Taiwan Today
Date: April 29, 2016
The opening of more and more design hotels in Taipei City’s Ximending is putting a new face
Ximending in Taipei City is transforming into a first-choice destination for travelers from across Asia. (Staff photo/ Huang Chung-hsin)
on the former commercial center Wanhua District while raising Taiwan’s profile as a must-visit destination for tourists from across Asia.
These eye-catching and stylish accommodation facilities have increased from 60 to 104 over the past four years on the back of rising numbers of visitors from Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, Thailand and mainland China. This influx of arrivals is spurring economic activity and investment in western Taipei, which declined in popularity over the past 20 years as the eastern part of the city attracted trendy restaurants and retailers.
Kang Dong-hwan, 22, a student from Pukyong National University in the South Korean port city of Busan, said he chose to stay in Ximindeng on the strength of its cultural attractions like The Red House, a 108-year-old Western-style red-brick octagonal structure doubling as a cultural and creative industry market bazaar; cinemas; coffee shops; food stalls; tea houses; and convenient central location.
“All the accommodation and travel websites give Ximending top ratings,” he said. “A lot of my friends also recommended the area as one of the best places to get a real taste of Taipei and Taiwan hospitality.”
WOW Hostel Ximen is one of the many accommodation facilities regularly frequented by overseas tourists. Once a commercial space, the hostel’s fashionable design is complemented by an evening soundtrack of live music from a club on the next floor down nowhere older singers belt out popular Taiwan tunes from the 1930s and 1940s. [FULL STORY]
