Until the middle of the 1960s in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, it was no more than a sleepy country town with rice fields with pedicabs as the main public transportation. With Taiwan's transition from a rural isolated place to an economic thrust, Taipei has blossomed. With an area of 212 square km and a population of 2.63 million (-06) the city is one of the most crowded places in the world. Over 1 million scooters are registered and remains the most popular vehicle for the Taiwanese, with 650 thousand registered cars on second place.

Today Taipei is a modern Cyber City with over 4,000 wireless access points and a densest wireless coverage with the largest public WiFi grid in the world, providing access to 90% of the population of Taipei.

Taipei has the cleanest air among the cities in South East Asia with a very low crime rate.

The best way of traveling within Taipei City is to use the metro lines (MRT) which divides central Taipei north-south and east - west, with Taipei Main Station as the hub for all trains including the High Speed Rail connecting Taipei with Kaohsiung in the south in just a little more than 90 minutes.

The major roads leading east or west have the suffix "East" or "West" while roads leading north or south have the "South" or "North" suffix. They are further divided into sections, which makes it important to find the correct address. The side streets are called lanes with alleys as the smallest unites in the system. The house number is indicated first in the address, like: 27, lane 28 Chungshan North Rd, sec 7.

The west side of the city is the city's historical and political center with many traditional temples, narrow streets and traditional markets. While the east side is the modern part of the city with focus on business centers, shopping malls and department stores as well as many restaurants. It's also here the world's highest building, so far, Taipei 101 is situated.

A unique scene for Taiwan and Taipei are the night markets which offers traditional snack foods, clothes, accessorize and a genuine taste of the crowded local street life.