A couple of weeks ago, I flew to Taipei for work, to attend WordCamp Asia 2024. It was my first time attending a WordCamp, and it was a terrific opportunity to catch up with colleagues both new and old. Between helping out on contributor day and watching heaps of inspiring talks, it was well worth the trip. If you’re interested in the WordPress side of things, there are a couple of recaps here and here. But since this is my personal blog, I’ll just say it was a great conference, and instead focus here on sharing a whole bunch of photos from my few days in Taiwan.
One of the funny things about travel is that there’s something intangible about the experience; it’s at once completely immersive and can feel life changing, while also being mundane and filled with the everyday tasks of navigating public transport and flight delays. I’ve had mixed experiences travelling for work, but this was one my favourites, and made me feel incredibly lucky to get to experience a place I’d likely never have travelled to otherwise.
I flew Cathay Pacific from Melbourne, with what was meant to be a short layover in Hong Kong. There were a bunch of delays, but it turned out not to be too much of a problem, because Hong Kong is a great airport to be stuck in! Heaps of options for food, lots of room to relax, and I grabbed a nice spot to watch the planes come and go, as I adjusted to being in another part of the world.
I’d highly recommend Cathay Pacific, it was my first time flying with them, but the service was great, and the food edible (for me, that’s high praise, I usually avoid airline food when I can).
The flight between Hong Kong and Taiwan is pretty quick, just under two hours. From Taoyuan International Airport, I opted for the train to get into the city. It’s pretty direct, you catch a train from the airport to Taipei Main Station, and then to get to the hotel (the conference hotel was the Grand Hyatt in the Xinyi District) I swapped to the other Taipei Main Station to catch the metro to the Taipei 101 station.
The public transit system (via EasyCard) is a little harder to wrap your head around than some cities, but all the signage had English translations, and there was always a friendly staff member around to help out a confused and tired tourist. Coming from Melbourne, I didn’t find it any more complex than navigating myki, and I always love catching a train directly from an airport when I can. After being cooped up in a plane, it’s a nice way to see a little of a city and get a sense of the place before checking into the hotel.
It was fun looking out the window and seeing an unfamiliar skyline, densely forested hills, and wide areas undergoing massive amounts of construction. The metropolitan population of Taipei is around seven million, making it a fair bit bigger than Melbourne, and from all the construction work, it looks like the city is in the process of rapid expansion. There were heaps of new apartment buildings and streets under development, and parks, playgrounds and sporting facilities in various stages of being built. But the highlight for me throughout the trip was the ever present view of mountains surrounding the city.
Staying in Xinyi District
The WordCamp was held at the Taipei International Convention Center, with the official hotel right next door at the Grand Hyatt. Just across the road is the Taipei 101 (the world’s tallest building for around five years from 2004). The Xinyi District is the main financial area of Taipei, and the area feels at once modern and shiny with fancy shopping malls, while also being steeped in history.
After the first day, just before sunset I went on a meandering walk north from the hotel, up past the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall to the Songshan Cultural and Creative Park, set in a converted old tobacco factory built in 1937 during the Japanese colonial era. It’s a wonderful place with exhibitions, cafes, lots of stalls and arts & crafts. The exhibitions were closed by the time I got there, but I had a bit of time to wander around and see some nice jewellery and other creations.
The atmosphere walking up through the city parks and the mix of architectural styles is really striking. And on the way back to the hotel, as the city lights came on, the views of the 101, partially obscured by cloud, made me feel a bit like I’d stepped into a sci-fi movie.
Taipei 101
The following day, with my head jam-packed full of WordPress, I dashed off for half an hour to go check out the observation deck of the Taipei 101. Not only was it the world’s tallest building, it also has what was once the world’s fastest elevator. It rushes you up to the 89th floor at speeds of up to 60kph! The elevator itself recommends you try swallowing to pop your ears. It’s a weird experience.
The view from up top was breathtaking. Or stomach churning if you look too far down. Seeing the city spread out below and nestled between the mountains in the Taipei Basin is really something else, and a refreshing contrast to being in a conference centre.
Something I found fascinating about the building is that they have its tuned mass wind damper on display to the public. This is a gigantic 660 tonne weight (its official name appears to be “Super Big Wind Damper”) suspended from steel cables that sways during typhoon winds to offset and compensate for any movement. It helps protect the skyscraper during earthquakes or high winds. There are videos on display of the weight swinging during typhoons, and I found it oddly comforting to see the impressive engineering on display.
Later that evening, I went out with colleagues and tried some local food. The soup dumplings were delightful, but I also really loved these pancake eggs from a food truck. They’re really just filled pancake balls on a stick. I had the chocolate ones.
Elephant Mountain (Xiangshan)
On the second-last day, I got up early, and was determined to make it to the Elephant Mountain trail. The Xinyi District includes the bottom of the nearest mountain, so it was only about a 25 minute walk to the beginning of the trail.
I’m a big fan of city parks and I also love hiking, so this was perfect for me. After not long at all, you go from being surrounded by skyscrapers to being immersed in nature, climbing a steep set of stairs in the middle of jungle. Then, after climbing for only a few minutes, you turn around and there’s a breathtaking view of the city right behind you.
I felt like I could have spent all day there, it was so nice being out in the fresh air. There were heaps of locals on the trail, too, and up near the top, there was an outdoor exercise area. It was fun seeing a bunch of older folks doing weights and working out up on a mountain.
Later that night, I went to the afterparty for the WordCamp. I was clearly having too much fun hanging out with everyone, since I barely took any photos. I did however, make sure to capture a sign at the train station that covered all the terms and conditions for pet strollers, and a photo of a Bundaberg soft drink (it being made in Australia, it was quite a delight to find it on offer in Taipei).
Heading home
On the final day, I went for a walk and found that the Tour de Taiwan was on. Many of the streets were blocked off for the cyclists, and while it was a nice energy to be around, the highlight for me was the dog watching.
Just before checkout I popped into the City Hall building to visit the Discovery Center of Taipei. For me, it wouldn’t be a visit to another city without popping in to visit a museum. This was a small but cute little city museum, with the history of Taipei on the top floor, and another floor dedicated to modern Taipei. The whole area has a fascinating and complex cultural history, and it was a great way to wrap up a quick trip to another city. It gave me a small taste of the rich history of the place, and left me wishing that I’d extended my trip.
Overall, I found Taipei a fascinating place, with friendly welcoming people, great food, lovely markets and a lively arts scene. I only saw a very small part of the city, and I very much hope to go back one day and check out the National Palace Museum and more of the hiking trails.
And with that my trip was over, and I came back just at the tail end of a Melbourne heatwave. It was very nice indeed spending a few days away, in refreshingly cool weather at the beginning of spring, just as summer was ending back home.