Daily Archives: 29 September, 2019

Nung Chan Monastery (Taipei, Taiwan)

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Nung Chan Monastery

After our one-hour tour of Beitou Thermal Valley, we again boarded our tourist bus for the short 3.7-km. (10 min.) drive to Nung Chan Monastery.  Dropping off at Lane 65, Vincent Chen, our Eagle Tours guides, accompanied us as we walked, for 10 mins., to the entrance of the monastery.  Though it stopped raining, the skies were still overcast when we arrived.

Check out “Beitou Thermal Valley”

Touring the monastery grounds

The Nung Chan Monastery (meaning ‘Farming Ch’an‘), formally founded in 1975, is situated on 10,000 sq. m. (2.5 acres) of land acquired in the end of the 1960s by Master Dong Chu, a scholar monk and disciple of renowned Chinese Buddhist Master Taixu.

The Original Farmhouse

Located at the vast Guandu Plain, facing the Keelung River and leaning against the Datun Mountain, near Taipei, it is part of the umbrella organization called Dharma Drum Mountain. The monastery offers meditation instruction in English and holds regular meditation meetings.

Main Buddha Hall

Since 1975, to accommodate the growing number of devotees and monks living there, there have been various expansions and renovations on the site. The new, simple, tastefully designed main buildings, designed by Taiwanese Architect Kris Yao Ren-Xi of Artech Architects, were designed and constructed from 2010 – 2012 in a manner befitting a monastery.

The massive interior wooden wall with the Heart Sutra, in Chinese characters

The monastery has two walls, of different lengths, which provide the monastery an appropriate buffer against the bustling city. Circling around the walls, our view opened up towards a serene courtyard with an 80 m. long lotus pond as its main focus. On the left is the two- storey, 330 sq. m. (3,600 sq. ft.) farmhouse, started in 1971 by Master Dong Chu and completed in 1975.

The jade statue of the Buddha sitting in the lotus posture on the Sumeru throne

The simple, serene and solid Main Buddha Hall, in the middle, features an upper wooden box with a transparent lower half, giving the impression that it is suspended in the air. Inside is a white jade statue of the Buddha, sitting in the lotus posture on the Sumeru throne. There was a service ongoing when we arrived, so we weren’t allowed to enter the hall.

The ongoing service within the spartan interior

Carved into the massive interior wooden wall, on the west side, is the famous “Heart Sutra,” in Chinese characters, which presents the Scriptures in hollow form.

The front colonnade

The sunshine shines through the carved-out scriptures on the other side, filling the interior space with reflections. The hall is linked, via double height corridors, to the meditation hall, dining hall, and monk’s living quarters.

The Water Moon Pool

The large Water-Moon Pool, with its smaller lotus pond, is located in front of the Main Buddha Hall.  The pond is flanked by a main circulation route and a covered corridor.  A focal feature of the center’s landscape, the pool reflects Main Buddha Hall and Corridor, the clouds and the sky like a mirror when still, helping the overall aesthetic elements and providing a nice background for photographs.

The L-shaped building

The façade of an L-shaped building, on the right, is inscribed with over 5,000 characters of the Diamond Sutra, an important sutra of the Chan School.

The Diamond Sutra facade

The Way to Compassion, originally the main entrance of Nung Chan Monastery, was built in 1982 by Master Sheng Yen to demarcate the Monastery grounds. The Chan Hall has a sitting statue of Shakyamuni Buddha.

The Connection Corridor, extending along the Water-Moon Pool to the Main Buddha Hall and Chan Hall, demarcates space while permitting light to enter.

Its two walls of exposed concrete form a serene space.   It was already starting to rain when we departed the monastery grounds to return to our bus.

The author

Nung Chan Monastery: No. 89, Lane 65, Daye Rd., Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. Tel:  886-2-2893-3161.  E-mail: jktie@ddm.org.tw.   Website:  www.ncm.ddm.org.tw.

Eagle Tours: +886-910-130-180 (Mr. Vincent Chen) and +886-932-013-880 (Ms. Joyce Chen).

How to Get There: 

Take bus #218, #266 or #302 to the Da-Ye-Lu-Yi Stop, and then walk straight down Lane 65 for about 10 minutes.  Via MRT, take the Danshui Line to Qiyan Station, turn left and walk down Sanhe Street until you reach Daye Road, turn left, pass the Volkswagen service center, and walk until you hit Lane 65. By car, take Daye Road and park at the Monastery’s parking lot.

