Taiwan's capital city is also the country's commerce center. It's a big, bustling ultra-modern metropolis with a lively nightlife scene and fine cultural attractions. It's one of the world's most wired cities, where Wi-Fi (wireless Internet) access reaches up to 90 percent of its public spaces. It's also one of the world's greenest cities, with steep forest preserves lying inside the city limits.
Taipei is located close to the island's north coast, with two rivers running through it and surrounded by mountains. Its nearly 3 million inhabitants are squeezed into what is essentially a basin, and the city has had to contend with traffic issues, air pollution, and other ramifications of a congested urban setting.
Taipei may be the country's 21st-century business heart, but it's also a place where traditional outdoor markets thrive, particularly the popular night markets -- street festivals with food stands, flea-market finds, and carnival-like attractions -- and colorful weekend markets selling goods like jade and flowers. Just outside Taipei is the National Palace Museum, the world's premier collection of Asian antiquities and once the private imperial collection, housed in Beijing's Forbidden City for 500 years.
