It’s my tenth CNY in Taiwan and I’m going nowhere. The hordes will start moving south this coming Friday so I’ll have the whole of Hsinchu for myself. :raspberry:
Good post, Duke! 
Do buses and the MRT still run?
Yeah.
They look like this from outside though:
Yep, a bit slower than usual, but OK. Taxis charge extra -holiday fare.
And in Heaven’s name, do not step out of the city by intercity bus, train or HSR without careful planing! It’s the re-enactment of the Exodus out there!
Friday will be a good day to go to the movies and go home very, very late. Expect trafic snarls of epic proportions before Friday midnight and Saturday and Sunday. The Haaj from North to South, by car.
You must be in Taipei. Down in Chiayi, we cover the table in yesterday’s (unread) newspaper.
Mmm… having the GF’s parents coming over, as we have the bigger place now.
I guess it’s better though as it looks like the first couple of days of CNY is going to be chilly and at least I’ve got heating here 
Not looking forward to the food so much though, but I guess I’ll survive for a couple of days and luckily the GF doesn’t like most of the traditional fare so… 
I hear this every single year but I can only recall a handful of times when going south for CNY has been that bad. And those times were all before the Bei-er Gao opened.
We usually travel down to Shalu on that road on New Year’s eve during the day and its never been that bad. Maybe an extra 30 minutes or so.
Coming back afterwards, though… boy, I have some stories.
I mean Taipei, especially around Taipei Main Station.
Same in Taichung.
Some funny stuff, here. Some great reminders here. I remember my friend’s kid being disgusted at my shrimp shell and chicken bone box-making skills. Muttered summin about the chocolate teapot-like attributes of the waiguoren, which earned him a clip round the ear from mum and a smirk from grandma, while the older lads all scrambled to get the titty-pics from the ‘Next’ magazine, so they could fold them so that grandma saw a square mm of Jolin’s muff or A-Mei’s nipps while gobbing out fishtails and duckbrains.
Recall a trip over the mountains out of Lishan on CNY a few years ago. A trafic snarl of epic proportions on a one lane dirt road. Miles of cars in both directions and only one lane. Two cars possible on a curve or random wide spot so it was hell. Those folks must have spent most of the holiday just to get where they were going. I was on a scoot and still had problems. Straight up on one side and straight down on the other. Might be a good place to set up a night market stand. Then, we can have people trying to park in the middle of road to order.
Every travel book I’ve read says that CNY is the best time to visit Taiwan. Why is that? Sounds more like the opposite.
This is my first CNY too. 
I only love Taipei during CNY ! No peasants in the street !
The food shopping before the New Year’s Eve and the lantern festival plus the parades after the celebrations are really special and must be sampled.
I’d advise newbies to go to Dihua Street or Zhengzhong Market or Nanmen Market to see the traditional stuff for themselves, then the temples or near Taipei City Hall for teh parades and other celebrations.
That said, it is mostly a family affair. No concerts, no big outdoor gatherings. Stores close most of the time, all is quiet… until the fireworks start.
Like Diwali, you nee dto be with a local family to see the real stuff.
As to traffic and traveling:
This will be my first CNY outside of the states too. I’m actually flying over there tomorrow…eeeek! I’m sure it’ll be crazy, but full of [countless] relatives, hongbao, and fooood!
GAMBLING … NO ONE MENTIONS THE GAMBLING … majhong, cards and dice for three straight days and nights … the more you lose the better the year will be for your fortune (that could be an urbane myth) … darn, I should tell my wife to lose instead of winning a big bunch of money each year …
The drinking games where the family and friends try to get the foreigner drunk, drinking Kaoliang liquor and (imported, mostly Heineken) beer, until I told them I really prefer Taiwan beer instead of the imported piss … and come up with a 17 year old bottle of red wine they got as a gift that many years ago and never opened, but is spoiled by now … you people have really boring CNY’rs :roflmao:
To be honest, I’ve outgrown all of this and I’m bored and darn cold and miserable each CNY … and my dogs get fucking scared of all the fireworks … 
I’m in Xiamen, in a small artist village, with loads of B&Bs and hostels. Apparently Xiamen is second on the Mainlanders’ tourist destinations this CNY (after Sanya, Hainan).
This city, and my village already see/hear enough noisy, gawking tourists on any common day of the week. The next couple of weeks are going to be pure chaos.
I should really have done a runner for the Philippines or Thailand, but I’ll make up for it by tour guiding any lost young out-of-town lasses… 
I really do feel for the Taiwanese when the Mainland hordes start arriving en masse - no fun AT ALL!
I used to live in Xiamen (hence the screen name). I am always amazed that XM is such a big tourist destination, but it certainly is. Stay far, far away from Gulangyu and the ferry area when the tourists arrive…total chaos. We were there during the May Day holiday a couple of years ago and I thought my 2-year-old was going to be trampled to death. Heck, I was quite heavily pregnant and almost got pushed overboard myself on a couple occasions. We beat a hasty retreat once we realized there was no ecaping the crowds.
What you don’t go out at all??? 
are these markets only before NYE? or can we still see them saturday (on NYE)? Does anyone know where these markets are close to (MRT station)?