Beitou Thermal Valley (Taipei, Taiwan)

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The steaming, jade-colored waters of Beitou Thermal Valley

It was raining heavily when we departed Yangming Park for the short 6.6-km. (15 min.) drive to Beitou Thermal Valley, a valley located on the foothill of Yangmingshan National Park.

Hotels, resorts and inns on a hillside within the valley

It is one of the sources of acidic sulfur hot spring in the area and, historically, was considered as one of the eight attractions and one the “12 great sights of Taiwan” during the Period of Japanese Occupation.

Stalls selling street food and souvenir items

Xinbeitou Village occupies a lush valley that is home to 1200 species of plants, 110 species of birds and 160 varieties of butterflies.

Check out “Yangmingshan National Park“

Guide Map

The park is a good place to relax or go for a stroll. The rain stopped when we arrived at the resort area.

Souvenir Shop/Cafe

Walking along a boardwalk, past a souvenir shop (with a café inside selling hot and cold drinks), we could already feel the temperature rise (having the highest temperatures of any in the Datunshan volcano group, the highest temperature of the springs here ranges from 80-100℃).

We also noticed an eerie sulfuric steam rising from the surface of the bubbling, green-tinted pond which blankets the Thermal Valley year-round. Playing around in the breeze, the steam gave the valley a surreal sulfuric atmosphere and a frightening quality, which has given rise to nicknames such as “Ghost Lake” and “Hell Valley.”

In the past, visitors were once allowed to soak their feet at certain points as well as boil eggs in the hot springs.  Both practices have since been prohibited, not only to protect the water quality but also to keep tourists from falling in and boiling themselves.

A small waterfall

Located beside Beitou Hot Spring Park, the spring water here is high in the radioactive element Radium which, in the past, underwent a corrosive reaction with andesite  rocks on the river bed about 150 meters downstream, creating layers of rare, cream and white diamond-shaped crystals called hokutolite (named after Hokuto, the Japanese name for Beitou), also known as Anglesobarite or Beitou rocks, the only mineral in the world to be named after a region of Taiwan. They can only naturally be found in only two places: Beitou and Tamagawa (Akita Prefecture, Japan).

A glass-encased hokutolite rock sample

To ensure the protection of these natural rarities, the “Beitou Rock Conservation Area” has been established in recent years. Thus, visitors to the Thermal Valley not only get to experience “hell,” but also gain insight into some rare radioactive rocks. Its mineral water also contains Plaster, Alunite, Jarosite, Realgar and  Sulfur and its pH value is between 1.4~1.6.   As sodium carbonate tend to be highly acidic and corrosive, the springs have also been called the “Green sulfur springs” and “Sulfur heads.”

The author at Beitou Thermal Valley

Today, the main source of the “white sulfur” hot spring water used in Beitou hot spring establishments is the Liuhuanggu and Longfenggu thermal valleys located further uphill in Yangmingshan National Park.

Beauty Age Hotel

Beitou Thermal Valley: Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan.  Open Tuesdays to Sundays, 9 AM – 5 PM.

How to Get There: The only metro-accessible hot spring in Taiwan, a two-station line connects Xinbeitou, Taipei City’s only hot spring village, to Beitou station on the Danshui line. From Taipei’s Main Station, go north on the Red Line, to Beitou. Once there, change to the Pink Line by going downstairs and back up again on the other side of the platform and take it one stop to Xinbeitou (New Beitou).

 

Yangmingshan National Park (Taipei, Taiwan)

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Yangming Park

From Dihua Street, we again boarded our bus for the short 12-km. (25-min.) drive to Yangming Park, one of the first stops that visitors often make while exploring Yangmingshan National Park.  According to Vincent Chen, our Eagle Tour guide, the park is the place to observe Formosan cherry blossoms (Prunus campanulata), the native cherry trees of Taiwan.

They usually flower in late February through middle of March, earlier than the sakura of Tokyo owing to the fact that Taiwan enjoys a subtropical climate (the rule of nature is that cherry trees flower earlier at hotter places).

Yangming Park Map

The 1.07 sq. km. park contains a Chinese-style garden with elegant buildings, pavilions kiosks, streams, fountains and ponds for visitors to relax and enjoy the cooler climate. Aside from cherry blossoms, some unique flora within and around the park include azaleas, camellias, peach blossoms, thorn apples and plum blossoms, all changing with the seasons (they bloom from December through April and this time period is known as the Flower Festival).

