13th EAST ASIA REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2023 IN TAIWAN. May I have more info, please…?
Dear ITP Eagles and Friends,
In a month’s time, we will see each other in the beautiful bustling city of Taipei. We are so excited for this gathering and we look forward to walking the streets of Taipei with you. Here are additional information to add to the first two info packs …
A. TRAVEL FROM AIRPORT TO TAIPEI CITY
1. AIRPORT RUN
We did not arrange for an airport pick-up service. Details on how to go from airport to the city proper via Airport Train was explained extensively on our previous Info pack. We will be providing a simpler instruction guide below on travel from airport to the city main for all options. Map and directions to the conference venue will be posted on our next Info Pack.
2. TRAVEL FROM AIRPORT TO CITY CENTER
There are several ways to travel from Taipei Taoyuan Airport to Taipei City Centre or downtown area. Your choice of transport is going to depend on your budget and your arrival time at the airport.
a. AIRPORT TRAIN
The airport train from Taipei Taoyuan Airport to Taiwan Main Station is a good and fast travel option to go to the city. From the main terminal just purchase a ticket and board the train and it will bring you right away to Taipei Main Station in as fast as 35-50 minutes, depending on the type of Train you will be riding on – Express Train or Commuter Train. The Express Train or Purple Train is faster but a bit more pricey. It will only stop at around 5 stations while the Commuter Train, which is cheaper, stops at around 10 stations. Before boarding the train, please check if it is a Purple Express Train or a Blue Commuter Train. From Terminal 1 , the Express Train takes 35 minutes to arrive at Taipei Main Station and the Commuter train takes 50 minutes.
From the Taipei Main Station, you can then take the citywide MRT system to the direction of your accommodation. Sadly, the train service does not operate 24 hours. This means if you’re arriving late or departing early, you simply cannot use this service. Here is the timetable of train service:
Departs Taiwan Main Station: 06:00am – 23:00 (11pm)
Departs Taiwan Airport: 06:05am – 23:35 (11:35pm)
Ticket Price of Airport Train is NT$160 (Pesos 288) Single Trip. The price is the same for both Express and Commuter Trains.
b. AIRPORT BUS
Airport Bus is the cheapest way to go from Taipei Taoyuan Airport to Taipei City Centre, but it has it’s set of challenges. The first challenge is in figuring out which bus number to choose. This will all depend on where you want to be dropped off. If you want to be dropped off in the Taipei 101 vicinity, then you must take the Citi Air Bus # 1960. Last bus travels at 1:05am. They normally travel on time and will not wait for passengers. Bus fare is at NT$145 (Pesos 261). If you want to be dropped off at the Taipei Main Railway Station, you must take Bus #1819. Bus fare for #1819 is NT$135 (Pesos 243).
There are a wide range of other buses that are available. Please stick to the above-mentioned bus #’s so as not to confuse you. You are good with these bus options. If your flight arrives after 1am then you just take the #1819 bus to Taiwan Main Station. From the station, you can take a taxi, an MRT train or simply walk to your hotel, if it’s nearby. A map will be provided to all participants to better orient you on the location.
1) PURCHASING BUS TICKET: If you continue to follow the signs for Bus to City, you will find your way to the bus ticket counters. It is here where you can buy bus tickets to Taipei and other destinations in Taiwan. Just outside the doors from the ticket counters are the bus stops. Since most of you are arriving via Air Asia at around 1am and Cebu Pacific at 2am, then the only transport choice that you have is BUS #1819. At the airport, the information board listed Bus #1819 as only running once per hour between 1:50 AM and 5:50 AM. Otherwise, the bus runs every 15 to 20 minutes. Tickets for Bus #1819 can be purchased at the Ticket Counter. The cost is NT$135 or about Pesos 243 for a single journey. You can also purchase tickets when boarding the bus, but no change will be given. With ticket in hand, you may now go directly to the bus. IN the bus parking bay, you will see the sign Kuo-kuang – Bus 1819: Taipei Main Station. This is where you will board Bus #1819. From here you may either walk, take an MRT train or take a taxi to go to your chosen hotel or accommodation.
