Is it ok to travel to Taiwan during Chinese New Year period (18th February 2007)?

Question

What kind of clothings we should prepare before going? What other things that we should bring over during the travel? Any other good advices?

Answer 1

It IS a good time to come to see cultural activities- dragon dances, parades, and the coolest thing is the lantern festival display for the island.

BUT...
Expect traffic jams. Big, big big traffic jams.

its the only extended holiday people here get all year.

Many stores will be closed, but that mostly will not effect tourist related stores. Some restaurants MIGHT be shut, but most will remain open. If you are near a tourist site, all services will be open and ready to accept your cash.

All the tourist sites will be jam-packed with travelling taiwanese tour groups.

I recommend NOT going on a tour-bus. There is a lot of scams and the buses often are involved in fatal accidents more often than they should be- many of the smaller mountain roads. Try to make as many arrangements yourself as early as possible. Book hotels in advance. Like now. If you are SURE you want to come.

If you go to Taipei and nowhere else, just stick to the subway, its much more convienient and relaxing than any other transport method here.

Bring some warm clothes and an umbrella. Many places do not heat indoors due to the rest of the year being a sauna. At chinese new year the temperatures can feel chilly.

Go see 101 with everyone else. other places that can be worth seeing even with overcrowding could be YangMingShan park, looking at volcanic vents, the National Palace Museum, the zoo (even if you dont have kids its pretty good) and some of the night markets inside taipei.

You can try and appreciate the beauty of the east coast but as most of taiwan will be travelling there- its likely to not be very beautiful at this time- the traffic will ruin most of the experience for you and the fumes. Taroko park is better appreciated the month before or after chinese new year.

getting to other bits around the island at this time of year- budget extra time. A LOT of extra time.

Bring a bottle to pee in or wear diapers if you leave taipei and brave the highways, you might be in a traffic jam for a while when you get on the freeway and if you are shy about peeing in front of an audience (ie you are female) you may want to consider that option, especially if you are stuck inside a tour bus. (which I have already recommended against)

If you take the train between the sights- book a seat in advance if possible. the advantage of taking the train is that it wont get caught in traffic.

I recommend against taking the 'speed train' to get between cities- it was rushed to finish by some greedy politicians and hasnt completed all the safty requirements, its only open because the lead poisoned morons who run the government here want (dumb) tourists to waste money upon it.

The speed train has many errors in design made due to political interference, and the consumer foundation of taiwan recommends against taking it until those problems have been fixed. perhaps 2 years later it may be safe enough that you would want to risk your life upon it.

I dont mean to sound negative about taiwan, it is beautiful and has alot to offer, but in my experience Chinese New Year is the worst time to travel here if you want to enjoy it.

Try coming during the week on a normal day from November to March excepting the week before CNY, CNY and the week after. If you avoid all that, you should enjoy yourself and be happy.

Answer 2

The onlly problem is that many other people on this island will also be travelling. The peak travel will start on the 17th (Friday night) and continue throughout the weekend. Highways and trins will be VERY crowded. If you are travelling by train, you have to have your tickets now.
Other than that, if you are coming here to travel, Chinese New Year probably won't affect you much, except that some restaurants and stores will be closed for the week.
Chinese New Year is mostly a family holiday. Everyone goes home, and holes themselves up in their house with their parents for a few days.
Don't worry about any special clothes or anything special to bring.

Answer 3

i'm from China.in case you prefer to bypass to China for the time of Our classic new year time,which would be lots of fantastic.maximum shops are nonetheless open on the grounds that's a reliable time for making greater money.and that i think the site visitors is going to be a issue,relies upon on which city you will bypass.and in case you come to GuangZhou or ShenZhen,perhaps i will teach you aroud.hehehehehehe