Yangmingshan National Park, next to Shamao Mountain and Qixing Mountain with Datun Mountain on the right and Guanyin Mountain in front, is the only park in Taiwan that has volcanic geography and hot springs. Called Caoshan (Grass Mountain) during Japanese occupation of Taiwan (because it was covered with grass and seldom visited), after World War II, the KMT government renamed the mountain Yangmingshan and built a park here designed in traditional Chinese style.

Today, the magnificent mountainous scenery, natural beauty and comfortable weather have made Yangmingshan National Park a perfect summer resort and has won it the reputation as an urban forest and Taipei’s garden.

 

Near the western entrance to the park is a large, 13-m. (22 ft.) diameter clock, a large garden artwork made with flowers built around a timepiece provided by Swiss luxury watch maker Rado. Started in 1965, it was formally opened to the public in 1969.  Water runs around the flower clock and music is played every hour.

Flower Clock.  In the background is Chihsingshan, the highest mountain of the Tatun Volcano Group

Opposite the clock is a statue of the late president Chiang Kai-Shek.  On both sides of the statue are cypress trees planted by president Chiang himself. Right in the center of the park is the Xinhai Guangfu Building, at the northern edge of the park behind the Dragon Zone and cherry blossom gardens.

Xinhai Guangfu Building

Completed in 1971 in Northern Chinese palace style of architecture, it commemorates the Xinhai Revolution. In addition, there is a statue of Wang Yangming, the famous Chinese scholar in the 17th century.

President Chiang Kai Shek Statue

Yangmingshan National Park: Jhuzihhu Rd., Beitou District,Yangmingshan,Taipei City 11292, Taiwan.  Tel: 886-2-2861-3601.

Eagle Tours: +886-910-130-180 (Mr. Vincent Chen) and +886-932-013-880 (Ms. Joyce Chen).

How to Get There:

  • Take the THSR or train to Taipei Station, continue by Royal Bus (bound for Jinshan) to the Yangmingshan National Park Administration.
  • Take the MRT to Jiantan Station, continue by Bus Red-5 to Yangmingshan stop. Then take Bus No. 108 to Tourist Center stop.
  • Take the THSR or train to Taipei Station, continue by Bus No. 260 to Yangmingshan stop. Then take Bus No. 108 to Tourist Center stop.

There are some buses that start from an earlier bus stop. Once you alight at Yangmingshan bus terminal, look for the bus 125 with the “Flower Clock” sign. It is roughly 10 minutes bus ride, NT15 one way.

Xia-Hai City God Temple (Taipei, Taiwan)

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Xia-hai City God Temple

The lively and well-loved Taipei Xia-Hai City God Temple, a temple built in 1859 to house the statue of Xia Hai Cheng Huang, the City God God which was brought over from Xia Cheng, Tong An County, Fujian province, China.  The losers in the Wanhua feud took this as they fled upstream.  Still maintained by a single family to the present day, the temple’s construction and development is closely connected to the history of local residents who migrated from Tong’an County, Fujian.  In 1985, the Ministry of the Interior designated the site as a Historical Monument.

Despite currently having a 160 year old history in its current location, it is not the oldest temple in Taipei (the Mengjia Longshan Temple is older).  However, unlike the other “older” temples which have had to be completely rebuilt on a few occasions, this one is still the same one you would have seen in 1859 when it was first built, although it has undergone a few renovations over the years.

Each and every day, this temple, one of the busiest places of worship in the city, is constantly jam-packed, both inside and outside, by thousands of people who pray for peace, love and happiness. Tourists, on the other hand, visit to learn more about the city and its history from people who work and volunteer in the temple.  They speak a number of languages (Mandarin, English, and Japanese) and are well-versed in explaining its history and, more importantly, how to properly pray and show respect to the City God.

Learning about this place is quite a lot easier than almost all of the other larger temples in the city because the temple provides reading materials to guests free of charge. The temple’s website also has a step-by-step guide on how to pray to the deities.

Worshipers lighting incense sticks at a censer outside

Little has changed since those days. The temple, close to the Dadao Theater and the Yongle Market in the section of Dihua Street, is a terrific spot to witness folk-worship rituals as well as admire some gorgeous pieces of traditional arts and crafts.

Check out “Dihua Street and Dadaocheng Walking Tour“

Built in the traditional Minnan (southern Chinese) architectural style which can be seen in its curved lines and emphasis on ornamentation, the temple’s decoration includes pottery figures, murals, paintings, mosaic-like cut-and-paste porcelain (jiǎnnián), and Koji ceramics.

