For Beijing-style cuisine, try Celestial, a well-known spot at 1 Nanking West Road (2nd-4th floors, 2563-2171), where shredded pork with vegetables costs NT$200 ($6.45), beef with scallions NT$220 ($7), green onion cake NT$25 (80¢), and dumplings only NT$12 (40¢) each.

For Hunan food, try Charming Garden, 16 Nanking East Road, Section 1 (2521-4131), for its famously spicy dishes; and for Cantonese, Ya Yuen Seafood Restaurant, 26 Changchun Street, 2nd floor (2543-5513), where deep-fried grouper balls with pickle sauce run NT$190 ($6.10), as does sauteed shredded pork with vegetables. Elsewhere, Mongolian barbecue, a wonderful do-it-yourself process, can be had at Tan Kung, 283 Sungchiang Road, 2nd floor (2502-6762), featuring all you can eat for NT$299 ($9.65). You pick the raw ingredients at a bar (English-language signs denote pork, beef, lamb, veal, and vegetables), which are then cooked for you.

Chinese culture

As we said earlier, perhaps the most important reason to visit Taiwan is the National Palace Museum, containing the single best collection of Chinese art in the world. Brought from Beijing just before the Communists captured it in 1949, these works of art are from the Forbidden City and were once the property of the emperors of China. There are excellent guided audio tours in English, with good English booklets and maps at the information desk to the left, just inside the entrance, as well as English-language tours at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Admission: NT$80 ($2.50). Take buses 255 or 304 to reach the famous museum.

And bear in mind that frequently changing exhibits of Chinese art are also presented at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 181 Chung Shan North Road, Section 3 (2595-7656), and at the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Cultural Center, 54 Nanhai Road, Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from noon to 6.

At the National Fu Hsing Dramatic Arts Academy, you can see a Chinese opera such as the Drama of the White Snake following an explanatory film in English every Monday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The cost is NT$400 ($12.90). You get to the academy, at 177 Neihu Road, Section 2, by taxi, about NT$200 ($6.45) from downtown Taipei, or by city bus 247 or 287 from the main railway station.

You can try to learn Mandarin Chinese in private lessons at NT$350 per hour ($11.30) or in small groups at NT$200 per hour ($6.45) starting every Monday or Tuesday at My School, 126-8 Hsin Sheng South Road, Section 1, 2nd floor (2321-7826, fax 2394-5750).

Evening entertainment

On a recent visit, no fewer than four venues -- -the National Theatre, National Concert Hall, Recital Hall, and Experimental Theater -- presented 64 different events in music and dance over a one-month period, ranging from Taiwanese opera to the Philadelphia Orchestra to the Zen Dance Theatre to a "Gala Concert for Flutes." And there are night tours of Taipei offered by Edison Travel (2563-5313) for a reasonable NT$1,200 ($38.80), considering that the price includes a full Mongolian barbecue dinner, visits to the Lungshan Temple and the Hwahsi Night Market, and a night view from atop the Taipei Observatory.

Side trips

If you have the extra time, you might enjoy a day trip from Taipei to Danshuei, a typical small Taiwanese village full of history, to the northwest of the capital, on the ocean. It can be reached easily in about 40 minutes on the MRT rail system from Taipei's main station, and trains run every six to eight minutes. A second day trip might be to Sanshia, just one hour south of Taipei, where an army of artists and construction workers has for years been rebuilding the Sanshia Tzushr Temple in traditional style, the work still not quite finished but dramatic enough to make this trip worthwhile. Also an hour away, at Lungtan, is "Window on China," the second-largest collection of miniature structures in the world (after Holland's Madurodam), displaying famous sites from all over the world, including China's Great Wall and Forbidden City. The best public transport here is by the Taiwan Bus Company, departing frequently from the Far Eastern Department Store on Paoching Road or on Gueiyang Street near Soochow University's downtown campus. Simply scanning the street scene is an endless source of fascination.

The area code for Taiwan is 886, and the city code for Taipei is 2. To reach any Taipei number from the United States, dial 011-886-2, then the numbers we've listed.

The rate of exchange inthis article is NY$31 to one U.S .dollar.