Taiwan November — Trip 2

--Days

--Hours

--Minutes

Depart US

Fri Nov 6

Land / reset

Nov 7–8

Work · Taipei

Nov 9–20

Free · anywhere

Nov 21–23

Fly home

Tue Nov 24

📐 Ground rules

Mon–Thu evenings (Nov 9–19) stay in or near Taipei. Friday nights and weekends can go anywhere in Taiwan. Expect November's NE monsoon: Taipei, Keelung and Yilan run drizzly at ~18–24°C, while central and southern Taiwan are drier, so they make the better weekend escapes.

🌾 Pas-ta'ay 矮靈祭: the headline event

The Saisiyat ceremony of all-night dancing at Xiangtian Lake, Nanzhuang. Likely around Nov 22–24, and probably the once-a-decade grand edition. Stay, transport, night plan, etiquette, and the Water Official temple the next morning.

Open the Pas-ta'ay page →

🦐 Eat, Drink & Play

Shrimp fishing (rod, pool, salt-grilled prawns, beer), Asia's 50 Best bars, Michelin 2026 picks, Taipei food institutions, fortune tellers, batting cages, basketball and sample weeknight plans.

Open eat, drink & play →

🌶️ Weird & After Dark (18+)

Maid cafés, dinner on a toilet, Tattoo Street, love motels, Thursday shibari rope jams, and how to find the private fetish scene.

Open weird & after dark →

📷 Photo spots for the X100VI

35mm-friendly night walks for weeknights, plus golden-hour weekend spots: Tainan salt pans, Elephant Mountain, Sun Moon Lake fireworks, Jiufen, Nanzhuang. Includes sunset times, film-sim starting points and ceremony etiquette.

Open photo spots →

🗓️ Dated events in the window

Date	Event	Where	Fit
Nov 6–9	ITF Taiwan International Travel Fair 📰 2026 dates 📍 Map Group	Nangang Exhibition Center 1F/4F	Weekend
Sat Nov 7	Lidong 立冬, the start of winter. Tradition is "補冬" tonic food: ginger duck 薑母鴨, sesame-oil chicken, mutton hot pot 📍 Ginger duck near you 📍 Mutton hot pot Food	Anywhere	Weekend
Nov 7–8	Kunshen King Salt Festival 鯤鯓王平安鹽祭. Salt-blessing rituals at the Jingzijiao tile salt pans and Nankunshen Daitian Temple, plus a moon-block divination contest (NT$500k+ prizes) and night markets. Sat 07:00 "request salt", 09:05 "worship salt"; Sun 15:00 "thank salt" 🌐 Official notice 🚄 THSR 📍 Map 📍 Salt pans TempleUnique	Beimen, Tainan (HSR ~1h45 + taxi)	Weekend (jet lag)
Oct–Nov	Yangmingshan silvergrass season at Datun / Qingtiangang 🌐 Yangmingshan NP 📍 Datun 📍 Qingtiangang Relaxing	Yangmingshan, 40 min from Taipei	Weekend
Mon Nov 9	Lunar 10/1 (初一). Temples are busy with offerings that evening 🌐 Longshan Temple 🌐 Xingtian Temple 📍 Xiahai City God Temple	Longshan, Xingtian, Xiahai City God	✅ Weeknight
Lunar 10th month	Xie Ping'an 謝平安 thanksgiving season. Neighborhood temples stage free outdoor Taiwanese opera (歌仔戲) and glove-puppet shows. Follow the drums 📍 Wanhua 📍 Dadaocheng (Cisheng Temple) TempleUnique	Wanhua, Dadaocheng, Sanchong	✅ Weeknight
Fri Nov 13	New Taipei Christmasland opens (through Dec 27). Light shows, giant tree, markets 🌐 Christmasland site 📰 Tourism Admin listing 📍 Map RelaxingGroup	Banqiao Civic Square / Wanping Park	Fri night (10 min by MRT)
Sat Nov 14	Sun Moon Lake Fireworks Music Concert. NTSO youth orchestra + a 360-second fireworks show. Free, and the final night of the 2026 series 🌐 Sun Moon Lake NSA 📰 2026 fireworks schedule 📍 Xiangshan VC RelaxingMusicUnique	Xiangshan Visitor Center, Sun Moon Lake	Weekend
Oct 31 – Nov 22	Xinshe Flower Sea / Taichung Flower Carpet Festival. Pair with Sun Moon Lake on Nov 14–15 📰 Tourism Admin listing 📍 Map RelaxingGroup	Xinshe, Taichung	Weekend
Nov 6–22	Taiwan International Surfing Open 🌐 Taitung event calendar 📍 Jinzun Unique	Taitung east coast (fly)	Weekend
Aug 15 – Jan 3	Sou Fujimoto: architecture exhibition (Tue–Sun 10–18) 🎟️ Tickets (Klook)ℹ️ About Jut 📍 Map Art	Jut Art Museum, Taipei	Weekend (closes 18:00)
~Nov 22–24 TBC	Saisiyat Pas-ta'ay 矮靈祭. All-night ritual dance, likely the 10-year grand edition. Details → UniqueTempleMusic	Xiangtian Lake, Nanzhuang (Miaoli)	⭐ Top pick
Mon Nov 23	Xia Yuan 下元節, the Water Official's birthday. "Solve-misfortune" rites, best in the morning 📍 Yongchang 🏛️ Hukou Sanyuan (MOI)📍 Hukou Temple	Nanzhuang Yongchang 永昌宮 / Hukou Sanyuan 三元宮	Day after Pas-ta'ay