The temple houses over six hundred deities, introduced in clear English signs, in its 152 sq. m. (46 ping) of area, resulting in the highest statue density in Taiwan. Some of the temple’s outstanding decorative pieces, aside from the City God, include the Matchmaker (said to have brought together thousands of couples)

The City God’s wife, known as a Chinese Cupid enshrined in 1971, is the recipient of devotees’ pleas concerning affairs of the heart. There are free sweet herbal teas at the temple lobby and recently engaged or married couples usually leave some cookies here.

In the main hall, just before the altar, are clay sculptures showing a man on an elephant holding a pike and chime and another showing a man riding a lion while holding a flag and ball

On the 14th day of the fifth lunar month, the City God’s birthday, features a procession, stretching over a kilometer, of teams from dozens of temples around Taipei send here to entertain the City God in festivities that last five days and gets going around 2 to 3 PM. The performances include lion dances, god dances and martial arts displays.

Taipei Xia-Hai City God Temple: No. 61, Section 1, Dihua Street, Dadaocheng, Datong District,  Taipei, Taiwan.  Tel: +886 2 2558 0346. E-mail: Ing.tai.wu@gmail.com.  Open daily, 6 AM – 9 PM.  Admission is free.

How to Get There: Bus: No. 9, 12, 250, 274, 304 or 9 to Yanping; 811 or R33 to Dihua St.; 206, 250, 255, 274, 304, 518, 539, 639, 641, 669 or 704 to Nanjing W. Rd. Via MRT: from Shuanglian Station, take the Red 33 bus to Dihua Street.

Dihua Street and Dadaocheng Walking Tour (Taipei, Taiwan)

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Dihua Street

After lunch at Jia Tian Xia, we again boarded our bus for the short drive to the old Dadaocheng area in Taipei City.  We all drop by the Dadaocheng Visitors, the start of Dihua Street. Here, some of the ladies in our entourage tried on traditional Chinese clothes for free and posed wearing these to spice up their Dihua visit.  After this, we started our walking and shopping tour of the district. 

The ladies (Jay, Lenlen, Joyce and Melissa) trying on traditional Taiwanese attire

The streets and alleys of this district presented us with a rich mix of East and West, history and the future, tradition and modernity.  At its heart is narrow Dihua Street which is lined with beautifully restored shophouses with southern Fujian, Baroque Revival, early Modernist and other Western architectural facades and elements, all  occupied by long-established businesses and recently opened cultural-creative enterprises.

Running south to north, parallel to the Tamsui River, Dihua Street is considered to be the oldest street in Taipei, with a few sections that date back to the period of Dutch rule in Taiwan (1624–1661), but mainly it was constructed from the 1850s. Originally called Central Street, its southern and northern sections were called South Street and North Street, respectively.

In the latter part of the 19th century, Dihua Street rose to prominence as a major commercial throughway in the bustling Dadaocheng river-port community (where one of its major industries was tea) and many businessmen made their fortunes here. By 1872, there were already five British trading firms plus a sizable Western population in Dadaocheng.

In the 1970s, the fortunes of Dihua Street and Dadaocheng, as a whole, started fading when Taipei’s commercial center shifted eastward. In 1988, in the face of heritage-preservation protests, a government plan to widen Dihua Street was shelved.

In 1996, however, the establishment of the Taipei Lunar New Year Festival’s traditional New Year goods market drew public attention back to the street.

In 1998, a heritage/renovation plan for Dadaocheng was finalized and soon cultural-creative entrepreneurs were reinventing the old buildings, using the unique structures in interesting ways. 

Though only about 800 m. long, the atmospheric Dihua Street’s many identities provides a whole day of exploration (and shopping). Its well-preserved or reconstructed buildings now house traditional shops selling dried goods and herbal medicines, chic cafés and mini art galleries.

The buildings, though narrow, are deep and often have a courtyard toward their middle that divides them into two sections. 

One of its early shophouses is a century-old building that once housed A.S. Watson and Co., Taiwan’s first Western-style drugstore built in 1917 by Lee Chun-chi as a franchise of the Hong Kong-based parent company. This building’s Modernist gray exterior has wood-frames windows with some Asian-style decorations also adorning the façade. It now houses a cute crafts and souvenir store, a bookstore and the ASW Tea House, an English-style teahouse, at the second floor, which preserved the original drugstore’s initials in its name.

