Markets galore, a museum known for its cabbage..

...and a beach full of hoodoos!

It's the people - that make travel worthwhile and memorable - isn't that right? And when they are serving up something delicious and different, it's even more interesting. This man is cooking corn in a way I had never seen. Grilling it (well, you can see that, of course) but before that he had basted it with garlic and spices and soya sauce, and then a secret topping, moving it up and down from the glowing end of the wood-fire to the flames to finish it off to a blistering, crunchy surface.

More of this fabulous Keelung night market further on....

Does this look Chinese to you? There's a good reason for it. We are in Taiwan, a country that not everyone knows much about. Just across a slim stretch of the South China Sea, 250 kilometres east of Xiamen in China, which is about halfway between Hong Kong and Shanghai, it was formerly known as Formosa, meaning 'beautiful island' in Portuguese. It lives up to its name, which you will see for yourself later on this page too.

After centuries of colonisation and occupation, it reverted to China at the end of WWII. Now, it is officially the ROC (Republic of China) and definitely NOT to be confused with the People's Republic of China (PRC).

Let me explain. After the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War was led by Communist leader Mao Zedong. In December 1949, the Chinese Nationalist's leader Chiang Kai-Shek, evacuated his government to Taiwan and made Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC. Around two million people, mainly soldiers, members of the ruling Kuomintang, and intellectual and business elites, were evacuated from mainland China.

With the people came priceless Chinese antiques, rescued from the mainland before the Cultural Revolution could shatter them. Intricately carved jade screens, porcelain tea sets that had survived in Emperor's palaces since the fourteenth century, delicate scroll paintings – these are all now safely housed in the National Palace Museum in Taipei (above). Also taken, was much of China's gold and foreign currency reserves.

(image: Peellden)

Give yourself plenty of time to visit the National Palace Museum. It holds more than 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting, and porcelain - estimated to be around ten percent of China's cultural treasures. It is so huge that only around one percent is on display at any time. Perhaps the most important exhibit on view (if you can judge by the queues) is a jadeite cabbage (above), over hundred-years-old. Like the Mona Lisa, it's diminutive - hardly larger than a human hand – and, like the Crown Jewels in London, you can only have a short glance at it as the lines of people are herded along so that still more can see it. Despite this, it is a delicate and beautiful treasure, hugely esteemed by the Taiwanese.

To understand the life and influence of Chiang Kai-Shek you need to visit the Memorial Hall that houses a museum documenting his life and career with exhibits related to Republic of China-era Chinese history, and Taiwan's history and development. There are items of personal value to him, such as one of his cars (above) a gallery of photographs of his family and his life.

Perhaps the most fascinating exhibit is a replica of his office that is creepily real. Despite the many positives Chiang Kai-Shek instigated, like most powerful people with an agenda for change, he also brought some harsh reforms and severe penalties.

The Memorial Hall is white with four sides. The roof is blue and octagonal, a shape that picks up the symbolism of the number eight, a number traditionally associated in Asia with abundance and good fortune.

Two sets of white stairs, each with 89 steps to represent Chiang's age at the time of his death, lead to the main entrance. The ground level of the memorial houses a library and the museum mentioned above. 

The upper level contains the main hall, in which a large statue of Chiang Kai-shek is located, and where a guard-mounting ceremony takes place at regular times. 

The monument, surrounded by a park, stands at the east end of Memorial Hall Square. The structure is framed on the north and south by the National Theater and National Concert Hall (above).

However....modern-day Taipei with a population of around seven million, is an advanced and forward-looking city. Its residents are still Chinese by race, and of course they love good food. One of modern Taiwan's greatest successes has been the Din Tai Fung 'dumpling empire' which began here in the 1970s. It remained relatively unknown until a New York Times article in 1993 named it as one of the world's Top Notch Tables.

Its fame escalated with the Hong Kong branch gaining a Michelin star in 2010 and every year since. Now there are  branches around Asia, as well as USA, Dubai, and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia.

Din Tai Fung is synonymous with 'soup dumplings' (xiao long bao) with which the owners made their name. Each contains a mouthful of soup which should not be spilled, so you are instructed to place the dumpling in your spoon and pierce the dough with your chopstick, so that it can be slurped first from the spoon, before you eat the rest of the pork mince filling and the dumpling itself.

Dumplings are not all that is on the menu though. A steady succession of waitresses in waistcoats and white blouses bring dish after dish. This appetiser is seaweed and dried tofu.

