These cities less travelled in Taiwan prove that Taipei doesn’t have the monopoly on cool and photogenic hangout spots
Photos & text by Pamela Chow
Think of Taiwan and many will launch into daydreams about Taipei’s buzzing night markets and colourful ever-changing city corners. But while the capital city is a familiar haunt for Singaporeans young and old, hipster habitats are blossoming in Taiwan’s smaller urban enclaves.
Jetting to Kaohsiung on Scoot’s swanky new Boeing 787 Dreamliner, we uncovered six unexpected gems that could give Taipei a run for its money.
1. Anping Tree House, Tainan
It sounds like a house perched on branches, but this sprawl in Tainan’s Anping district will surprise you: It’s in fact an old colonial compound that has been entirely swallowed by the aged roots, branches and vines of a giant Banyan tree.
The result is a hauntingly beautiful maze of overgrowth and concrete, where brown wood curls around grey steel and tendrils hang from the wood-canopied ceiling like chandeliers.
Grab a cup of bubble milk tea and slowly explore the labyrinth of stairs and rooms, some of which house information galleries about the company that used to inhabit these quarters: Tait & Co Merchant House.
Anping Tree House (Former Tait & Co Merchant House), No 108, Gubao Street, Anping District, Tainan City, 708 Taiwan.
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