🌙 Weeknight bank: Mon–Thu, Taipei

🎸Live music & underground

Revolver (Zhongzheng). Grungy bar with indie and punk upstairs
ℹ️ Guide 📍 Map
Pipe Live Music (Gongguan riverside)
🌐 Site 📍 Map
The Wall (Gongguan). Taiwan indie and rock institution
📍 Map
Witch House 女巫店 (Gongguan). Café-bar with acoustic and indie sets
🌐 Site 📍 Map
Legacy Taipei (Huashan 1914). Mid-size headliners
🌐 Site / calendar 📍 Map
Blue Note Taipei / Sappho de Base. Jazz in small rooms
ℹ️ Blue Note story 📍 Blue Note 📍 Sappho
FINAL (Da'an). Underground techno and house, busiest late in the week
📰 DJ Mag on the scene 📍 Map
C-LAB. Experimental sound and art nights
🌐 Site / events 📍 Map

Pull each venue's calendar around Nov 1 for Nov 9–19.

🍵Relaxing

Dadaocheng: Xiahai City God Temple (home of the Old Man Under the Moon), then sunset at Dadaocheng Wharf
📍 Temple 📍 Wharf
Maokong Gondola at dusk + a teahouse. The gondola is usually closed Mondays
🌐 Gondola hours 📍 Base station
Elephant Mountain sunset over Taipei 101
📍 Trailhead
Beitou private hot-spring rooms, rented by the hour
📍 Beitou

🍻Group-friendly & food

Rechao 熱炒 beer halls. Cheap, loud, perfect for a team night
KTV: Partyworld or Holiday
📍 Partyworld
Raohe or Ningxia night markets
📍 Raohe 📍 Ningxia
Ginger duck / mutton hot pot, in season from Lidong (Nov 7)
Already vetted on Trip 1: Bar Mood, The Public House, AUFGLET café

🚄 Weekend & Friday-night plans (draft)

Nov 7–8 · reset

Lidong ginger-duck dinner. Pick one: Yangmingshan silvergrass, the ITF fair, Fujimoto at Jut, or the Tainan Salt Festival if jet lag allows

Nov 13–15

Fri: Christmasland opening night in Banqiao. Sat: Xinshe flowers by day, the Sun Moon Lake fireworks concert at night, and a night at the lake (book early)

Nov 20–21

Open. Wanli/Keelung crab, or Hsinchu Xinpu persimmon fields + Hakka towns (on the way to Nanzhuang)

Nov 22–23

Pas-ta'ay in Nanzhuang → Xia Yuan temple morning → back to Taipei

Tue Nov 24

Fly home

⏭️ Just misses

Formosa Pride and Nuit Blanche: end Nov 1
Taipei Hot Spring Festival: Oct 30–Nov 3 (the hot-spring season continues)
Shilin Residence Chrysanthemum Show: starts Nov 27
Nihon Matsuri, ATT Xinyi: Nov 28–29
Monga Qingshan King night patrols 艋舺青山王暗訪: Nov 28–30. Taipei's biggest folk procession, missed by 4 days

✅ To-do

✅ Booked: Yu Ho Yuan homestay Nov 22–23 (TWD 2,900, pay at the property). Free cancellation until Nov 14. Watch for Agoda to move it from "processing" to confirmed
Late Oct: confirm the official Pas-ta'ay dates and whether this is the grand edition. Adjust the stay if needed
Confirm the festival night shuttle (Miaoli Bus 037-662-111) or hire a driver
Company travel: outbound Fri Nov 6, return Tue Nov 24 from TPE. Taipei hotel Nov 7–21 + Nov 23
Decide Nov 14–15 (Sun Moon Lake + Xinshe) and book a lake hotel
~Nov 1: pull the live-house calendars for Nov 9–19
TWAC arrival card: the window opens Oct 31 (7 days before landing)

🔗 Useful sites

What's on

This Is Taipei events Taipei 2026 calendar Songkick Taipei Taiwan Tourism events

Tickets

KKTIX tixcraft

Getting around

Taipei Metro THSR high-speed rail Taiwan Tourist Shuttle

Before you fly

TWAC arrival card CWA weather

📚 Sources

ITF 2026 · Kunshen Salt Festival 2026 · Christmasland 2026 · Sun Moon Lake fireworks · Xinshe Flower Sea · Taitung calendar · Taipei exhibitions · This Is Taipei events · Taipei 2026 calendar · Nihon Matsuri

Lunar dates computed: Nov 9 = 10/1, Nov 23 = 10/15. Built 2026-10-03.

🇹🇼 Taiwan in November