Maokong is a peaceful village on the top of the mountains providing a scenic view of Taipei.
How to go to Maokong from Ximen
To go to Maokong you can ride Maokong Gondola is located at Wenshan District in Taipei. It was about 30 minutes from Ximen station to Taipei Zoo. From the Banaan Line we transferred to Zhonghe-Xinliu Line, we hopped into the Zhongxiao-Fuxing, one of the busy station in Taipei. We walked to the Taipei Zoo Station and lined up for the five-stage gondola system. We used our e-card for the entrance. It has 5 stops, but you can only go down at the Taipei South Zoo Station, Zhinan Temple Station and the Maokong Station. The whole journey to the last station is about 20-30 minutes. The gondola closes when the wind gust reaches 18 m/s and if there’s a typhoon or earthquake.
Maokong
We went up to the Maokong Gondola station, and there were tea and milkshake and other restaurants to eat. Street foods also lined up the street going towards the different temple. Maokong village is the best place to have tea.
The Zhinan Temple is located at the 4th Station. There other temples in Maokong like the Buddhist temple and Zhangshan temple. There are different parks in Maokong.
Ximending
The Diary II of Taipei where we stayed is located at Ximen. Ximending is a busy tourist spot where there are so many malls, shops and restaurants located here.
I tried the Black Tomato Steak and Wawa Dolls restaurant.
Black Tomato Steak, the house specialty which was named for the restaurant. I love mine with the black pepper sauce. Every order of their steak comes with unlimited soup, toasted bread, drinks and ice cream.
Wawa Dolls is one of the themed restaurants located at Ximen. You can find different themed restaurants here.
For other posts about Taiwan, please check Yehliu Fishing Village, Taiwan and Taipei City, Taiwan