Taipei From Head to Toe

BY LAWRENCE FERBER

Taipei’s Red Theater Plaza (utopia-asia.com) is reminiscent of Manchester’s Canal Street. Gays crowd around hundreds of outdoor café tables as cute waiters swerve about bearing colorful cocktails and bottles of Mango beer. The surrounding storefronts are mostly bars, some just shallow crevices akin to those in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ni-Chome, yet Red Theater Plaza isn’t tucked away within an obscure part of town. It’s in the heart of bustling Ximending (old.taipeitravel.net), steps from its Ximen subway (aka MRT) station. Other clusters of gay commerce including cafes, a fabulous bookstore, a thriving lesbian scene, sub-scenes like bears and chasers (the latter of which are lovingly known as “monkeys”), a pro-gay mayor-turned-president, out celebs including transsexual TV personality Li Jing, and an annual Gay Pride Parade/Festival (twpride.net*) truly set Taipei apart.

Taipei’s compact geographical diversity adds to its individuality. You can travel from the beautifully rural hot springs to the neon-drenched metropolis all within an hour, and everything is reachable by the MRT, buses and taxis.

At some point Tokyo must have hooked up with Hong Kong because Taipei seems very much their lovechild. In fact, Japan ruled Taipei between 1895-1945. The previously mentioned Ximending is like a cross between Tokyo’s Shibuya and H.K.’s Mongkok. The Beitou (smarttravelasia.com) hot springs are popular and accessible by public transport; at some you can enjoy both a sumptuous Taiwanese meal and a soak. And, as with H.K., an assortment of street food and cheap foot massage parlors cram the night markets of Shilin, Tong-Hua and Jingmei (taiwan.net.tw). Japanese food, Cantonese/Chinese cuisine and the popular chain restaurant Mos Burger (www.mos.co.jp/english) serving oversized sliders are everywhere.

Although English language magazines and “what’s hot” resources are scant (as well as English in general—see sidebar), Taiwan Fun (taiwanfun.com) features listings, articles and new restaurant reviews. Also check out Taiwan Tourism’s Web sites (taiwan.net.tw and go2taiwan.net).

I’m staying at the stylish boutique Les Suites Taipei Da-An (epoquehotels.com). Les Suites’ perks include complimentary Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, business facilities and “mobile concierge service”—a mobile phone that serves as your room line so you can make or receive calls internationally or to and from the front desk or concierge (for which you pay the hotel’s per-minute rate). Les Suites also has a larger sister property in nearby Ching-Cheng, two MRT stations away.

Larger luxury hotels Shangri-La (shangri-la.com) and Grand Hyatt (taipei.grand.hyatt.com) are within spitting distance of Taipei 101 (taipei-101.com.tw*), the second tallest skyscraper in the world—first place goes to the Burj Dubai. Taipei 101 features lovely food court restaurants on its lower floors (buy traditional Taiwanese goodies as souvenirs) and take in views from the observation level. Be sure to stop at Eslite Books (eslitebooks.com*) for their massive assortment of art house memorabilia. Eslite Books is the only store where you can listen before buying, so check out the indie/alt-rock band Sodagreen, whose lead singer is rumored to be gay.

Begin your day with ancient culture and history at The National Palace Museum (www.npm.gov.tw), boasting a massive collection of five centuries worth of Chinese art and artifacts, including items from Beijing’s Forbidden City. Explore the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (www.cksmh.gov.tw), and get spiritual at Longshan Temple (lungshan.org.tw*) or Xingtian Temple (taiwan.net.tw), the latter of which teems with fortunetellers. Next, go modern at the Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (www.mocataipei.org.tw) and Taipei Fine Arts Museum (tfam.museum*), which was occupied by bizarre multimedia works like a robot panhandler during the recent Taipei Biennial.

Now for the gay stuff: Take the MRT to the Taipower Building stop and walk to the LGBT bookshop GinGin’s (ginginbooks.com*) where magazines published across Asia, CDs by queer artists, clothing (like bear and monkey T-shirts), and no shortage of Pride paraphernalia await. Across the street is the equally queer Hours Café (utopia-asia.com) popular with both locals and expats of all ages/genders, and a lesbian-owned gift and clothing store Love Boat (utopia-asia.com).

Lesbians are quite visible. In fact, their public openness makes discreet gay males envious. Typically, Taiwanese lesbians break down into two types: the “T” which stands for “Tomboy” and “P” which stands for “Pwo” (pronounced “pw-oah”) meaning “wife.” The tomboys gender-bend to an FTM extreme. Many bind their breasts, “so we better fit boys’ clothing,” I was told over brunch. Lesbian bar/club Esha (utopia-asia.com) is a hotspot for young Ts and their would-be Ps, though The Jailhouse (utopia-asia.com) attracts a few gay male revelers.

Gay males savor many nightlife options. Funky (utopia-asia.com), Taipei’s oldest gay disco, swells with pretty young locals. Fresh (fresh-taipei.com) skews young and is popular with the “rice and potato” set (Asians who like Westerners, and vice-versa). Muscle boys and admirers magnet to WeHo/Chelsea-style dance club Jump (club-jump.com). M Club (www.mclub-taipei.com.tw) aims for glowing modern urban ambiance, while bears and monkeys sing the night away at karaoke bar Base (utopia-asia.com).

A culinary tour of Taiwan should begin with Beef Noodle Soup. I sampled four restaurants’ interpretations but found the soup at Grand Hyatt’s Cheers (taipei.grand.hyatt.com), comparatively pricey at $11, the best thanks to a rich broth, lean tender meat and a tray of condiments. Of course, you must stroll through the aforementioned Shilin night market to graze on a mind-boggling array of street food. The adventurous should try pungent stinky tofu and skewered duck heads. Less adventurous? Cherry tomatoes, rice cakes and fried wild mushrooms.

After running around, indulge in a foot massage. The kneading itself is painful (some say excruciating), but you’ll enjoy the relaxation afterwards. Plenty of no-frills parlors litter street markets—a 40-minute massage typically costs $15—but 6 Foot Massage Center (footmassage.com.tw) provides higher-end spa surroundings and service for a slight markup in price. I also visited a gay-owned men-only spa So Young (www.soyoungmenspa.com.tw), in Ximending. It was beautifully designed, and my full body massage (with shower before and after) included a tray full of light snacks and tea.

* Use Google translation to view English version of each Web site.

Lost in Translation: Getting Around

The Taiwanese are friendly, but the same can’t be said of the language barrier. English is learned at a young age and plenty of locals can speak a little, but you won’t find much written English around here. When Chinese is translated into written English, it’s often done so phonetically, and a street, business or someone’s name can be spelled differently. For example, you might find slight variations on some of the places listed here in other articles and guidebooks. Adding to the confusion is the fact streets break down into numbered lanes, a system that can be difficult to figure out. The best strategy is to always have several business cards for your hotel handy (complete with directions for taxi drivers), a phone number for the destination you’re trying to reach and a map with both Chinese characters and English spellings.