Taipei is the capital and a special municipality of Taiwan (officially the Republic of China, ROC). Most of the city rests on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed. Taipei is the political, economic, educational and cultural center of Taiwan and one of the major hubs in East Asia. 

Tourism is a major part of Taipei's economy. In 2013, over 6.3 million overseas visitors visited Taipei, making the city the 15th most visited globally. 

Taipei is home to various world-famous architectural or cultural landmarks, which include Taipei 101, Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Hsing Tian Kong, Lungshan Temple of Manka, National Palace Museum, Presidential Office Building, Taipei Guest House, Ximending and several night markets dispersed throughout the city. Natural features such as Maokong, Yangmingshan and hot springs are also well known to international visitors.

In many ways this 300-year-old city is like a living museum. The Taoist temples buzz with the prayers of the hopeful; the wooden boards of Japanese-era mansions creak under the feet of visitors; while the treasures in the National Palace Museum date back 5000 years. Merchant villas to military barracks have been restored, reworked and now live again as a museum or a shopfront. From the heirlooms of a tea merchant to the memories of a cemetery for the victims of the White Terror, Taipei is a city that takes great pride in celebrating its history – the triumphant and the tragic.

Taipei's oddness is one of its charms. It may be inspired by the kawaii (cutesy) culture of Japan, but there's a lot of home-grown humour in there, too. In the puppet museum you will find a strip-tease marionette; the idea of chocolate sauce on a steak is nothing out of the ordinary; themed restaurants transport you to a world where hotpot is slurped from a toilet bowl; a park installation invites you to cycle a stationary bike whose pedals power an eerie-sounding pipe organ; and one of the top souvenir items from the city is a larger-than-life cock-shaped pineapple sponge cake.