Attractions : Taipei City

Taipei is Taiwan's largest city as well as its economic, political, and cultural center. It is a modern cosmopolitan metropolis with a lively and diversified face, filled with exuberance. Its buildings provide much of the diversity, and visitors who are fond of historic sites and old streets will not want to miss the work of traditional master builders evident on Dihua Street in the Dadaocheng area or the Longshan Temple in the Wanhus district, as well as other places. The internationally renowned National Palace Museum has an inexhaustible collection of precious historical Chinese arts and artifacts that no visitor can afford to miss; Taipei is also home to many other fine museums, including the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, National Museum of History, and Postal Museum. On the city's outskirts, the Yangmingshan National Park has unique volcanic terrain, a rich variety of forest vegetation, and an extensive network of hiking trails, making it a popular destination for visitors from the Taipei area and elsewhere. Yangmingshan is one of the places in the Taipei area where you can indulge yourself in a hot mineral bath; for the pleasure of relieving the exhaustion of a day's travels, you can also go to the hot springs of Beitou or Wulai. Taipei also has the largest zoo in Asia, where you can see the rare Formosan black bear, cuddly koalas, and stately king penguins. The city's comprehensive rapid transit system takes you quickly to the zoo or just about anyplace you might want to go in the metropolitan area.