Cheaper hotel rates and delicious street food made Taipei the most affordable city in Asia to visit in the second half of this year, a travel trend analysis conducted by Leisure and Travel magazine and the Web site Kayak.com showed.
Taipei and nine other Asian cities were selected as affordable travel destinations based on “average round-trip economy airfare” and “the average rate of a one-night stay in a standard double hotel room,” they said.
The results of their analysis, published on Wednesday last week, showed that the average cost of a round-trip flight and one night at a hotel in Taipei was US$1,141.
Photo: Ge You-hao, Taipei Times
“You can find highly rated hotels for under US$100 per night; many recent travelers to Taipei on Reddit report that they were able to find nice, but simple hotel rooms for US$45 a night, along with plenty of amazing street food like xiao long bao (Chinese steamed dumplings), bubble tea and mango shaved ice,” they said.
The city’s many night markets are a great place to find cheap eats and souvenirs, they added.
“If Taiwan’s beef noodle soup and pineapple cake are calling your name, now is the time to book,” they said.
Taipei was followed by Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta, with a round-trip flight and one-night stay costing US$1,452 and US$1,478 respectively, the analysis showed.
The other affordable travel destinations in Asia were New Delhi, Bangkok, Manila, Tokyo, Kuala Lumpur, Hanoi and Osaka.
Kayak.com consumer travel trends expert Kayla Inserra DeLoache advised travelers to plan their trips during the “shoulder season” from October to November, when they can save up to 12 percent on flights compared with the peak travel season from May to July.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
US President Donald Trump on Friday said that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) told him China would not invade Taiwan while Trump is in office. Trump made the remarks in an interview with Fox News, ahead of talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “I will tell you, you know, you have a very similar thing with President Xi of China and Taiwan, but I don’t believe there’s any way it’s going to happen as long as I’m here. We’ll see,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News’ Special Report. “He told me: ‘I will never do
RSS