Taipei has improved significantly during the last decade: more relaxed, more fun, more freedom. Public rapid transit makes getting around the city easier than ever. Yet while the excellent planning and maps of the train system transport you from here to there with ease, once you leave the station you're back in a tangle of English transliteration that doesn't match your map, their map, or the street signs. So visitors may end up cabbing from a station to their destination anyway. It's just easier. Have your hotel write down the address in Chinese, or show the cabby a business card you've picked up.

Happily, clusters of rainbow life are now growing so that a few neighborhoods have at least a handful of venues within walking distance. Most notably, the Ximen area around the heritage Red House entertainment complex is now a full-fledged gay hot spot.

Super popular with gays from neighboring Japan, Korea and China, Taiwan is fast becoming a gay holiday destination for many.

Taipei's population is nearing 3 million (that's close to 120,000 Utopians).

• Lesbian listings
• Men in Taipei message forum
• Taipei Gay Scene Updates message forum

  Navigating the local gay scene is easy with our interactive Utopia Map of Gay & Lesbian Taipei:

The updated and expanded 2nd Edition of the Utopia Guide to Taiwan offers a fresh insider's glimpse at the gay and lesbian scene in 12 cities including Taipei, Kaohsiung, Tainan and Taichung. Listings include organizations, bars, discos, accommodations, spas, restaurants, and more. A special section highlights venues that are especially welcoming for women. Enjoy savvy comments and recommendations from local Utopians and gay travelers. Click here to order

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• Eslite (Dunhua store)
  2/F, 245 Dunhua S. Rd, Section 1, (near Jen-Ai Circle), 2775-5977. Flagship store of this upmarket book chain is open 24 hours every day, with a fairly well-stocked gay and lesbian section. MRT Nan-kang line, Zhong-xiao Tun-hua station.敦化南路1段245號(仁愛圓環)
• Eslite (Xin Yi store)
  No. 11 Song-Goa Rd, Xin Yi, 8789-3388. The biggest book store in Taiwan. Open daily 10am-2am. 誠品書局信義店
• Eslite (NTU store)
  98 Xin-sheng South 3rd Rd, 2362-6312. MRT Hsintien line, KungKuan station. 新生南路3段98號
• GinGin's
  1/F No. 8, Alley 8, Lane 210, Roosevelt Rd, Section 3 (close to Taipower Subway Station and 10-minutes from National Taiwan University), Utopia Map, 2364-2006, email. Next to the gay Hours café and across from Love Boat lesbian shop. Gay and lesbian book shop with pride goods, DVDs, gifts, and gay magazines from the region. They welcome visitors from all over the world. Open daily from 11am-10pm. Friendly staff, some English spoken. 羅斯福路3段208巷8弄8號1樓

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• 228 Park (formerly called New Park)
  Utopia Map. Evenings. Infamous setting of Taiwan's first gay novel, Crystal Boys, which was also made into the feature film, The Outsiders. Although the Internet has largely replaced parks as a method for social contacts, cruising still takes place in the evening all around, but mostly near the pagoda pond. The park is now open all night long. 公園/新公園
• Eslite Bookshop, Dunhua store (see under Bookshops). Quite cruisy with Asian tourists (Japan, Korea, Hong Kong, Singapore) after midnight.
• Sha Lun Beach
  Tamshui, MRT Tamshui Line, Tamshui station. Then take a local bus to towards fisherman's wharf. Get off at the stop called Observatory Deck (one stop before the wharf). You will see a wooden deck facing the ocean. Cross through the hole in the wirte fence and you are in the cruisy woods. A fabled gay beach in Taiwan, but conflicting reports about whether it's still popular or not. Some nude sunbathing. Best on sunny days. Cruising takes place in the shrubs (the water is polluted) and many comments about how trashy the place has become. Not easily reached, so hopefully you'll meet a friend to guide you there. 淡水沙崙海灘
• Youth Park swimming pool
  Shuiyuan Rd. Open May through Sept. Closed Mon. Very popular in summer. Go to the outdoor pool with the 3m depth lane. This is where local guys like to hit the catwalk in their new Speedos. No longer as popular following the close of the sunbathing area. On sunny days the outdoor pool is reported to become like a "gay resort." Check out the shower room and facilities. Wear your sexiest swimwear. 青年公園游泳池 水源路
• Yuchen Park swimming pool
  55 Zhongpo South Rd, 2726-7381. Open May through Sept. Cruisy, but not as popular as the pool above. 玉成游泳池 中坡南路55號

