Hold on, this is going to be long....
I. Geography
Taiwan is east of China, south of Japan and north of the Philippines. It's about the size of Guinea-Bissau, Moldova, Bhutan and Switzerland. In American terms, it's a little bigger than Maryland and Hawaii. A lot of Taiwanese children are convinced that Taiwan is the smallest country in the world, but it's not even close.
Taiwan's main island - where almost everybody lives - is shaped like a tobacco leaf or a sweet potato. As you can see from the map above, there's a mountain range running down the island from north to south. Some of the mountains in this range are surprisingly high, and receive snow in the winter. The tallest of these mountains, Jade Mountain, lies toward the southern end of the island.
From the perspective of human settlement, the most important part of Taiwan is the western agricultural plain which stretches from Taipei in the north down to Fangliao Township in the south. This area has been farmed by generations of people, and this area still supports most of Taiwan's population.
The weather in Taiwan is, for the most part, subtropical. Typhoons bring rains in winter and summer, and the other parts of the year are relatively dry. As you approach the island's southern tip the weather turns tropical, and the native vegetation - provided it's still in place - resembles what you might see in the Philippines, Thailand or Vietnam.
All of Taiwan's outlying islands are tiny, and all have very small populations. Some of them are so tiny that they're little more than rocks or sand bars sticking up from the ocean. Better known outlying islands include Green and Orchid islands, Xiaoliuqiu, Penghu and Jinmen (Kinmen).
2. The Five Parts
Taiwan's main island is generally divided into four parts: North, Central, South and East. The outlying islands would be the fifth part. The only trouble with this scheme is that people often disagree as to where North ends and Central begins, or where Central ends and South begins. People also argue as to whether Yilan is part of the East or part of the North, and that's why it's purple in the map above.
According to the map above, North consists of Keelung, Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu. Central consists of Miaoli, Taichung, Nantou, Changhua and Yunlin. South consists of Jiayi (Chiayi), Tainan, Kaohsiung and Pingtung. East consists of Taitung and Hualien.
The place names used in the above paragraph aren't, by the way, the exact names of the administrative divisions they represent. When I first moved to Taiwan the maps were a lot easier to understand: Taipei City was in Taipei County, Kaohsiung City was in Kaohsiung County, etc., but it's since changed to a system of newer designations that confuses just about everyone.
The population in the North, by the way, far surpasses the populations of the other parts of the island. The North is where Taiwan shows its most modern face, where most of the higher-paying jobs are, and where traffic reaches astonishing proportions. Compared to the North, the Central, South and especially the East are sparsely populated.
3. Getting Out of the Damn Airport
So, assuming you've arrived at the Taoyuan International Airport, how is one supposed to go from one of these places to another?
From Taoyuan, most people's first move is to board the Airport MRT and take it to Taipei Main Station in Taipei City. This ride can be shorter or longer depending on whether you've boarded the express or not. Whichever train you've boarded don't worry - you'll get there eventually.
There are of course buses that arrive and depart from the airport, but I would discourage anyone new to Taiwan and/or unfamiliar with Mandarin from taking them. It can be cheaper depending on where you're going, but the learning curve is steep.
Taxis are possible, but the Taoyuan Airport is, like many airports, far from everywhere. There's also the possibility that a taxi driver, seizing on a foreigner's ignorance of the distances involved, will use this ignorance as an excuse to take the long way to wherever you're going. On this matter I speak from personal experience.
So yeah, let's assume that you've taken the Airport MRT to Taipei Main Station, and now you're bound for some other destination, such as Matsu or exotic Taoyuan. What's the best way to go?
4. Planes, Trains and Mass Rapid Transit
If your ultimate destination is anywhere in Taipei City the answer is easy: take the Taipei MRT. The Taipei MRT is a modern, efficient way to get around Taipei City and many surrounding areas, and there's an MRT station just below Taipei Main Station. From its inception in the 90s it's been growing at an impressive rate, and there are plans for many more MRT lines in the future.
As you get beyond Taipei City you're looking at a combination of trains, buses, taxis, high speed rail and maybe another MRT system if you're going to Taichung or Kaohsiung. Planes are another option, but I'd discourage most people from flying unless they're going to one of the outlying islands.
Let me say at the outset that I think the TRA (Taiwan Rail Authority) sucks. It's an unwieldy, anachronistic organization, run by an unresponsive bureaucracy with little sense of accountability. Unfortunately trains are still the easiest way to get to some parts of Taiwan, and most of us still have to use them from time to time.
The quality of buses varies between companies, and city or county-operated buses are very different from the privately operated tour buses that travel longer distances. In 2021 riding a bus is more of a crap shoot, and it's possible to find yourself trapped on a bus which stops at every. Single. Village. Between. Taichung. And. Douliou.
With taxis you should always ask upfront how much (approximately) it's going to cost to arrive at your destination. Then ask yourself if that amount is reasonable. There are both licensed and unlicensed (illegal) taxis in Taiwan, and you should always have a sense of how much it's going to cost before you get in the car. Licensed taxis should have their meters running (you'll hear it beep) once you're underway.
