Attractions

National Palace Museum
Holding the world's largest collection of Chinese artifacts (much to the chagrin of the mainland government), the museum is recognized worldwide as the center of Chinese culture and tradition. The building contains around 720,000 items, but can only display 15,000 at a time in a three-month rotation. It would take twelve years to see the entire collection.
Perhaps the most extraordinary aspect of the collection is the distance it has covered to get to its current location. From 960 the growing collection spent 500 years moving between Beijing and Nanjing until being housed for another 500 years in Beijing's Forbidden City. In 1931 the collection was sent to Nanjing, then Shanghai, in order to avoid falling into invading Japanese hands. Avoiding the Japanese invasion of Shanghai by only a few weeks, the collection moved back to Nanjing. By 1939 it was hidden in the remote southern village of Emei. Ten thousand crates were also kept in a boat moored on the Yangzi River until the war ended and the collection was reunited. Back again and on display in Nanjing, it was all packed up once more in 1949 and shipped off to Taipei to evade the Communists. This final move was so hasty that about 700 crates were left behind, but the massive collection still remains a testament to Chinese tradition, culture, ingenuity and packing methods.

Lin Antai Old Homestead
In the rush to develop, Taipei has knocked over most of its lovely old residences: Lin Antai Old Homestead is one of the few to have been preserved, and for this reason alone it is remarkable. Built in 1783, the building was dismantled brick by brick when a freeway was built through its original location in 1978. Six years later the graceful old structure was rebuilt in its current location in Pinchiang Park. It's the oldest of the few remaining traditional residential buildings in Taipei--the others are mostly run down.

Botanical Gardens
When the bustle gets too much, Taipei has a few leafy green sanctuaries. The Botanical Gardens, on Nanhai Rd just south of the central city area, has a beautiful lotus pond and is a pleasant retreat from the noisy city. While you're there, visit the nearby Museum of Natural History, National Science Hall and National Arts Hall. The natural history museum in particular is worth a visit. A kind of scaled-down version of the National Palace Museum, it boasts a strong pottery collection.

Snake Alley
Huahsi Night Market--better known as Snake Alley--is a vibrant tourist trap just south-west of the central city area. Kicking off at around 7pm, the area comes alive with rows of vendors taunting live cobras before serving them up to you boiled, fried or pickled. As well as the snake meat, you can buy all manner of serpentine by-products including snake bile (sold by the cup), powdered gall bladder and, of course, snake penis pills. For presumably Freudian reasons, snakes are considered an aphrodisiac, which attracted all manner of seedy types and illegal brothels. The place has been cleaned up, and the only thing that'll make you blush these days are the exorbitant prices.