Taiwan

By plane

Taiwan's main international gateway is Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport near Taipei 台北, with Kaohsiung 高雄 a distant second and very limited international services to Taichung and Hualien.

Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport

台灣桃園國際機場 formerly Chiang Kai-Shek International Airport 中正國際機場 (http://www.taoyuanairport...) TPE is Taiwan's main international airport. Located 40km to the southwest of Taipei, it has good connections to major Asian cities and North America. The airport has direct buses to Taipei, Taichung and other nearby cities. Alternatively, the U-Bus company operates shuttles to HSR Taoyuan station 台灣高鐵桃園站 for high-speed train connections to Hsinchu 新竹, Taichung 台中, Chiayi 嘉義, Tainan 台南, and Kaohsiung 高雄; and to Jhongli 中壢Transit Station, for mainline TRA Taiwan Railways Administration 台灣鐵路管理局 train and southbound bus connections to Tainan, Hsinchu 新竹etc.

Songshan Airport

松山機場 (http://www.tsa.gov.tw/006...) TSA in downtown Taipei serves mostly domestic flights only, plus limited daily charter flights to mainland China. Flights to Tokyo's Haneda airport have commenced recently.

The Kaohsiung 高雄 (http://www.kia.gov.tw/eng...) KHH domestic and international airports are located in the same complex. International flights are only to other Asian cities, as well as charter flights to mainland China.

Taichung Airport 台中機場RMQ serves domestic flights as well as international flights to Hong Kong and Vietnam and cross-strait charters to mainland China.

Hualien Airport 花蓮機場 (http://www.hulairport.gov.tw) HUN serves domestic flights as well as some international charter flights to Japan, South Korea ROK and Macau. It is also one of the airports designated to serve cross-strait direct flights.

In addition, the airports at Makung 馬公, Taitung 台東 and Kinmen 金門 have also been designated for cross-strait flights to mainland China, though of these, only Makung currently has regular flights to mainland China.

Regular cross-Strait flights between Taiwan and mainland China resumed after civil war on 4 Jul 2008. From 15 Dec 2008, the frequency of these flights were increased to daily, and travel times on some popular routes have been reduced significantly as flights no longer have to be routed through Hong Kong airspace.

By ship

As of 2008, all scheduled passenger ferry services between Taiwan and Japan have been suspended. Star Cruises (http://www.starcruises.com) operates limited cruise services from Keelung 基隆 and Kaohsiung 高雄 to Hong Kong and various Japanese islands.

From Fuzhou 福州, China, there are two daily ferries to Matsu 馬祖. Take bus 69 from Fuzhou train station to Wuyilu, then bus 73 to the end station Mawei harbor 馬尾港. The ferry costs RMB350 from China and TWD1300 from Taiwan. The trip takes two hours. The old website [mit30.com.tw], appears to be down. From Matsu, there are two daily ferries to Keelung in Taiwan. TWD1050 includes a bed, as the trip takes 10 hours. Bookings can be made at +886 2 2424 6868.

At Mawei harbour in Fuzhou there is an opportunity to buy an inclusive ticket all the way to Taipei 臺北 that includes the Fuzhou to Matsu ferry above and a domestic flight from Matsu to Taipei or Taichung. The price RMB780 includes transfer between port and airport on Matsu, and a coupon for lunch at the airport while you wait for your connection. The ferry leaves Fuzhou at 9:30AM. Get to Mawei at 8AM to buy tickets.

There are also several ferry services between Xiamen and Quanzhou on the mainland and the island of Kinmen 金門. Now there also is one weekly ferry from Dongdu Harbor 東渡碼頭 in Xiamen to Keelung, that leaves on Thursdays at 6PM starting at less than RMB500, as well as one to Taichung leaving on Tuesdays. Call 0592-2393128 for information or 0592-6011758 for bookings from China. You can also check here for news (http://www.seat61.com/Tai...).