By Lauren Mack 

Some 90 minutes by plane from Hong Kong, Taiwan’s capital boasts scenic mountains, the world’s tallest building and delicious food. With a recent hotel construction boom and a new president-elect who plans to relax travel restrictions on mainland travelers, the island has blossomed into a major tourism destination. NEWSWEEK’s Lauren Mack shares her favorite places to eat, drink, explore and relax.

EAT at Din Tai Fung. While they are famous for Shanghainese-style dumplings, this restaurant is an institution in Taipei. With three restaurants in Taipei and locations in nine countries, the original on Xinyi Road has a steady line out front. Try their famous xiaolongbao (soup dumplings) and traditional chicken soup (194 Xinyi Road, Section 2, Da-an district, 2321-8928, www.dintaifung.com.tw). Head to Tainan Tan Tsu Mian, which is famous for its noodles - some of the most expensive in Taipei (31 Huaxi Street, Wanhua district, 2308-1123).

You haven’t fully experienced Taiwan unless you’ve eaten at one of its night markets. Take a stroll through Shilin Night Market, Taipei’s largest and rowdiest night market. Its maze of food stalls sell Taiwanese delicacies like azaijian (oyster pancakes), chou dofu (stinky tofu) and cua bing (shaved ice with fruit) which are all worth a try. Carnival games, people watching and vendors hawking everything from clothes to souvenirs round out the experience (60 Jihe Road, Shilin district).

DRINK at Post 49 Bar & Grill. Once home to the US Naval Fleet Reserve Association and later Post 49 of the American Legion, Post 49 Bar & Grill is a long-beloved watering hole in Taipei’s Tianmu area. The complex includes a restaurant and bar serving western fare and micro-brewed German beer and karaoke lounge (No. 11, Lane 35, Zhongshan North Road, Section 6, Shilin district, 2835-6491, www.posthome1.com). For live jazz, head to Brown Sugar Jazz Club and Restaurant. Local and international musicians perform Latin, fusion, Dixieland and funk nightly (101 Songren Road, Xinyi district, 8780-1110, www.brownsugar.com.tw).

EXPLORE the National Palace Museum, home to one of the world's largest collections of Chinese art, with more than 600,000 artifacts including ceramics, jade, paintings, calligraphy, books and documents. Much of the collection-including the famous carved jadeite cabbage-was secretly shipped in crates to Taiwan before the Nationalists fled from mainland China in 1949 (221 Zhishan Road, Shilin district, Section 2, 2881-2021, www.npm.gov.tw, Tickets NT$160).

Stop by National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall (formerly called Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall), a white marble hall with a large statue of the former general and leader of the Republic of China. Check out the museum that showcases, among other things, Chiang’s bulletproof Cadillac (21 Zhongshan Nan Lu, Zhongzheng district, 2343-1100, www.cksmh.gov.tw). While you’re paying homage to famous historical figures, hop on the subway and visit the National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall and pay your respects to the ‘father of modern China’ (505 Renai Road, Section 4, 2758-8008, www.yatsen.gov.tw).

Go to the top of Taipei 101, currently the world's tallest building. At 508 meters and 101 stories, it also boasts the world's fastest elevators, which take only 37 seconds to get from bottom to top. Designed to look like a bamboo stalk, there is an indoor observatory on the 89th floor and an outdoor observatory on the 91st floor. The building also holds the record for having the world’s largest and heaviest exposed wind damper which dangles from the 87th to 92nd floors. There’s also a mall in the bottom of the building (7 Xinyi Road, Xinyi district, Section 5, 8101-8899, taipei-101.com.tw, Tickets NT$400/adult, NT$370/child).

BUY souvenirs at the Taiwan Handicraft Promotion Center, a one-stop, government-run shop with reasonably priced porcelain, jade, jewelry, clothes and bric a brac (1 Xu Zhou Road, Zhongzheng district, 2393-3655, www.handicraft.org.tw).
 
RIDE the new Maokong Gondola to Maokong, a 3km-long valley located atop the hills of the Muzha Tea Plantation in the southern part of the city. Stop for a cup of Maokong’s specialty tie guanyin, an oolong tea, at one of the dozens of teahouses dotting the mountain landscape (8 Xinguang Road, Section 2, Wenshan district, 2181-2345, http://gondola.trtc.com.tw, Tickets NT$50/adults one way NT$25/child one way).

SOAK in the sulfur hot springs in Beitou, in the city’s north. Guests can take a dip for a few hours or spend the night. I-Tsun has spacious and modern Western and Japanese-style rooms with large private hot springs baths (140 Wenchuan Road, Beitou district, 2891-2121). Whispering Pine Inn has tatami rooms and Western-style rooms with en-suite stone sulfur carbonate hot spring baths (21 Yo Ya Road, Beitou district, 2895-1531). For the ultimate indulgence, visit Villa 32 which boasts European and Japanese-style suites with private hot springs and communal outdoor sulfur springs (32 Zhongshan Road, Beitou district, 6611-8888, www.villa32.com, Rooms NT$16,000-NT$25,000). Top off your bubbly soak with a foot massage. Either get one at the hot springs or look for storefronts throughout Taipei with a picture of two feet. A basic rubdown should run about NT$800-NT$1,000. Ahhh.