I'll be headed to Taipei at the end of April to early May, on the invitation of a Taiwanese friend. I'm looking for some advice or suggestions on what to do while there, since my host won't be available every day. I'll be hitting all the usual tourist spots like the night markets, the National Palace Museum, Taipei 101, etc., but I'd like to see what quirky or off the beaten path destinations travellers here have to offer. I've talked to my friend about this, but he has little to say on the subject.

I'll likely also be making a day trip to Jiufen.

Additional note: I can't speak mandarin, although I can understand some of it, and can read some Chinese. I'm not entirely certain how troublesome it would be to get around on my own with a mix of English and Cantonese.

I forgot to add that I was wondering if anyone knows any kendo equipment sellers in Taipei?

I'll be there for a few days in May. The Koroko Gorge is the main thing on my list.

I think NoFlyZone means the Taroko Gorge, which I highly recommend. I also highly recommend Tainan, which deserves at least a couple of days.

See:
https://mytimetotravel.wordpress.com...oon-on-taiwan/

and two following posts (links at the top of the page).

You can find some tips on my blog here:

http://altecockertravels.weebly.com/...mber-2015.html

You will have plenty to do and mass transit--called the MRT (Metropolitan Rapid Transit) in Taipei is cheap and well run. Everything is in English as well.

For an overnight side trip, I recommend that you go to Taroko Canyon. Really nice.

Sorry most of my photos from the trip have not been posted and are unlikely to be posted for awhile. Posting photos abroad with dicey internet takes too long. Yes, I have been back for over a month, but I am having back surgery soon and had a lot of doctor visits since returning. Next week, I need to do income tax (before the surgery). After the surgery the photos will be next up after I am reasonably healed.

Hope you love Taiwan as much as I did.

The only market that has tourist souvenir t-shirts is the Shilin Market. So that is where you need to go if you want one. The neighbor hood markets just do not carry them.

Yeah, it is of course the Taroko Gorge. No idea how it got typed as it did!

The MRT in Taipei makes announcements in both Mandarin and English. I had no difficulty getting around. I even picked up a few Chinese characters (now forgotten). The Chinese spoken in Taipei is Mandarin or Taiwanese dialect. I don't think there is much Cantonese spoken at all.