2) BUS RIDE: If you have any luggage, it will need to be stored in the cargo area below the bus. On the bus, seats are first-come, first-serve. All seats are open with no assigned seats, so sit wherever you want. Since Taipei Main Station is our final destination, remain on the bus until the last stop. Seats have USB slots for you to charge your mobile phones. About one hour after leaving Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Bus 1819 will arrive at Kuo-Kuang Bus Taipei Terminal, adjacent to Taipei Main Station. From here you may either walk, ride an MRT train or take a taxi to go to your chosen hotel or accommodation..
Conclusion … one of the best, cheapest and easiest ways to reach Taipei Main Station from Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport (TPE) is by using Bus #1819. The journey, which takes about one hour, is inexpensive and comfortable.
c. AIRPORT TAXI
Taxicab is the fastest and more convenient way to travel from Taipei Airport to Taipei City Centre. The fare will be around NT$1200 (Pesos 2,163.00) with a travel time of around 45 minutes from the terminal to your hotel in the city. You will be charged on the amount indicated on the meter + 50% and toll fees. This is an expensive way to travel but the most comfortable.
3. AIRPORT HELP ASSISTANCE
If you get lost or have any questions about the airport bus, the Taoyuan Airport Train, or anything else, then you can stop by the Airport Tourist Service Center and ask for assistance.
B. DOWNTOWN/ CITY CENTER TRAVEL
There are free maps of the city of Taipei … on the airport or in the hotels. We advise that you get one and carry it with you always to provide you with a good view of the various locations where you plan to go and visit. We will try to have a copy printed in the conference manual too.
We will be discussing at the next Info Pack the Pre and Post Conference activities – optional tours to important sites and possible participation to ministries. Missionaries in Training (Access 2 Trainees) will follow an itinerary set by our ACCESS 2 EVALUATORS team. The rest will have their options open to any trips or activities in and out of the city. We will be presenting suggestions on good places to go to and activities to do while in Taiwan at our next posting.
GOING AROUND TAIPEI
1. MRT TRAINS: The best way to get around Taipei is to use the MRT– Metro Taipei Train system. Six major routes will bring you to the almost all the cities and districts in Taipei County. Unlike the MRT’s in Metro Manila, the trains here are new, quick, efficient and punctual. Waiting periods per train can range from as little as 2 minutes during peak times to as much as 15 minutes during off-peak times. The MRT is a typical light rail system, most of which is underground (a subway), but it also includes some areas raised above the road (like our own LRT’s & MRT’s) and the northern end of the Tamsui (red) line runs along the ground like a traditional train, but (unlike our Manila train system) all are connected as one system. Costs and Discount Tickets Fares start at NT20 (Pesos 35) between adjacent stations, and a one-hour journey right through Taipei from Xindian (mountains south of Taipei) to Tamsui (harbour north of Taipei) costs 65NT (Pesos 115). There are MRT maps available in each stations to help you figure out the line colors that will go to the station of your destination.
2. CITY BUSES: If you’re in for a little adventure, take the bus to get around Taipei. The good thing is these aren’t the buses many tourists will liken to the dirty, questionable buses from back home. Buses in Taipei are clean, new, comfortable and sometimes a preferred way to get to where you’re going. You may need to be assisted in the beginning for you to get the hang of travelling around the city by bus. We will ask our Taiwan hosts to brief you on how to go from point to point by bus. At the right times Taipei’s bus system can beat the MRT for price and efficiency, and it’s usually possible to get from anywhere to anywhere quite directly, without needing to walk up and down the stairs. Pointers in riding the bus:
EXACT CHANGE: Buses don’t give back the change. It’s almost always 15NT (Pesos 25). If you have a bigger bill have it changed first at the convenience store before you get on the bus. Or even easier, just use your Easycard (explained below) , in which cases use of buses on either side of the MRT is half price.
CHECK WHEN TO PAY: A sign above the driver will instruct whether to pay when getting on or off. If the lighted sign is 上 = pay when you board the bus but if the lighted sign is 下 = pay when you get off the bus.
3. TAXIS: Taxi services in Taipei are reasonable, plentiful and heralded as honest. Meter flag down starts at 70NT (Pesos 125), and a short trip to or from the nearest MRT stop is unlikely to cost much more than 100NT (Pesos P175) . If you are travelling as a group or are just under time pressure, taxi is a good option to use in going around Taipei.