A.S. Watson & Co. Building

It now serves classic Western culinary items using locally grown ingredients (dried pineapple in the scones, fruit juice in the pate de fruit, the black sesame in the madeleines, etc.), all washed down with local Taiwanese tea (except for the Ceylon BOP, which is a mixture of Sri Lankan and Taiwanese leaf). A couple of sandwich selections include an apple, cheese and olive oil creation featuring mullet roe sourced directly from Li Ly Sun, a long-established seafood and dried-goods store just down Dihua Street. 

Yongle Textile Market

Yongle Fabric Market, a Dihua Street institution dating to the Japanese colonial area, remains the largest fabric market in Taiwan. The first floor houses a small wet market while the second floor houses the actual fabric market.

The third floor is where people can take their fabric to be tailored. The 8th floor houses cultural exhibitions while Dadaocheng Theater can be found on the 9th floor. Inside, there are also several sushi bars, including one with a good range of craft beers.

Dihua Street, with new businesses constantly opening up in this area, is definitely a place that deserves multiple visits, given enough time.  Aside from the abovementioned, other places to visit along Dihua Street include:

  • Sin Hong Choon Tea Museum – in a building, built in 1934, featuring a mix of Taiwanese and Western design elements, it once housed the area’s largest tea-processing workshop and was the Wang family’s (the original owners who moved to Taiwan from mainland China in the 1910s) base for the export of tea to Southeast Asia. Its quaint interior, with terrazzo stairs and red-brick walls, was featured in La Grande Chaumière Violette, a 2016 Taiwanese TV period drama series  which told the story of the son of a wealthy tea merchant. The museum, providing a fascinating look into the tea trade of that time, is a place to learn more about Dadaocheng’s tea trade. Here visitors get to see old tea-processing machines as well as the family’s living quarters.
  • A Design & Life Project – a modern business in an old building, it is stocked to the brim with all sorts of antique knickknacks such as vintage American and industrial-style design items (cast-iron door handles, old-fashioned keys, gold-leaf lettering, etc.) plus new redesigns created by the store.
  • Earthing Way– a dose of local-flavor nostalgia, it features aramono (a Japanese term that refers to simple, austere tools and utensils most often made from natural materials, such as bamboo baskets, wooden spoons, and ceramic bowls) from local craftsmen.
  • Museum 207– housed in a relatively new structure built in 1962, has a faux-brick and somber, red wood facade. The exhibits, focused on Taiwanese traditions such as on the art of terrazzo flooring in the past and the current show on the complex art of Taiwanese gift-giving, displays items such as mirrors with auspicious messages and lucky red envelopes. At its roof, you can take in a stunning panorama of the neighborhood and beyond.
  • Ama Museum– Run by the Taipei Women’s Rescue Foundation, it  was opened in December 2016 to tell the story of the estimated 2,000 Taiwanese “comfort women” (it has only been able to track down 59 but has worked closely with them since the early 1990s) forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military during World War II.
  • Yehjinfa Rice Mill– still owned by the Yeh family (though at one point they stopped doing business for many years), it reopened in 2016 as a boutique rice/grocery/daily-use item shop.  Its sleek and non-intrusive interior features Minimalistic, free-standing wooden trusses and wooden boxes used as display shelves. The rice selection was expanded to 10 Taiwanese grains (including red sticky rice and black rice sourced directly from an indigenous village as well as the popular Taiken No. 9 Premium). To preserve freshness, the rice is sold in small packets. The other food items, all local and/or eco-friendly, or produced using unique methods, includes curry sauce (made with ingredients sourced from Hualien County), chili oil (from a 70-year-old shop) and dried mushrooms (grown using zero-waste methods). Kitchen items that revolve around rice include bowls, dishes and steamers.
  • URS329 – located toward the north end of Dihua Street, this restaurant serves a selection of culturally representative dishes that complement rice. Its grains are milled in-house with a miniature machine.
  • Taiwan Cooking 101 School 
  • Xia-Hai City God Temple 

Check out “Xia-Hai City God Temple“

 

Dadaocheng Visitor Center (URS44 Dadaocheng): No. 44, Sec. 1, Dihua St., Datong Dist., Taipei City 103.  Tel: +886-2-2559-6802.  Open daily (except Tuesdays), 9 AM – 5 PM.

Yongle Fabric Market: 1 Minle St., Datong District, Taipei City
Sin Hong Choon Tea Museum: Minsheng West Road, Datong District, Taipei City
A Design & Life Project: Nanjing West Road, Datong District, Taipei City
Museum 207: Dihua Street, Datong District, Taipei City

Maokong Gondola (Taipei, Taiwan)

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Maokong Gondola

On our last full day in Taiwan, right after breakfast, we all checked out of our hotel and loaded all our luggage into our tour bus.  We still had a full day of touring ahead of us and first on our itinerary was a ride on the Maokong Gondola, a gondola lift transportation system (the first in Taiwan) that operates between Taipei Zoo and Maokong.

