4ever Discovering
Free “Chill Out” Walking Tour of Taipei
We were a little chilly trying to chill out in the city!
I have always said the best way to see a new city is to take a free walking tour. After relying on them so much travelling Europe, city walking tours have come to be my ‘go-to’ way to explore a new place. Not only are they free (tips are encouraged), but they also give you great insight to a city and the history behind it. A lot of what Emily and I learn on walking tours is new information to us; it is a great way to learn about the history of the country, and meet new people. It never seizes to amaze me the amount of foreigners we meet on walking tours. Although these free walking tours are not as popular here as they are in Europe, Tour Me Away offers about 6 different tours in Taipei alone. Our latest tour, The Chill Out Walk, was our third walking tour with this company (plus the pub crawl). Emily and I bundled up to head out on a Sunday afternoon walk to learn a little bit more about our new home.
After the awesome walking tours we had before with Tour Me Away, we were expecting the same level of calibre from the Chill Out one. We met at 2pm at Da’an Park Station (of course we were a few minutes late), and to our surprise, there were tons of people! On the way to the meeting spot, Emily and I were talking about how many people we thought would be there. For some reason, I never think of Taiwan as a touristy spot, so I never expect many people to take the tours. This was probably the busiest one yet! There were maybe 40 people, so we divided into two groups to make it easier to hear the tour guide. For a rainy, chilly, Sunday afternoon, this was a great turnout! I also think this was the coldest day in Taipei to date; it was about 13 degrees with rain drizzle. Not ideal for walking, but we made it work.
We started the tour at Da’an Park and were given a brief overview of Taipei 101. One day Emily and I will go inside to the observation deck, but for now, we like to look at it from afar. We learned that it is designed to look like bamboo because bamboo resembles luck. Many Chinese families will grow bamboo in their gardens to help them have a lucky year. Taipei 101 used to be the tallest building in the world once upon a time, but now has been demoted by the massive buildings in the Middle East. We also learned that when you walk inside 101, you will see a large, yellow structure to help prevent the building from falling over in high winds. We all know Taiwan is victim to a lot of typhoons; however, Taipei 101 is built to never fall in any type of weather. I hope they are right!
We made our way to Da’an park and walked through the tranquil forest. Emily and I have walked through here before, but in nicer weather when it was busy. Today, there was not a lot of people to be seen. We were told that because Chinese New Year is quickly approaching, many people travel back to see their families and avoid the city. This means less people for us! I’m not complaining. By walking through Da’an park, I could definitely see how this is a ‘chill’ place to go. There are ponds and birds everywhere; sort of like a small-scale Central Park. There is big spray you can use at every entrance to help with your bites. With the weather right now, we don’t have to worry about them, but come spring and summer, they will be back. There is also a rock path where you can try to walk across it without shoes and see how healthy you are. If you don’t think it hurts to walk on rocks, it means you are healthy. Mine always seems to be a little painful. The most interesting part about walking through this park was learning how it is an evacuation zone for typhoons. It seems crazy the run to an open park in the middle of a typhoon, but there aren’t really tall trees or buildings surrounding it. Because there aren’t any skyscrapers to be found, you don’t have to worry about anything falling on you. Seems safe, right?
After strolling through Da’an Park, we walked down what was called ‘Heaven Street’. There were about 7 different temples, churches, and mosques we passed on this road (hence the name). An interesting fact about religion in Taiwan, is that no one makes any judgements about your beliefs. There is no controversy over religion, and is a safe topic to discuss. No one will ask you why you believe in a certain religion; it is just something everyone respects and does not question. I think a lot of people from around the world need to read a chapter from Taiwan’s history and have the same mindset. We walked past a Catholic and Christian church, and a Middle-Eastern and Tibetan mosque. One interesting fact we learned was how a Canadian named George McCay, moved to Taipei in 1872 to spread his views of Christianity to Asia. He made a big influence on Taipei’s development of Christian churches, including the one we passed on the tour. It’s nice to see some relationships between Canada and Taiwan!
On our walk along Heaven Street, we took some alleyways to eventually led us to Yongkang Street at Dongmen Station. We passed by an original Japanese-style teahouse that looked like something you would see out of a movie. It had a little garden, it was made of wood, and it looked very peaceful. Emily and I learned that when we are served traditional Taiwanese tea from the pot, they use dried tea leaves. When they pour the first cup, they will simply swish the water around and dump it out. You never drink the first cup of tea; it is only used to warm the cup. It seems like a waste, but I guess if you want to keep your hands warm it is a good way to do it.
We are quite familiar with Yongkang Street; it is where we get all of our CNN-rated dishes (beef noodle soup, mango shaved ice, and soup dumplings). If you’ve read one of our previous blogs (which I know you have), you know all about these delicious foods. When the tour stopped here, we were given a 20 minute break to grab a drink or a quick bite to eat. Emily and I opted for both; we had bubble tea and time to eat a bowl of beef noodles. Remember, it is chilly so we needed to warm up a little. The beef noodles did the trick! Once we were ready to go, we walked about 10 minutes to Chiang kai-shek Memorial Hall. Again, if you’ve read the previous blog, you know all about this place. We made it just in time to catch the tail-end of the changing of the guards. After they were finished, we were able to walk right up to that statue of Chiang Kai-shek and snap a selfie (we had to do it).
Although this tour was a little chilly, I can definitely see why it is called the ‘chill out’ one. All of the places we walked to were very peaceful, and a great place to relax. I think it would have been better for us if we did this tour when we first arrived in Taipei. I felt like a local who had already visited all of the landmarks we saw. It was cool to feel like we somewhat knew our way around the city. We were even asked to show some tourists the way to Shida Night Market afterwards. Maybe we are starting to blend in after all! I would highly recommend any Tour Me Away tour; all of the ones we have walked thus far have been nothing short of educational. Maybe if anyone comes to visit, I will be taking this tour again (or next time, I will offer to give the tour for money). I’m always looking for ways to earn a little extra cash!