WARNING: Unless you have a Chinese speaker present or on the phone, never get into a taxi without the address you want to go to written in Chinese, or on a tablet or smartphone. Here’s why: Few taxi drivers in Taiwan speak English, and because Chinese is a tonal language, a non-Chinese speaker attempting to read Chinese phonetically won’t make any sense to anyone, and a taxi driver probably won’t even realize the person is trying to speak Chinese. Most Taiwanese will not recognize street names or addresses written in English. If you try to pronounce the place or street to your driver and he brings you to a different location, most likely it is your fault for not having the complete address written down in Chinese for him. If you are staying in a hotel, make sure to get a hotel card and bring it with you always. So when you need to use a taxi, you could just show the card to the driver and he’ll bring you to your hotel directly.
Metro Easy card : Since most of us will be staying for a week in Taipei, we suggest that you purchase a prepaid Metro Easy card (like our BEEP Card in Manila) for NT$500 (Pesos880) , comprising NT$100 (Pesos180) refundable deposit and NT$400 (Pesos700) stored value which is more than sufficient for a week-long stay. The Easycard can also be used on most buses and helps you save up to 20% of single trip fares. On the last day of your trip, you can get a refund on your deposit and unused stored value from any ticket office in the metro station, minus a nominal NT$20 (Pesos 35) administrative fee. Do check out those who were at our East Asia Conference last March and will not be able to join this event, if they have kept their Easycards and be willing to lend it to those joining this conference.
C. WEATHER SITUATION
Our conference dates (March – April) signal the end of Winter and the start of Spring season. It is the time when the cherry blossoms are in full view. It is considered as a great time of the year as the weather is pleasant and cool. Average low and high temperatures are 17*C and 24*C. You may want to bring a small folding umbrella, in case it rain, but please be sure to put it inside your check in baggage. The airport authorities may confiscate it if found in your hand carry bag.
D. ACCOMODATIONS (CONFERENCE PARTICIPANTS):
Conference participants are responsible for their own lodging. For this conference we could choose our own accommodation based on our budget and preference. We have requested our Taiwan team to look around for possible free hosting accommodations like what we got in our past conference. As soon as we get confirmation from them, we will inform all of you right away. So far, our Taiwan host have offered his church for free on a bunk style accommodation.. We will request the other churches who accommodated a big number of our missionaries on our previous conferences to consider hosting again for this event. Our office staff will be coordinating with your GMC leaders as soon as they receive news or accommodation status updates .
Should you decide to stay in the hotel where the conference will be held (Chientan Youth Hotel) , please get in touch with our office team for assistance. The hotel is ranked 3 stars so you could expect room rates to be in that category. You may check the rates and book directly at the online booking sites. The hotel is offering though discounts for conference participants that you may want to take advantage of. . You could avail of the discounted rate if you book directly at the hotel through our office.
The hotels in Downtown Taipei don’t come cheap specially those closer to the well-known tour sites. Listed below are short lists of hotels around the venue that we gathered from Agoda booking site that are reasonably priced. There are literally hundreds more of lodging options available for you to choose from. A big number of missionaries who were with us during our East Asia Conference are somewhat familiar already with good and budget friendly accommodation options. You may consult them directly. We will announce the names of those who could assist in searching for the best place to stay in the area.
Below is. a small list of budget hotels that offer better priced accommodations and are ideally located to places you will be visiting including the conference venue. Prices would range from P700 + to P1400 per days stay. If you prefer to stay in private rooms, there are hundreds of hotels available to choose from in the booking sites with a wide range of prices depending on the category of the hotel.
1) TAIPEI MAIN STATION AREA 1. Backpackers Inn Taipei (Dorm Style) 2. Pillow Hostel, 2persons (Dorm Style) 3. Angels Hostel Taipei Ximen 4. Space Inn Hengyang Branch 5. Here There Hostel Taipei 6. Neosoho Cabin 7.Cheers Boutique Hotel 8.Easymind Guesthouse Taipei Main Station (Dorm Style),8. May Rooms Taipei Main Station (Dorm Type) … many more options are available
2) XIMENDING AREA 1. Ximen Corner Hostel, (Dorm Style) 2. Ximen Wow Hostel, (Dorm Style) 3. Fun Inn Taipei., (Dorm Style) 4.One Plus One Hotel, 5.Holiday Fun Hostel 6.Inn Cube Ximen 7.Cheers Hotel, 8.Backpackers Hostel Ximen 9. Meander Taipei Hostel, 10. Next Taipei Hostel-Ximending. … many more options available.