Taipei Zoo Station

Mr. Vincent Chen, our Eagle Tours guide, informed us during the trip that, after two days of bad weather, the gondola was open for the day. And the weather did improved as we traveled the 19 kms. to Maokong and the sun was already up when we arrived at the Taipei Zoo Station.

Waiting in line for our car to arrive….

This 4.3-km. (2.7-mi.) line has 6 stations – 4 passenger stations (Taipei Zoo, Taipei Zoo South,  Zhinan Temple and Maokong) and 2 angle stations to allow for direction changes along the route. It rises a total of 275 m.  in height between the start and end stations at Taipei Zoo Station and Maokong Station.

Started on November 10, 2005, it was opened on July 4, 2007.  The facilities of the gondola were contracted to the French company Poma. The line now has 147 cabins and 47 support towers.

Our car arrives…..

Since March 30, 2010, 30 of its cabins (5 persons per cabin), operating with a service interval of 3 mins., have been retrofitted with 48 mm. thick, triple layered, reinforced glass bottoms, each weighing 213 kgs. and each cabin modification costing NT$200,000. It allows passengers to look down at the view beneath their feet.

The author boards his car…..

These Crystal cabins, also called “Eyes of Maokong Gondola,” provide more viewing angles and opportunities.  They have their own waiting queue and a computer managed ticketing system that instructs passengers to enter the queue at a specified time. Currently, the price for taking a crystal cabin is the same as that of regular cabins.

L-R: the author, son Jandy, Melissa Ablan and Bhaby Paycana

Our group was to travel only up to Zhinan Temple Station as alighting at the Maokong Station terminus would entail a long queue on the return (it being a Sunday, crowds were expected). We were hoping to ride one these Crystal Cabins but wasn’t so lucky as a regular cabin  (there’s probably like 1 crystal car for every 8-9 regular cars) was assigned to Jandy, Melissa, Bhaby and me.

The Zhinan River Valley. Seen at left is Taipei 101 Building

The ride was pretty long (10-15 mins.) but it was leisurely and scenic all the way,with views of  the city skyline (including the iconic Taipei 101 Building) and the lush Zhinan River valley.

View of Taipei’s skyline

Too bad we didn’t make it up to Maokong where we could have visited various attractions and activities related to tea (tea-tasting; see how tea is being grown and picked at plantations in the Zhanghu and Watsuo area; admiring handmade teapots at the Chang Nai-miao Memorial Tea Museum; and learning about the different types of tea and how it is preserved, brewed and distributed at the Tea Promotion Center) as well as visiting Tianen and San Xuan temples. Still, the gondola ride was as much an attraction as a mode of transport. .

The Philippines travel agents tour group at Taipei Zoo Station

Maokong Gondola: Wenshan, Taipei, Taiwan.  For safety reasons, the gondola service is contingent upon the weather situation.  However, it is generally open from 8:30 AM to 9 PM (10 PM on Fridays and Saturdays). The Taipei Zoo South station closes at 4 PM.  For more information and current status of the gondola, check out the official website.

Fares (based on the number of stations traveled) are NT$70 (1 Station), NT$100 (2 Stations) and NT$120 (3 Stations).  Persons with disability and seniors aged over 65 pay NT$15 (1 Station), NT$20 (2 Stations) and NT$25 (3 Stations).

Fares can be paid by either purchasing the tickets at the stations or using EasyCard or stored-value card. Each adult ticket can bring 2 children (under 6 years of age) for free. Easycards are given a 20% discount on weekdays, and also receive a NT$20 discount when also used for zoo entry.

Discounts are available for group travelling. Groups of 10 or above will receive 20% off their ticket price while groups of 40 or above will receive 30% off. Tourists can also purchase the Maokong Gondola version of the one-day Taipei Pass for unlimited rides on Taipei buses and MRTs, and up to 3 gondola rides in one day. This special one-day TaipeiPass costs NT$350.

How to Get There: By bus, Take the Brown Line (1) to the terminus station, Taipei Zoo (動物園) then transfer to the Maokong Gondola.  By MRT, Bus S10 operates between MRT Taipei Zoo and the peak at Maokong, with a stop at National Chengchi University (國立政治大學).