Tailor made holidays to Taiwan

Holidays in Taiwan

From secluded islands to industrial estates, karaoke bars to Peking opera, Taiwan epitomises the blend of garishness and delicate traditionalism that is Chinese culture today. With some of the world's finest Chinese art, antiquities and cultural performances, Taiwan is also where much of Asia's money is made. This hotchpotch of ancient and modern sees miniskirted betelnut sellers plying their wares outside temples, and TV sets blaring in the valleys of some of Asia's finest mountain peaks, while Hello Kitty cars trundle their way around stunning national parks.

Aside from computer chips, Taiwan's relationship with mainland China may actually be what it's most famous for. When the Kuomintang fled China and set up shop as a republic, they vowed they would return to take over the mainland, and indeed, the current government still claims that Taiwan is the true China, although you don't hear much talk of invasion nowadays. Although Taiwan's traditions are more closely linked with those of its immense neighbour than anywhere else, the island does have its own aboriginal people and a distinctive culture resulting from successive waves of invasion and immigration.

China, as its closest - and largest - neighbour, has obviously been the greatest influence on the island's development, but the Japanese, Dutch, Portuguese and Spanish have all left their mark - more-or-less in that order. Ruling Taiwan for 50 years up till the end of the Second World War, the Japanese in particular stamped their identity firmly on the island, still evident in the local love of cherry blossoms and the abundance of sushi restaurants and karaoke bars. This fascination with the former colonial power spans all generations too, from teenagers emulating the latest Tokyo fashions to older people still speaking the Japanese language they were taught at school.

For the visitor, Taiwan has much to offer, be it the fabulous art treasures of the National Palace Museum in Taipei, which the Nationalists brought with them when they escaped from the mainland, or the vast areas of breathtaking mountain scenery that make up the greater part of the island. The smaller outlying islands and parts of the mainland coast provide some lovely beaches, while the ancient city of Tainan in the south has an enormous collection of temples to rival Japan's Kyoto or Thailand's Chiang Mai.