Go to Taipei and proceed to Tainan

Why continue south to Tainan? Just following the nice weather, as I did on my first trip to China half a year ago (December 2025) between Shanghai (north) and Hainan (south). Regular checks on the WetterOnline app indicate the direction among four to five alternative destinations.

And first of all, to a city with a lot of history. So Tainan - the first capital, although this function was very modest. More about that tomorrow.

Now, in order, Day 2:

First, I wanted to get some sleep during the layover in PEK, from 5 to 8 AM. And behold, the somewhat aged part of the home airline Air China is ideal for this: no shops and bars to distract, the seats have no armrests, are wide and flat, there are isolated power outlets, and only a handful of travelers are in the large halls. Frugal gastronomy and practical airport function have been noticed all over mainland China. At 7:45 AM, the only coffee & croissant store of an international chain opened.

The flight from Beijing to Taipei was about a third of the three hours rather bumpy. Thunderstorm front, even in the clouds at 11,000 meters. This was predicted (Windy app!).

In Taipei after landing (well balanced, despite gusts), the first organizational steps. Currency exchange (Bank of Taiwan, 300 euros to New Taiwan Dollars) and SIM card (15 days unlimited). I had time, without checked luggage, as always. The immigration with the previously obtained electronic residence card was smooth, including fingerprints on both sides. Note: I could have also obtained the residence card at stands at the airport, possibly more cheaply and electronically via input at terminals.

Taking the metro directly to Taipei Main Station, to the High-Speed Train ticket counters, to turn the reserved train ticket booked in the trip app with code into a paper ticket. I hadn't expected that, as in mainland China it works without paper, but only with a passport upon entry and also upon exit (of the station!). In Taiwan, you travel with a paper ticket, barcoded, and without passport control. And there are also carriages without previously electronically reserved seats at the time of purchase. A nice window seat was offered to me at the counter, which I naturally accepted. Traveling only in a window seat!

At 300 km/h, I rush south, mountains to the left (east), densely populated plains, and rural areas over long stretches. No high-rise forests along the route like in the southeast of mainland China.

Except for the electrified train (and the subway in Taipei, of course), the means of transportation in Taiwan, as I have seen them, are operated only with fossil fuels. A clattering already at the train station square in Taipei, and that has remained. Electric mobility has not arrived in Taiwan (in stark contrast to mainland China, where I was fascinated by the nearly silent car and moped traffic in Shanghai!).

The hotel (Yoshi) in Tainan near the train station, a nice small room, welcomes me with air conditioning, and that feels good, as during the day it has between 28 and 32 degrees with humid warm air, and at night around 22 degrees.

In the lift, I get into a conversation with a similarly underloaded traveler. English, but soon German. He lives in mainland China, just across the sea on the coast, and spent 14 days on vacation in Taiwan. We exchange my plans for his experiences, and he explains the fossil traffic: Taiwanese are very Japan-affine and heavily tax everything mainland Chinese (especially e-cars and e-scooters), and therefore, like Germany, they have missed the transition to e-mobility, as well as Japan.

Shower, unpack a little, and go eat, that's all for today, I think. I end up in a 10-story shopping center just a few steps from the hotel, called Focus. The neon sign