This is a list of all souvenirs, gifts, and pasalubong you should consider buying while traveling to Taipei, Taiwan. Read on to learn what to blow your money on.
I’ve lived in Taiwan for over 5 years now and have learned what’s difficult to get outside the country. That inspired me to write this guide.
Table of Contents
Important Information
| How Much Cash to Carry | NT$3,000 |
| Are Branded Goods Cheaper? | No |
How to do Taiwan Tourist Tax Refund
Get a 5% VAT refund on some purchases over NT$2,000 made in Taiwan. Do this by taking your passport to an E-VAT Refund machine or by finding a Tax Refund Service Counter at certain locations in Taipei.
Taipei has a long list of areas in which tourists can claim tax refunds (including Taipei 101). Too long for me to list in this post. Check out a thorough guide I wrote on tourist tax refunds to find all the VAT refund stipulations and reimbursement counters.
What to Buy in Taiwan Supermarkets
The following are excellent “souvenirs” find(able) in Taiwanese supermarkets like PX Mart, Carrefour, and A-Mart:
| Taiwan beer | Taiwan-based spirits |
| Cheap pineapple & sun cakes | Chili sauce |
| Affordable mochi | Mr. Brown instant coffee |
| Crispy pork paper | Instant noodles |
| Taiwanese nougat candies | Kuai Kuai Corn Puff Snacks (highly recommended) |
| Dried shredded squid | I-Mei Mini Puffs |
| Cheap loose-leaf tea | Unique Coca-Cola flavors |
| Taiwanese fruit jelly | Castella cakes |
| Yakult Gummy Candies |
There’s too much to cover here. I’ll go into more depth in a separate guide at a later date.
Where to Buy Souvenirs or Pasalubong in Taipei
Buy souvenirs from the following places:
- Gift or souvenir shops
- Supermarkets/hypermarkets
- Boutique shops
- Convenience stores
11 Best Things to Buy for Souvenirs (in Taipei)
| Postcards | Crispy pork paper | Jade |
| Pineapple cakes | Tea | Taipei 101 souvenirs |
| Snacks | Art | Suncakes |
| Meat-shaped stones | Pokémon center merch. | Things from Don Don Donki |
I won’t cover most souvenirs in depth in the table above. Because I did so in a separate guide on general souvenirs to get in Taiwan. Souvenirs you’d want in every city will remain the same — for the most part.
This guide will focus specifically on souvenirs you’d want to snatch while you’re in Taipei City. You’ll need this guide whether you’re staying only in Taipei or traveling around the entire country and stopping by.
All my content separates New Taipei and Taipei Cities. Thus, I won’t provide any souvenir recommendations for the former. And yes, New Taipei City has unique souvenirs.
Let’s get to it.
1. Taiwan-style Postcards
- Avg. Price: NT$50 – 100
Postcards are the lightest souvenirs you could pack and take home for your family, friends, and colleagues. Though, they’re a bit of a pain to prevent from crinkling in luggage. Counter this by stuffing them in a book and placing the book in your luggage.
Or send them to folks you care about from Taiwan. It cost me NT$50 to get a stamp to mail a postcard from the post office and mail it to the US. I also didn’t need to speak to the post office staff.
I handed them the post card and NT$100 — assuming the postage would cost less than that amount.
Find Taiwan-style postcards at the following places:
- Tourist hotspots: e.g., Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall & Taipei 101
- Handmade gift shops or stalls (recommended): Generally more expensive.
- Souvenir shops: Cheap & generic (generally).
- Supermarkets/hypermarkets: Rare to find here.
If you’re a stamp collector, pick up cool stamps at the post office. They’re typically NT$6 each — as of 2024.
2. Crispy Pork Paper
- Avg. Price: NT$100+
- Chinese Name: 猪肉纸
- Includes: Pork, dried apples, & almonds.
- Texture: Crispy & chewy.
Crispy pork paper — also pork jerky or pork paper — is a snack made of almond and other fruit pieces combined with dried pork. It’s a popular snack in Taiwan.
It typically includes the ingredients mentioned a second ago, along with apple, soy sauce, and sugar. Included ingredients will vary by manufacturer.
What if you have food allergies? You’ll need a local to translate the packaging’s ingredients for you. And even if it doesn’t have particular ingredients you’re allergic to, there’s the risk of cross contamination.
And if you’re buying it from a stall, cross your fingers that the staff knows everything included in their pork paper. You’ll also likely need a translator to speak to them.
This isn’t a good gift for anyone in many Abrahamic religions — Judaism(Jewish), Islam, and Christian Adventist (not all Christians, though).
Here’s where to find pork paper in Taipei:
- Supermarkets or hypermarkets: Cheapest
- Kuai Che (快车)
- Shilin Night Market
- Raohe Night Market
- Wet markets
- Chiang Ji Hua Long (江記華隆肉紙), Dihua Street
3. Taiwan Jade: Must-buy in Taipei
- Avg. Price: NT$100 – 30,000
Taiwan’s jade is some of the best in the world due to its variety of colors, texture, and transparency and its many jade deposits.
Bangles and beads will cost on the lower end. Meanwhile, statues and more robust jewelry will cost much more.
Then there’s the difference between selling fake and real jade. Many folks may not care whether the jade’s fake. Then a vendor would sell (and be transparent about) fake jade.
I talked to one of the sellers, asking him how to differentiate real and fake jade.
He shown me 2 necklaces — a real and fake one. The authentic one costed NT$5,800 and the fake NT$400.
The best place that you’ll find the most diverse place for jade is the Taipei Weekend Jade Market — or Jianguo Jade Market.