Then comes bean curd and pork in a tasty broth. Like many Asian nations, Taiwan uses soya beans in many ways - as a soft curd or cake, dried in sheets or fried.

The delicate dough is painstakingly shaped by a team of white-coated cooks. The size and weight has to be exact in order to achieve identical quality each time and, as you can see, the concentration of each chef is intense.

Taipei, population around seven million, respects its traditional background, but it's the future which beckons it. As we travel the city, there are many new buildings and roads, and Taipei 101 is one building of which the locals are very proud. 

It was completed in 2004 and, at 508 metres, from 2004-2009, was the tallest building in the world. Illuminated at night, it is visible from almost anywhere in Taipei. The green tinted glass and the segmented look of the building's outline is reminiscent of bamboo, created this way intentionally by the architect, CY Lee. He was also channelling the profile of a pagoda, each part with eight (lucky) floors.

Next-door is an upmarket shopping centre with a Bureau de Change, boutiques and restaurants.

Taipei is intentionally positioning itself as an international city, ready to welcome visitors from anywhere, so it's no surprise to find Starbucks and other coffee shops, McDonald's and mega-malls - virtually anything you could find in most other major cities.

But my personal search was for these. Toffee tomatoes are specific to Taiwan and best found at a night market such as the one we found just a few blocks from our ship in the port of Keelung, about 45 minutes from the city centre. 

It seems this lady was there just waiting for me to buy them and renew a taste I have been missing since my last visit fifteen or more years ago. It's a wonder no one has thought to do them elsewhere. We have toffee apples in Australia and other countries. China puts toffee on many fruits, including plums and dates. But to me, tomatoes are best. The slight acid of the pulp is the perfect foil for sweet toffee and they burst obligingly as you bite into them.

But some other things did not look quite so appealing to us! Even so, the local customers were happily slurping down bowls of broth and offal, despite the hot and steamy night.

In hot climates, what sense would there be in each family cooking its own meal in a hot kitchen, when you can sit outside in the cooler air and share some jokes and a drink with others?

Most of the people are either Buddhist or Taoist, and temples are often integrated into the streets, as worship is something thar happens as a matter of course, a routine part of each day.

This temple was part of the night-market, as much as any of the food-stalls.

Bean curd, again, this time using thin sheets to wrap a filling - possibly minced pork.

Always there are noodles, broth....

... squeakily fresh seafood....

.....tiny whelks, which you would need a toothpick to remove the morsels of flesh....

... and proof, yet again, of the locals' love of pork.

At a stall at the other end of the markets, here is another version with strawberries, and grapes. Tempted - but not enough - I doubled back to my friend at the start of the markets and bought more of hers.

So if you are in the port of Keelung, this is how to find this wonderful night market.

Our guides for the two days we had in Taipei were Willy Han (left) and his father, David. Together they run Happy Go Travel Service which began in 2005. For us they used a car, but for larger group they use a bus. There is something about travelling with a local who can point out interesting places and explain things to you. 

One thing they wanted to show us was the strange rock formations at Yeliou Beach. These are called 'hoodoos', the name for tall spires of rocks and visitors are welcome to explore the Geopark for a small entrance fee.

After the busy traffic in the city centre, this was a tranquil and refreshing escape. We could see why it was very popular with locals and tourists - so much so, that there were guards with whistles who monitored where people could or could not go.

At times large waves have been known to wash up on the rocks at points like this, and it is vital to make sure no one is at risk of being washed away, and there are lines clearly marked which people are not allowed to cross.

In some places the rocks have been excavated into depressions called 'Fairy Shoes'. Other formations include the Beehive, the Ginger Rocks, and the Sea Candles.

Some look like mushrooms...

...or sea monsters....

... or a Queen's head, the most iconic one of all. This is much in demand for posed photographs and selfies, as you can imagine.

Wind and water over centuries have carved these rocks and turned them into a playground and a delightful tourist attraction for all ages.

As we finally said goodbye to our new friends, Willy and David, it was time to return to our ship and continue our journey south.

Time too, to say farewell to Formosa, a beautiful island that has achieved so much. An island which hopes and plans, one day, to become one of Asia's major nations. 

Here's hoping it won't be another 15 years until I can enjoy those toffee tomatoes again!

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More information about Taiwan......

(Happy Go Travel Service is contactable at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Words and photographs: Sally Hammond ©2016

Video: Gordon Hammond ©2016