3) XIAONANMEN AREA 1. Ximen 4min Reasonable priced Studio Apartment 2. Fun Inn Taipei, (Dorm Style) 3. Backpackers Hostel, (Bunk Bed) 4. King LeiLei Hotel Double Bed 5. Easy Stay Guest House, Double Bed … many more options available.
4) CHANG KAI SHEK MEMORIAL HALL AREA 1. SleepBox Hostel (Dorm Style), 2. CarRy Hotel, 3. SanYon Hotel, … many more options available.
5) Other City Centre locations: 1. Beimen WOW Poshtel (Dorm style) 2.NK Hostel (Dorm Type). 3.Life is a Box of Chocolates (Dorm type) 4.Formosa 101 (Dorm Type) 5.Taipei Discover Hotel (Dorm Type) 6. Taiwan Youth Hostel & Capsule Hotel (Dorm/ Capsule types) 7.CU Hotel Taipei (Dorm Type) 8.Starbox Hostel (dorm type) …many more options available.
Hostelworld.com is the preferred booking site for budget, backpackers, dorm type style accommodations.
Hotels located in other districts offer cheaper rates. The Ximending, Xiananmen, and Chaing Kai Shek areas enable you to just walk from your hotel to several famous sites in Taipei including the famous Ximen Youth Shopping District. That is why the rates in this location are a little bit pricey as compared to other areas. Rates does not include hotel taxes yet. Most of the hotels listed are in the Taipei Central area. The Taipei Main Station is where most of us will alight coming from the airport while the Ximending area is where our past conference venue (Taipei Hero House) is located. It is right where the Ximen Youth Shopping District is and walking distance to the National Museum, The Presidential Palace, the Chiang Kai Shek Hall etc … From XIMEN STATION, the next MRT train station stop is the XIAONANMEN STATION, then the 3rd station is right in CHIANG KAI SHEK MEMORIAL HALL. Another area to consider is the JIANTAN STATION area which is situated in the SHILIN District where the well-known SHILIN NIGHT MARKET is located. The area location has budget accommodation options as well. It is the closest to the conference venue. You may want to check first in the map the proximity of the hotel to our actual conference venue. We advise that you evaluate each hotel at their respective websites before you make your decision. Go to google and simply type the name of the hotel and you will be directed to their sites. Room bookings can be done online directly at their websites or at hotel booking sites like Booking.Com, Agoda.Com, TripAdvisor.com, Hostelworld.com, etc …
There are also many accommodation options available ranging from 4 stars to 5-stars hotels that you could check out in the booking sites.
If you’ll still have a difficult time locating a place to stay in during the conference, you may join the group that will be assisted by our office team. We are still working on arrangements for us to use rented (AirBnb) apartments or homes where we could have groups stay in the same place. Our Taiwan team is still on the lookout for additional church and dormitory options aside from our host’s church that was already made available for us.
E. ACCOMMODATIONS (ACCESS 2 TRAINEES):
ACCESS 2 TRAINING which will run from APRIL 2 to APRIL 5 will be held in a different location. We have chosen for our ACCESS training venue a beautiful University, the CHRIST COLLEGE TAIPEI, which offers training venue with dorm type accommodations at reasonably priced, low student cost. We are finalizing the bookings so as to accommodate as many trainees as possible. There are 180 beds made available for our use. If we go beyond that number, some of the trainees will have to avail of accommodations in the nearby areas. We will be discussing this in great length on our next Info Pack. It is. a beautiful university that is far from the noise of the city and provides a wonderful spiritual retreat atmosphere for all participants.
We believe that the serenity of the place will help heighten everyone’s experience of God’s presence with the hope that heavenly blessings and revelations will flow abundantly for all.
That’s it for now !! Another info pack, the final one, will be posted a few days before departure .
Please be sure to have printed copies of the Info Packs in your possession and read and re -read each item.
Looking forward to walking with you in the exciting streets of Taiwan…
Blessings,
Ptr Gani Sison