Gett to Know Shilin: Edu-tainment, Rides and Games, Food, and Mother Nature Outings

TEXT　Rick Charette

PHOTOS　Vision

Shilin District, in Taipei's north, runs from the high mountain slopes of the Yangmingshan massif down to and across a densely developed flatlands area where the Shuang River (Shuangxi) runs into the Keelung River and then the Keelung enters the Tamsui River. Here we're visiting key tourist attractions within easy walking distance of Taipei Metro's Red Line.

We start with two nationally important educational tourist facilities, which is fitting because the name "Shilin" literally means "forest of scholars." It arose in the late Qing Dynasty because a high number of locals were passing the imperial examination.

About 20min on foot northwest of MRT Shilin Station, the mission of the National Taiwan Science Education Center is to spark an interest in applied science among visitors. It targets both adults and youngsters, emphasizing hands-on interactive high-tech displays. The thematic foci include the life, natural, materials, and earth sciences.

Perhaps the attraction with the greatest "must-not-miss" cachet is the thrilling Air Bicycle ride from one end of the facility to the other, 20m up balanced on a steel cable, a live demonstration of the principles of leverage and tension. Another popular draw is the Large Centrifuge, a rotating disc fitting 10 people providing an exciting observable demonstration of the Coriolis force. Also worth visiting is the robot education center.

National Taiwan Science Education Center 國立臺灣科學教育館

🚩189, Shishang Rd., Shilin Dist.

📞(02) 6610-1234

🔗www.ntsec.gov.tw

🕝Tue-Fri 9:00am-5:00pm; Sat-Sun (+summer vacation period) 9:00am-6:00pm

The science center's next-door neighbor, the Taipei Astronomical Museum is a hands-on four-story facility primarily oriented toward young students. Exhibit subjects covered range from the Earth, moon, and ancient astronomy to the solar system and constellations, and on to our galaxy and star formation.

Assuming you don't have days to spend here, you also have to choose from among several highlight adventures. Travel past our solar system's planets in the Cosmic Adventure space pod simulator. During designated Observatory hours, enjoy intimate telescope views of planets and stars. Different celestial bodies are visible during the day and at night. And the Dome Theater and 3D Theater provide spectacular journeys through the skies and heavens.

Taipei Astronomical Museum 臺北市立天文科學教育館

🚩363, Jihe Rd., Shilin Dist.

📞(02) 2831-4551

🔗tam.gov.taipei

🕝Tue-Fri, Sun 9:00am-5:00pm; Sat-Sun 9:00am-6:00pm

Neighbor to the science center and astro museum, the Taipei Children's Amusement Park has less of an educational mission. Its raison d'être, simply put: fun, fun, fun for the sheer joy of fun. Taiwan's largest publicly operated amusement park, spanning 5 hectares, opened in 2014.

The scores upon scores of rides and other amusement options include Large Rides (the main attractions), Small Rides, multiple indoor and outdoor playgrounds, as well as a SNOOPY Play Center!

Among the most in-demand of the 13 different Large Rides are the 40m-high Ferris Wheel, which provides a sweeping vista of the wide Taipei Basin; the Wave Swinger (Radial Flying Chairs, shaped like planets flying around the sun); the Drop Tower, a free-fall ride modeled like a jungle treehouse; and the scream-inducing Magic Star Trek (Roller Coaster).

©Department of Information and Tourism

Most coveted of the Small Rides enticements is the summer-only Aqua Planet, exclusively open during summertime. The waterpark offers an assortment of water-play temptations such as the Ring Tunnel, Tipping Bucket Monsters, and Floating Yo-yos. Also high on the list of must-dos for kids is steering monstrous battle robots and racing mini go-karts around a short track.

Standing out among the indoor fun attractions is the Snoopy Play Center, which has a large ball pit with slides and themed areas featuring diverse and engaging role-playing experiences like a salon, fire truck, police station, dressing room, and market.

Taipei Children's Amusement Park 臺北市立兒童新樂園

🚩55, Sec. 5, Chengde Rd., Shilin Dist.

📞(02) 2833-3823

🔗www.tcap.taipei

🕝Tue-Fri 9:00am-5:00pm; Sat-Sun 9:00am-6:00pm

The three just-introduced destinations are located just before the Shuang River/Keelung River confluence, and Shuangxi Wetland Park awaits you right where these two waterways meet.

Opened just a few years ago, at this eco-friendly hideaway of superb sunsets and photo-magnetic wildlife such as kingfishers and terrapins, you can observe how sedimentation and dense vegetation are used to naturally treat water from the site's Shilin Pumping Station, ultimately flowing into a large eco pool and then out into the river. A "Water Walkway" leads to an observation circle at the pond's center, where the glassy water's surface is – mesmerizingly – at chest height. There's also an elevated boardwalk from which you can see the park from higher up.

Mere steps north of MRT Jiantan Station, the Shilin Night Market has a claim to being both Taiwan's biggest and best. It is one of the most-visited by international tourists. Two of Taipei's other top-tier tourist draws are also just steps away: the imposing futuristic-look Taipei Performing Arts Center, opened in 2022, and the magnificent Chinese palace-style Grand Hotel, a cherished national heritage asset, its original building (in rear) opened in 1952, its main building (in front) opened in 1973.

The sprawling market has two areas. One is the modern-façade Shilin Market building on Jihe Road. The other, with the old Yangming Theater and Cixian Temple as its twin hearts, is a boisterous street-grid market framed by Jihe, Wenlin, Dadong, and Danan roads, narrow old lanes running in between.

This is a grand emporium of carnival-style games, sellers of clothing, souvenirs, and other merchandise, and most importantly, food, food, glorious snack foods in mind-boggling variety. Shilin Market consists of a covered arcade with children's games at ground level and a well-lit basement-level food court, which was recently revamped to optimize the dining space and how visitors move through the market. Elsewhere is a head-spinning serendipitous mix of bricks-and-mortar and vendor-stand entrepreneurs, each boasting a specialty.

Every night market in Taiwan has a list of culinary icons, and among those at Shilin are large, succulent deep-fried chicken cutlets, Shilin big sausage, oyster vermicelli, and, for the palate-daredevilish, pig brain soup (yummy pudding-like texture!). A number of vendors have earned Michelin stardom.

Finish a Shilin day with an invigorating short hike (15~20min) up the high hill on the north side behind The Grand Hotel along the Jiantanshan (Mt. Jiantan) Hiking Trail, which begins across Zhongshan North Road from MRT Jiantan Station. As you walk up the mildly steep stone steps, you enter a realm of incense nanmu and red nanmu trees as the trail evens out, with shade-tolerant plants such as lady palm and wild coffee below.

▲North Eye Platform

Your destination and hike reward is the Breeze Platform and the nearby lovely, lily-white young North Eye Platform, which hangs out over a steep hillside facing Shilin. The enthralling view sweeps out over the district to the Tamsui River and Mt. Guanyin beyond, and the sunsets are spirit-tickling.

▲Night Scene from Mt. Jiantan