Need A Lot of Advice
 

Hi There! My brother just announced he is going to be marrying his girlfriend in Kaohsiung on May 24, 2008. I can find flights to both cities no problem but I don't read or speak any Chinese so I'm wondering how difficult it will be to get around. I'll be traveling pretty much by myself (I figure he's going to be a little distracted ;o)) but I don't want to miss out on some of the wonderful things I've been reading. So my thoughts were to land in Taipei May 21 to give myself time to recover from jet lag, take the bullet train from Taipei to Kaohsiung for the wedding, take the train back the same day, then take a taxi or MRT around the city and parks. Is this possible with just a phrasebook and plucky attitude? How likely is it that my plans will end up with me in tears? Are there English speaking tours in and around Taipei or Kaohsiung?

Sorry to ramble but I'm bubbling up with adventure and excitement.

Anyone? I'm interested in Taipei for an October trip.

Why not spend the night in Kaohsiung? It's the 2nd largest city in Taiwan and has a nice night market you could visit. I don't get to go there any more, but I always enjoyed it.

Most taxi drivers in Taiwan will not speak English. I speak minimal Mandarin and usually end up calling my local friend and handing my phone over to the driver. Either that or have written instructions from your hotel.

I've always flown between the 2 cities, but I think the train might be cheaper.

Be aware that TPE airport is not in Taipei city (it's in Taoyuan).

I've only been to Taipei. I found remarkably few people spoke English, rather like China was 15 years ago. I had the concierge of my hotel write down the places I wanted to go (and of course, I carried a hotel card) so I could take taxis. Bargaining at the Jade market was all with calculators. One woman there spoke a few words of English.

English is not widely spoken, but public transportation has English signs/subtitles. Can't comment as I have never taken the bullet trains. I spoke no chinese whatsoever but managed fine by carrying a good map (provided by the hotel) and the hotel's business card. Taipei itself is easily navigatable with MRT, but National Palace Museum (don't miss this!) is a bit away, so better to organise a taxi from the hotel. International Airport is a good distance away--usually 60min, could be as much as 90min in heavy traffic. It's quite expensive to take taxis so I recommend limoousine buses instead. (There are a few companies serving different hotels and Taipei station.) May would be quite warm, while October should be pleasant.

I spent around 3 and a half days in Taipei in November 2006.

I only speak a bit Mandarin but I can read Chinese so language has not been a problem for me in Taipei. I do notice that the airport and the MRT have English signs. When I was visiting, many young people can speak some English, so I think that Taipei is doable on your own without Chinese language skills... Sampling food may be more of a challenge without Chinese language skills though. The menus I looked at were in Chinese only, some did have English and/or Japanese translation.

In terms of tours, I have done two tours in Taipei through Edison Travel Service. They have tours in English, and I think Japanese. Overall, I am very happy with the tours, the company and the tour guides, however, both tours took us to shopping during/ or after the tours, which was slightly annoying...if you are interested, have a look at their website: http://www.edison.com.tw/eindex.htm

Of course some of the tours only give an introduction to the city sights and many sights are worth more time than the tour will allow.

I have not been to Kaohsiung, but I heard that there are a few things of interests to do there, like ChengChing Lake, the Love River and some temples.

I hope that you will enjoy your time in Taiwan!