Tuck these souvenirs in your suitcase.
When you visit Taipei for the Rotary International Convention in June, you’ll be able to explore the city’s vibrant “old streets,” admire thousands of years’ worth of Chinese art and artifacts, and eat your way through night markets — but these experiences can be hard to tote home in your suitcase. Luckily the island also produces an array of mementos that will help you remember your stay. If you haven’t registered yet, you can still get a preregistration discount through March 31. Then check out our shopping guide to plan your Taiwan souvenir strategy.
— Monica Eng
- Tea
Taipei brims with hundreds of teahouses, tea shops, and market vendors proffering locally grown oolong varieties including light, creamy high mountain, or honey-toned oriental beauty. Proprietors are often happy to let prospective buyers try the teas before purchasing as part of a delightful tea ceremony.
- Pineapple cakes
These ubiquitous pastries are filled with sweet and tangy pineapple jelly and wrapped in a shortbread-like dough. They’re individually portioned, making them an ideal souvenir to share with folks back home. Like a lot of Asian gifts, the cakes represent success and fortune; in the Hokkien dialect, the word for pineapple (ong lai) sounds like “prosperity arrives”.
- Kuai Kuai snacks
These crispy coconut-flavored puffs offer a mild flavour but bold promises to protect your technology — or at least that’s the superstition behind Kuai Kuai, which sounds like the words “be good” or “behave.” “I don’t know if it really works, but when I was at IBM in Taipei our tech department kept a bag next to the mainframe,” says Michael Tung-Mao Tseng, a member of the Rotary Club of Taipei Prosperity. Find them at most 7-Elevens and FamilyMarts.
- Latest tech
While you probably aren’t going to take home one of Taiwan’s famous processing chips, you can check out some of the latest and trendiest tech products including accessories for phones, audio, and video making. One place to look: the Guanghua Digital Plaza, which has six storeys of electronics.
- Jade
You’ll find art and jewellery made from this precious mineral all over Taiwan, including at the National Palace Museum. There, among the museum’s nearly 700,000 pieces, visitors flock to view a Chinese cabbage carved from green and white jadeite, a stone some believe to have healing and protective properties. Look for your own treasures at the weekend Jianguo Holiday Jade Market in the Da’an district.
- Dried herbs, fruits and candy
Taipei is full of shops selling herbal remedy blends as well as dried fruits and nuts, some of which you can take home. Wander along Dihua Street, one of Taipei’s old streets, in the Dadaocheng neighbourhood for an abundance of dried goods sellers.
- Gaji market totes
These popular mesh shopping bags — classically in red, blue, and green — make an affordable gift and come in an array of sizes, even one for water bottles. They’re available at gift shops around the city including on Dihua Street.
- Dumpling-themed gifts
Xiao long bao (soup dumplings) originated in China, and it was the Taiwanese chain Din Tai Fung that brought them international renown. You can remember this delicious dish when you’re back home as the dumpling motif shows up in housewares, toys, jewellery, clothes and art, both at Din Tai Fung restaurant gift shops and all over the island.
- Anime toys
Figurines and toys based on manga or anime characters are sold from gachapon (toy vending machines), shops, and in malls across Taipei. Some come obscured in boxes that keep the toy a mystery until opening. You’ll find the greatest selection at the Taipei City Mall, which stretches for a half-mile underground and makes for great rainy day and comparison shopping with dozens of anime shops in one place.
Register by March 31 for a discounted rate. Scan the QR code or visit convention.rotary.org
©Rotary