Taiwan is a doorway to the enormous Chinese market. It also has good relationship with the west. Taipei is the largest city in Taiwan. Most commonly it is also known as Taiwan. During Chinese Civil War, Taipei was unofficial capital of Taiwan in 1949. It was founded in eighteenth century and in the nineteenth century; it became center for overseas trade.

Underneath the modern surface, the Chinese culture still exists in this lively city. National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was built in the memory of former president of Republic of China. This monument is very famous in Taipei as it is surrounded by a park and a large square which includes National Concert Hall and National Theater.

The National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall was build to commemorate one of the founding fathers of Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen. The monument was completed on May 16, 1972. Initially it use for the display of the revolutionary events, now its role has shifted towards social, educational and cultural center for the Taiwanese people.

The National Palace Museum was erected around an enduring collection centered on ancient Chinese artifacts. It’s an art gallery which displays the history and origin of the Taipei. It has the world largest collection of artifacts from ancient China. The National Palace Museum is named after the Palace Museum in Beijing as both the association trace their origin to the same foundation.

Taipei 101 is a landmark skyscraper in the city and still stands second in line of world’s tallest building. The indoor and outdoor observatory has attracted many visitors towards it and the out observatory also gives a splendid view of Taipei city. On the New Year’s Eve, it displays very impressive fireworks which is a featured on international broadcasts.

The night markets are very wonderful to see. It usually opens around 4 pm and works still past mid night. Most of the market has stalls selling food, cloths and other products. The most famous night market to visit is the Shilin Night Market.

There are many festivals celebrated in the Taipei such as Lantern Festival, where thousand of lanterns are released in the sky and the view is mind blowing. There are other annual festivals such as Tomb Sweeping day, the Dragon Boat Festival, the Ghost Festivals and many more.

Transportation

Taoyuan International Airport is just forty kilometers away from the city. From the airport, hotels do arrange transportation to the city.

Even weekly international passenger ferries run between the Taiwanese Keelung and Kaohsiung ports and Naha, the capital of the southern Japanese-island of Okinawa. There is also an overnight ferry, which takes from sixteen to twenty hours to reach Keelung and departs from Okinawa on Thursday or Friday.

The new Taiwan high speed rail has made journey in Taiwan more comfortable and speedy. The electrified trains and the diesels run along west coast and east coast respectively. The services of these trains are frequent but slow and expenses are economical compared to flights.

This well-known city is also known as “the Harbour City” and the people living in this city are called as Sydneysiders. This place was established at Sydney Cove in the year 1788 by Arthur Phillip. You can see this city which is built on hills and are bounded by the Sydney Harbour which is an inlet of the Tasman Sea lies on the southeast coast of Australia. This place is popular for its Sydney Opera House, Harbour Bridge and beaches. You can see many national parks that are bounding this city like Hyde Park and Royal Botanical Gardens and holds many bays, rivers and inlets.

Sydney is ranked 16th among the other cities of the world and is a global hub for commerce, arts, fashion, culture, entertainment, education and also for tourism. As per its economy, Sydney is among the 66th cities that are most expensive in the world and is of course, the major city in Australia which is costly. This city is a hub for many things that could not be found so easily in other cities of the world.

You know very well that Sydney is a city that has hosted major international sporting events like the 1938 British Empire Games, 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2003 final Rugby World Cup.

Earlier, in Sydney region there was three language groups that was separated into vernaculars and was spoken by lesser tribes. The key languages were Darug, Dharawal and Guringai. Every tribe was holding a territory where they were settled. There proof of settlements was destroyed by the urbanization but you can see the Sydney rock engravings, carvings and rock art that are even today be seen in the Hawkesbury sandstone of Sydney basin. There lies a series of history related to the generations of Sydney and its origin.

Sydney is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean from the east, the Blue Mountains towards west, the Hawkesbury River towards north and the Royal National Park to the South. Port Jackson which is popularly known as Sydney Harbour is the biggest natural harbour in the world. Its urban area has nearly 70 harbour and ocean beaches that contain the well-known Bondi Beach. This area covers 1,687 square kilometer that is 651 square miles. Sydney ranked third in the world as the biggest agglomeration after Brasilia and Tokya.

About the climate of Sydney, it has temperate climate. Entire year, summer, winter and rainfall can be seen. Due to the ocean the weather remains moderate. In the month of January you can feel the warmest climate here with 45.3 °C maximum temperature recorded and during winter the temperature falls below 5°C in coastal regions.

Sydney hosts many a huge variety of festivals with social and cultural events. Events like Sydney festival, biggest art festival of Australia, the Biennale of Sydney that was recognized in the year 1973, the Big Day Out which is a traveling rock-music festival that was produced in Sydney, the Sydney Film Festival and many other festivals that has great importance.

Tourism hit its record to a higher level by visiting every year with nearly 2.7 million visitors. The most attracted place at Sydney is the Sydney Opera House and also the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Besides these, the Royal Botanical Gardens, Luna Park, Sydney Tower and several beaches with 40 in number are the major tourist attraction sites.

Getting there

AIR:
To reach at this magnificent place you have variety of options like if you are traveling by air then Sydney airport is the best to reach at this place directly. It is an international airport so you do not have to wonder about anything like how to reach there. Then you can catch the CityRail Airport Link and taxi services.

WATER:
If you want to reach at this place by the route of water then you have cruise ships that berth at the Sydney Cove Passenger terminal. Services are available at the Darling Harbour Passenger Terminal. If you want your journey memorable than try the ferry services by water.

RAIL:
To reach here by rail then take the Countrylink services that run New South Wales rail network. It provides high speed trains that links Sydney with three major places named Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra. The Indian Pacific Train is also available to you.

ROAD:
Getting there by road includes some risky matters as the laws in Sydney are quite different from other states. So if you are planning to go by this route then take care of all the related stuffs. The Hume Highway is the perfect route to reach at this city. Along with this, the Pacific Highway, the beautiful Princes Highway and also the Sturt Highway are the ways from where you can easily get access to the city.

Key Attractions

Besides the other attractions mentioned earlier, the key attractions at this place are Pylon Museum and Lookout, Bridge Climb, The Rocks, Sydney Observatory, Cadman’s Cottage, Museum of Contemporary Art, The Rocks Toy Museum, Susannah Place Museum, Darling Harbour, Powerhouse Museum, Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney Aquarium, IMAX Theatre, Chinese Garden of Friendship, Bondi Beach, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney Tower, Sydney Olympic Park, ANZ Stadium, Sydney Aquatic Centre, Bicentennial Park, Taronga Zoo and the Fox studios Australia-The Entertainment Quarter.

Accommodation

From this you can easily get to know that this is a well developed place where you will have to loose your pocket a bit. You will get hundred of hotels, restaurants and many places that will provide you luxury facilities. Hotels like Blue and Park Hyatt are the luxurious one. For moderate range hotels you have Hotel Altamont and Travelodge Phillip Street and for other low range hotels you have The Kirkenton and Sofitel Wentworth Sydney.

So start your shopping whenever you are walking down the streets of Sydney and have a pleasant time. David Jones, Chifley Plaza, MLC Centre, the Strand, Queen Victoria Building, Market City and many other shopping sites are present for you. Choose your own shoping centres and start exploring the city right from its history to its present days.