XIMEN -- Red House

• O.S. (western and local food)
  172 Kungming St, Ximen, Utopia Map, 2371-0360. The name stands for "Omelette and Spaghetti". This small, homey restaurant serves a local version of comfort food. Friendly and popular with gays, especially bears (perhaps attracted by the couple who run it). 西門昆明街172號
• Taoyuan Street (dumplings and noodles)
  Utopia Map. Two blocks directly east of the Exit 1 MRT Ximen Station. This one block stretch of side-by-side shophouses offers a huge variety of hand made dumplings and noodles. Particularly famous are the beef noodle bowls, but there are also plenty of vegetarian treats. 寶慶路桃源街
• Trendy's Restaurant (shabu-shabu and sukiyaki)
  2F No.114-4, Sec. 2, Wuchang St (above the 7-11), 2314-6969, Utopia Map. Gay-owned and staffed restaurant opened by the owners of So Young Men Spa, two floors above. Vibrant, contemporary Asian design and excellent service from the hunky waiters! Order whatever hot pot ingredients you'd like and mix your own dipping sauce from more than a dozen savory and spicy items on their sauce buffet. A fun place to head with a group of friends or to book for your next birthday or special event. Walkable from Red House or nearby MRT stations. 武昌街2段114-4號2樓 (7-11樓上) Utopia Member Discount

  
  OTHER AREAS

• Hours
  Right next door to GinGin's gay shop and across from Love Boat, Utopia Map, 2364-2742. This very popular gay café is run by a young gay couple. They also have a selection of music and books. Open 2pm-11pm daily except Tue.
• Keeling Night Market
  You've got to find a friend to drive you here, but don't miss the night market in this lively port city about 45 minutes north of Taipei. Stretched over a few city blocks are some of Taiwan's most fantastic and colorful food vendors offer everything from freshly cracked open sea urchin, deep-fried vegetable sandwiches, giant heaps of crab claw rice, and all manner of edible extrusions, infusions, fritters, ices, liquids, crunchies and munchies. Packed with locals who line up at the best stalls.

  

• Shenkeng
  Nicknamed "stinky tofu village" (for their most popular and spicy specialty), this street market 20 minutes outside Taipei (drive with a friend) is jammed with utterly unique local food specialties as well as traditional crafts and useful items for everyday life (the widest variety of backscratchers we've ever seen, for example). You'll be able to try free samples of at least a dozen types of foods and sweets that you may never have encountered: almond and walnut milk, black sesame butter, semi-liquid lollipops, do-it-yourself cotton candy, tofu ice cream, fresh cherry juice and much, much more. A photographer's dream.

  

• Shintori (Asian and Japanese)
  68 An He Rd, Sec. 2, Utopia Map, 2702-5588. Start with this main branch (the other six branches have different themes). Descend the Tadao Ando-like cement and bamboo Zen stairway and confront enigmatic iron doors with no handles. Hint: stick your hand in the Japanese stone lantern. Go ahead, ignore the frazzled wires, or you'll stand here until someone else comes along. Ah...the doors slide as if on Astroglide. Very James Bond (or Get Smart, perhaps?). Rock fountain burbles in an empty void. Cocktails shimmer in pin spots. Cold sake arrives on crushed ice in an aluminum petal. Select your favorite sake glass from a tray (perfectly Kyoto, ne?). Staff wear their red sashes low on the butt. Time to eat. Alas, Chinese flavors have colonized the Zen grub. Never mind: wall of lilies, wall of roses, wall of video. Gonnnnngggg. 安和路2段68號

  Tu Hsiao Yueh (southern Taiwan cuisine) No. 12, Alley 8, Lane 216, Sec 4, Jhongsiao E. Rd, Utopia Map, 2773-1244. There is a rags-to-riches story behind the success of Tainan's oldest restaurant, of which this is the capitol city's main branch. Conjurers of tan tsai noodles, a fragrant pork stew ladled out of a wasp-nesty-encrusted cauldren that looks like its been in continuous use since Yu Tou started dispensing his dish to fellow fisherman in 1895. Combined with fresh noodles, shrimp and a stew-infused, hard-boiled duck egg, the taste is complex and surprisingly mild, once spooned into your mouth, given the aromatic 5-spice watusi going on in your nose. Side dishes include stir-fried Ping-tong Areca flower and betel nut heart stir-fry; plump, juicy fried oysters dipped in spiced salt; and crispy intestine. 忠孝東路4段216巷8弄12號

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XIMEN -- Red House
• Body Formula
  Red House, Utopia Map. Undergear shop.
• Forbidden Homme
  Red House, Utopia Map. Undergear shop.

  
  OTHER AREAS

• Sun Studio
  Well known gay-friendly tanning salon, established in 1992. Six convenient locations (see their website). Try their 7-minute stand-up tan booths. Handsome, polite staff and professional service.