Travel to Taiwan with movies

Taiwan, a faraway island that exists in many travellers’ imagination, presents its beauty in the movies. Let us travel to Taiwan with the guide of movies.

Every beautiful destination in Taiwan is marked and outlined by movies: tranquil mountains and rivers, romantic and relaxing hot springs, Taipei Palace Museum that exhibits historical treasures, Elite bookstore, the island’s largest bookstore chain that opens 24 hours and a must-see spot for book lovers and travellers, hospitable locals, tea houses standing aloft in the mountain of Miaokong, night food market that makes your mouth water, and the bustling, never-sleeping CBD Hsimenting …….

Wanhua District: if you have seen the phenomenally successful gangster film Monga (2010), you will know the district of Wanhua. Wanhua sits in the southwestern corner of Taipei city; it used to be called Monga, the earliest developed and the most chaotic area in Taipei. To the northeastern side of Wanhua district, you will reach Hsimenting, the most bustling and fun place to be in Taipei, where you can get a taste of Taipei’s noise, fashion and energy.

Tamsui District of the new Taipei city is the most recommended destination for a visit to Taiwan. The best way to enjoy the beauty of Tamsui is to spend your day by the seaside, picking a serene sport, sitting on the deck, allowing your feet to be splashed by the waves and listening to the gentle whisper of the breeze, watching the shining lights at the Lover’s bridge while bath yourself in the tender sunset…

Tamsui District is the hometown of Taiwan’s pop music idol Jay Chow. Tamsui High School, founded in 1914, became well-known in Taiwan, Hong Kong and China because of the successful film A Secret (2007); Jay Chow directed and starred in the film, telling a pure and heartbreaking love story that took place in Tamsui.

Jiufen is a mountainous area in the Ruifang District of the New Taipei City. How did you come to know Jiufen? For some of you, the impression of Jiufen came from the internationally acclaimed Taiwanese director Hou Hsiao-Hisen’s film: A City of Sadness (1989), which was set in Jiufen. For those younger, Jiufen is the magical town in the Japanese animation master Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar winning film Spirited Away (2001).

Walking on Jiufen’s old street, you won’t see Taipei’s straight and orderly roads, glamorous stores or people rushing to work, instead you will see winding paved stoney road and restaurants, coffee shops, teahouses and various stores on the sides, and wandering visitors holding colorful umbrellas. Jiufen is rainy; locals say that Jiufen rains 25 days every month. The rain creates a misty veil for Jiufen that slows time and makes visitors forget where they come from and where they are going to, this is the magic of Jiufen.

Kenting National Park: in 2008, a Taiwanese film about music, dream and love Cape No. 7 (2008) amazed audiences across Aisa. Through this film, people get to know that in the southern tip of the island of Taiwan, there is a breath-taking place called Kenting. Kenting National Park occupies the Hengchun Peninsula, it sits against Taiwan Strait，faces the Atlantic ocean on the east and looks over the Bashi Channel, it’s known for its white-sand beaches, caves, coral reefs & northern mountains.

Besides Cape No. 7 (2007), In director Ang Lee’s award winning film: Life of Pi (2012), Pi eventually reaches a shore and survives through the magic adventure, and the scene was set in Kenting. Encircled by the sea and enlivened by year-round warm weather, Kenting celebrates youth, nature and dreams.