contents of the museum feature Japanese scientists and how it was turned over to the Republic of China. The closest metro station is NTU Hospital (Red Line) but it is also walking distance to Taipei Main Station and nearby Ximen.

Between the National Taiwan Museum and National Palace Museum, I would’ve visited the latter. But I understood that the Palace Museum is a bit further away from the city center. The National Taiwan Museum, however, was interesting for how the Japanese played a part in research in the early 1900s when Formosa (Taiwan’s old name) was a Japanese colony.

Also, I didn’t realise one thing in documenting extinct species. They preserve material so it’s possible in the future, given technological advancements, that extinct species can somehow be revived. If I understand that correctly! I’m talking about the Clouded Taiwan Leopard.

These are three locations I got to visit during an afternoon in Taipei. 🙂

Have you done a city tour of Taipei? Let me know your recommendations in the comments!

I’m on Instagram! Add me at @bekpackr.sg