Taiwan Cities & Beach: Taipei, Kenting & Kaohsiung

About the destination: Taipei is the largest city and the capital of Taiwan. Surrounded by the Xueshan Range and the Datun mountains, Taipei is rich in everything, from scenery to culture to good food. Taipei is a cosmopolitan and vibrant city with a perfect blend of Chinese and western culture. The city is filled with temples, parks, memorials, and modern buildings that can be endlessly explored. Taipei is a huge city with many things to see. Some of the city’s main attractions include the Shi Lin night market, the National Palace Museum, the Da-an Forestry Park, Mt. Yang-ming, the Hot Springs in Bei-tou, the Taipei 101 building, the CKS Memorial Hall, the Longshan Temple and the remaining City Gates. Taipei is a buzzing and exciting city that has a lot to offer, but is also the perfect base to explore the rest of the country. Taiwan is a land of beautiful mountains, deep gorges, white sandy beaches, lush forests and national parks, not to mention ornate temples and offshore islands.

About the destination: Kenting National Park, commonly known as Kenting, is a national park located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan, covering Hengchun, Checheng, and Manzhou Townships. Established on January 1, 1984, it is Taiwan's oldest and the southernmost national park on the main island, covering the southernmost area of the Taiwan island along Bashi Channel. Administered by the Executive Yuan's Ministry of the Interior, this national park is well known for its tropical climate and sunshine, scenic mountain and beach, the Spring Scream rock-band festival held in every March, and has long been one of the most popular tourist destinations in Taiwan with 5.84 million visitors in 2016.

About the destination: Kaohsiung City is a special municipality in Taiwan. Located in southern-western Taiwan and facing the Taiwan Strait, it is by area the largest municipality, at 2,951.85 km2 (1,139.72 sq mi), stretches from Mt. Jade to Taiping Island, and second most populous (by city proper) with a population of approximately 2.77 million. Since its start in the 17th century, Kaohsiung has grown from a small trading village, into the political, economic, transportation, manufacturing, refining, shipbuilding, and industrial center of southern Taiwan. It is a global city with sufficiency as categorized by Globalization and World Cities Research Network in 2012. The Kaohsiung International Airport is the second largest airport in Taiwan. The Port of Kaohsiung is the largest harbor in Taiwan, but not officially part of Kaohsiung City. The southern terminal of the Freeway 1 is in Kaohsiung. For north-south travel on railway, the city is served by the Taiwan Railways Administration stations of TRA Western Line and Pingtung Line. The Taiwan High Speed Rail also provides fast and frequent railway connection to Taipei. The Kaohsiung Mass Rapid Transit, the city's subway system, was launched in early 2008. Kaohsiung was the host city of the World Games 2009, a multi-sport event primarily composed of sports not featured in the Olympic Games. The city is also home to the Republic of China Navy fleet headquarters and academy.