Be aware that you often have to reserve seats on both the high speed rail (HSR) and the faster trains. Reserving tickets for TRA trains can be done on this site. Reserving HSR tickets can be done on this site. Going to Hualien City, Taitung City, or places in-between? You'll want to take the faster train for sure.
5. The Adventure Begins...
Having discussed the major types of transportation, I'd like to discuss five destinations, and how I'd get there from Taipei Main Station in Taipei City. What follow below are only suggestions, and of course opinions as to comfort, cost and convenience vary.
5a. Taipei Main Station to Zhubei (Jhubei), Hsinchu County (North)
You could take the HSR to Zhubei Station. That would be fast, but that would also be expensive. No, to get to Zhubei you'll want to take one of the regular trains, and the first step toward doing that is going upstairs, to the first floor, and looking over the big board in the huge space in the center of the station.
Headache started yet? Yeah, that's a lot of trains, going to a lot of different places. Instead of dealing with that, and instead of wondering whether your train is northbound or southbound, or whether a particular train stops at Zhubei or not, I'll simply direct you to this site. Just enter info into the required fields.
If you do that, and you scroll down, you'll see a list of trains at the bottom of the page. Most of these will be local trains, but you'll see a few "fast local trains," "chu-kuang expresses" and "tze-chiang expresses" mixed in. Next to each train is its departure time, arrival time, the length of its journey and the price of a ticket. Avoid local trains if you can. They're much slower.
After you decide on a train, you can go to the window and buy a ticket. Nervous about speaking English (or Chinese) with the man/woman behind the window? Just show them your phone. Tickets can also be purchased through a machine nearby, but if you're in a hurry I recommend the window.
Once you have your ticket you'll need to know which platform to go to. This, unfortunately, isn't usually printed on the ticket. But every train has a name and a number, and if you look up at the big board (or one of the many TV screens broadcasting the train schedules) you should be able to find your train there, with the platform listed next to it (2A, 1B, etc.). You'll want to take one of the escalators downstairs, and find the correct boarding area. Again, refer to the TV screens, and if that's not working feel free to ask one of the attendants for help. Just show them your ticket.
If you're nervous about getting on the wrong train, check the number on the side of each carriage. This number should match one of the numbers on your ticket.
5b. Taipei Main Station to Tsaohu Village, Lunbei Township, Yunlin County (Central)
You could take the regular (TRA) train to Douliou, but it's much easier to take the HSR down to Yunlin, and from there take a bus or taxi to Tsaohu. Taking the bus is going to be more difficult, and bus service in a place like Yunlin tends to be hit or miss, so if I were you I'd take a taxi from the HSR station. You'll want to ask how much it is (approximately) upfront.
To board an HSR train from Taipei Main Station is easy. Just go downstairs (near the TRA boarding areas), and visit the HSR ticket counter. There's only one HSR line, running from Nangang in the north to Dzuoying in the south. Just be aware that there are times when the HSR trains are sold out, and you MUST have a seat to get on the train. If you're in doubt, reserve a ticket here. Yunlin isn't a popular stop, but during holidays travel between Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung can be heavy.
5c. Taipei Main Station to Xinkai Village, Fangliao Township (South)
What's that? You're coming to see me? Great! We'll have a beer and I'll show you around!
To get to where I live, take the HSR down to Dzuoying, the last stop, in Kaohsiung. Dzuoying is both an HSR and a TRA stop, so after arriving all you need to do is leave the HSR area, purchase a ticket for Fangliao in the TRA area, and board the train.
My house is far from the Fangliao Train Station. I'd tell you to find a taxi (one of the legal ones) outside the station, but we're friends, right? Just call me when you get here, and I'll come down and pick you up.
5d. Taipei Main Station to Chulai Village, Haiduan Township, Taitung County (East)
Chulai is on the east coast, so the HSR isn't an option. Instead you'll need to board a Puyuma train (NOT another kind of train), and take it down to Guanshan, in Taitung County. Once in Guanshan you'll have to take a taxi up to Chulai, and that taxi ride's not going to be cheap.
5e. Taipei Main Station to Kinmen (Jinmen) Island (Outlying Islands)
Kinmen? You'll have to take the plane. After the Airport MRT arrives in Taipei Main Station, you'll want to take the Taipei MRT to the Songshan Airport stop. Once there you'll do all the usual airport stuff, and it's only a matter of passing through customs and waiting for your plane. I assume there are now extra, COVID-related complications related to boarding domestic flights, but I haven't flown domestically in forever so I don't know the procedure.
The list of domestic departures for Songshan Airport is here. It probably goes without saying, but you'll want to make flight reservations beforehand.
Oh, and by the way, there are apps for a lot of this stuff. The sites linked above were what I found using a computer at one of my schools, but sometimes using an app can save you both time and frustration. I use the TRA app a lot, and some of the Taipei MRT apps can be helpful. I never found a taxi app that worked well - especially not in south Taiwan - but some of the bus apps work well in the bigger cities.
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