Now that we are getting very close to our trip to Taiwan to pick up our daughter we are trying to compile a list of tourist places to visit before Gotcha! day and practical locations after.
I am experienced with travel and I can usually get around foreign locations without problems as I make sure to have current maps of the area I am visiting.
My problem I am encountering now is I'm not understanding the logic of Taiwan's road naming and address system. There are several variations of translated names for roads (Some maps will label a road Da-An, Daan or Da An; Jhongsiao or Zhongxiao). Toss in the seemingly endless occurrences of alley's, sections and lanes and I am officially confused.
If anyone knows of a place where I can learn how to navigate using the Taiwan address system I would appreciate some info. I have also made a "Google Maps" pincusion style map that can be edited online. If you know of a good spot to eat, shop or otherwise hang out, feel free to add it to the list. It can be found HERE. If we get enough people sharing I plan on making the map available to anyone adopting from Taiwan.
Added by Sarah at 9:11pm:
I heart Google maps too, Amanda! My innovative husband found us a Google map of the Shilin Night Market that is pretty aewsome. Here's a YouTube video for this night market. Bring on the stinky tofu.
what a fabulous idea! i am sure fellow adoptive families will appreciate this info as they head to taiwan! good luck sorting it all out! :)
ReplyDeleteactually what is avaible online is about the same as what you can see on the street too.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, even at the same intersection the street name's spelling is different on signs right next to each other.
What I can tell you is that Google is great! I heart google's taiwan maps. They've been a lifesaver for me.
And, here is the rest of what I know:
Long roads are broken into sections like of like saying the "500 block" in English when talking about a road. But the sections are a bit longer than blocks. It is actually quite helpful because if you are looking for something on SanDou Sec 4, if you are on SanDou 2 or 3, you know you are close but not close enough.
Lanes typically run perpendicular to the road they are named by. So, SanDou Lu (Rd.) would be the main road and then all the little streets coming of it would be a numbered lane sharing the SanDou Name.
BUT if this lane is long this doesn't make sense eventually. Hence the "typically."
There's quite a bit of organization to the address system in Taipei (and Taiwan in general). I think it was inherited from Japanese colonial rule and it makes it quite easy to navigate once you understand it.
ReplyDeleteThere's a hierarchy and the address is written, in Chinese at least, from large to small. Roads are largest. Streets come off of roads. Lanes come off of either Roads and Streets. Alleys come off of Lanes. Next comes Building Number, Floor and Unit if a floor has several separate units.
Roads and Streets have names. Lanes and Alleys and Buildings have numbers.
An address will contain at least the Street/Road and Building Number. You sometime need a Lane and Nlley and number to find a place that is not on a main road but tucked down an alley. So an address will start with the largest and work down to the smallest needed to navigate into the lanes and alleys. For example Yong Kang Beef Noodle restaurant is Taipei City, Jin Shan South Road, Section 2, Lane 31, number 17. Knowing it goes from large (city) to smallest you should be able to find a place with this: 台北市金山南路2段31巷17號 even if you can't read Chinese. I've seen addresses written as a city, a street and then a series of numbers where the lane, alley, number, floor and unit were just implied by the order they were written in.
North, South, East, West. Streets with North and South in theor names are divided by Zhong Hsiao East/West Road. Streets with East/West are divided by (roughly) Zhong Shan North/South Road
It may take a few practical tries on the ground to get a feel for it.
Kevin
We found it all very confusing while we were there and depended on others to help us navigate!!! We are glad we didn't have to do it alone!!
ReplyDeleteHi Sara, sorry I haven't gotten to Congratulating you on your upcoming TRIP TO TAIWAN! Can't wait to follow along and see you guys with your sweet girl!
ReplyDeleteHi.. I'm a Chinese from Singapore and is able to read traditional chinese characters.. If you need help with translating addresses and such.. You can drop me an email at shirleyhx@hotmail.com or you can also go to traveladvisor.com and ask around for help.. =)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the offer to help, Shir! I do have two addresses that I would like help getting verified. I'll try to e-mail them to you in the next day!
ReplyDeleteSarah and Kevin,
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying watching you guys prepare for the big trip. I am so excited for you both!
Shannon
www.roomformorekiddos.com
ShiLing Night market is famous no doubt. The foods to be had there are awesome.
ReplyDeleteIt was very crowded when I went. Although it is so famous, I'm not quite sure why . . . to me it was very similar to many other night markets.
I also believe that Discovery Channel guy who eats all the weird foods ate at the ShrLing Night market on his Taiwan trip.
Glad you are finding and sharing all these awesome tools.
sure! no problem! =)
ReplyDeleteHi - My family went to Taiwan last year (Nov. 2007). We set up a tour with Goway tours (big touring company). Here's what happened. Day 1 of the 5 day tour, I fell at a Buddhist Temple (near Sun Moon Lake) and broke my leg (tibia AND fibula) - double compound fracture. Huge mess. I needed emergency surgery. It was over a U.S. banking holiday (Veteran's Day), we had our 3 and 5 yr old daughters with us (adopted from China), no one spoke english at the hospital, we needed $3000 cash to pay for the surgery....ALL that said, the guides that Goway Tours contract with in Taipei were WONDERFUL! They completely recast our trip. Got us other hotel accomodations in Puli (where I broke the leg), transportation back to Taipei after I was out of the hospital, a suite at the Grand Formosa back in Taipei....they did everything AND refunded our money for the days of the tour we didn't do. Most importantly, the owner of the tour company interfaced with the hospital staff so we knew what was going on. Bottom line, they really went above and beyond for us. If you want, I can find the Taipei Tour company's name and owner and send it to you. Email me at mklem@comcast.net if you'd like it. The Shilin Market is fun. Don't miss the National Palace Museum. There's also a really nice temple in Taipei we all liked (I can get you the name of that as well). The hotel staff speak very good english. If you know just a little mandarin, you can probably talk to the taxi drivers. I don't know much mandarin but I was able to tell the hospital staff, "my husband as the money" and "Where can I buy a crutches".
ReplyDelete