Only 200 years ago, this was a place of rice paddies and marshes ... With its night markets, museums and stunningly beautiful landscape, New Taipei City is now one of the popular destinations in Taiwan.

Some cities simply emerge from the sea: New Taipei City draws its energy from the river too. The city nestles at the confluence of River Danshuiet and its two main tributaries, the Keelung and the Xindia. It sits in the shelter of the surrounding mountains including Guanyinshan, the best-known, which looks strikingly similar to the face of Godess Guanyin. New Taipei City, the capital of surrounding Taipei, boasts all the charms of a multicultural, vibrant, generous city. Minquan Street is its most famous avenue with its Baroque architecture, the typical arches of its redbrick buildings, its restaurants with their harmonious spices and its stunning boutiques. New Taipei City is also known for its colourful night markets, particularly those of Nanya, Xingnan and Xinzhuang: here bargaining is traditional practice. You can buy puppets, masks, pottery, calligraphy, and original designs produced by the indigenous tribes that still perpetuate these traditional crafts. New Taipei City boasts a wealth of museums such as the Yingge Ceramics Museum, which traces the development of pottery through the ages and the unmissable Tea Museum, a real institution in the town. If you want to find out about the history of Taiwan, visit Fort San Domingo. It was built by the Spanish, and then successively occupied by the Dutch, Chinese, and British. The Taoist Zushi Temple is also worth a visit for its unique architecture which blends sophistication with bright colours.