Here’s the address: Jianguo Elevated Rd, Da’an District, Taipei City, 106
How to Identify Real Jade
I’m not a jade expert, but here’s a video where a jade expert tells you how to identify real jade:
Here’s a summary of how to differentiate fake from real jade:
- Must have bright, intense colors.
- Must feel cold to the touch.
- Should have SOME imperfections.
- Should be somewhat transparent when shining a light through it.
Unless you can bring a jeweler with you, I can’t help you in any other way. Practice caution when buying expensive jade.
However, not many scandals have surfaced regarding fake jade brackets in the Weekend Market. It’s a pretty reputable place.
It’s only open on weekends from 9 AM to 6 PM.
4. Pineapple Cake from Chia Te
- Avg. Price:
- NT$38 per pineapple cake (price varies by flavor)
- NT$372 or NT$620 for a box of 20
- Texture: Crumbly
- Taste: Buttery, sweet, tart pineapple filling, fragrant with tropical notes.
Chia Te is a bakery in Taipei City that produces the most popular pineapple cakes in the nation. Hence, why it’s on this list; these pineapple cakes also don’t taste too sweet like cheap ones you’d find at supermarkets.
Hence, why they cost more.
The list above describes the pineapple cake’s texture and taste. If you, or whoever you’re getting these for, doesn’t like the taste and texture, don’t buy them.
Go to the Chia Te bakery on a weekday morning or later afternoon. Otherwise, you might have to wait in a line outside the restaurant. It’s common for long lines of people to queue for these delicious cakes before/after work or during a lunch break.
Then it’s even worse on weekends.
Their bakery also has other baked goods like:
- Mung bean cakes
- Chocolate cake
- Cantonese Mooncakes
- Cakes for weddings
- Suncakes
- Egg yolk cakes
- Green onion nougat cookies
Here’s the best place to find Chia Te cakes:
- No. 88, Section 5, Nanjing E Rd, Songshan District, Taipei City, 105
Take the Taipei MRT Green Line to Nanjing Sanmin and leave the station from Exit 2. Then travel east on Section 5, Nanjing E Rd, and you’ll reach the shop within a couple of minutes.
Flavors you’ll find for their pineapple cakes include:
- Walnut
- Cranberry
- Pineapple & egg yolk: Original & most popular flavor.
- Strawberry
- Cherry
- Hami Melon
- Prune
- Longan
They’ll sell boxes with multiple flavors if that’s what you’re after.
Get it from KKday5. Taiwanese Loose-leaf Tea
- Avg. Price: NT$60 (cheapest) – NT$4,000 (highest-quality) for 600 g
Taiwan is known for producing some of the world’s finest-tasting tea due to having the highest altitudes in the world for growing tea. And Taiwan’s known for their oolong tea.
Here’s where you’ll find tea in Taipei:
- Any tea shop lining the streets: You’ll find hundreds of these.
- Supermarkets: Often lower-quality tea, but cheaper.
- Tourist attractions: Often higher-priced.
- Night markets or wet markets: Rare, but possible.
Tea Varieties Sold in Taiwan
You’ll find these tea varieties in Taipei:
- Oolong – wūlóng (烏龍): Has a floral, fruity, and sometimes grassy flavor.
- Black tea (紅茶): Earthy, malty, floral, with hints of sweet & bitter notes.
- Green tea (綠茶): Grassy, vegetal, floral, with sweet undertones & slight bitterness.
- White tea (白茶): Subtle, delicate, floral, with sweet undertones and light fruitiness.
6. Taipei 101 Souvenirs
| Avg. Souvenir Price | NT$100+ |
| Address (English) | No. 7, Section 5, Xinyi Rd, Xinyi District, Taipei City, 110 |
| Hours | Sun – Thur: 11 AM – 9:30 PM |
| Fri & Sat: 11 AM – 10 PM | |
| 89th Floor Observatory Ticket Price | NT$600 |
| Skyline 460 Ticket Price | NT$1,000 – 3,000 |
Taipei 101 is the country’s tallest skyscraper and the 10th tallest building on Earth [1]. It’s also an excellent tourist attraction that houses the second-highest Starbucks in the world — it’s a “secret” location.
While here, enjoy the shopping center and food court free of charge. Or pay to visit the Observatory (85th floor) and Skyline 460 (101st floor). Both are experiences I highly recommend trying in Taipei.
Worth every penny.
You’ll probably want to commemorate your experience or share it with someone. Consider one of the souvenirs while you’re here. And don’t worry, they’re not too ridiculously priced. Unless you buy from one of the boutique shops.
Taipei 101 also has a tourist tax refund counter. Spend NT$2,000, and you’ll get a 5% VAT refund of your purchase — so long as your goods are unopened. You’ll need a passport to complete this transaction and to pay a 14% handling fee.
You’ll find these souvenirs in Taipei 101:
| Souvenir | Notes |
|---|---|
| Postcards | Cheapest. |
| Liquor bottles shaped like the skyscraper | Keep customs alcohol restrictions in mind. |
| Magnets | Cheap, but bad for electronics in luggage. |
| Shirts | Easy to pack. |
| Snow globes | A pain to pack. |
| Shot glasses | Difficult to pack. |
| Keychains | Easiest to pack. |
| Taipei 101 models | Coolest, but most difficult to pack. |
| Bookmark | Meh. |
| FU WAN Chocolate | Best craft chocolate maker in Taiwan. |
| TenRen Tea | Expensive, but high-quality loose-leaf tea. |
| Nougats | From the Sugar & Spice store. |
| Damper Baby merch. | Taipei 101’s cute mascot. |
This is what Damper Baby looks like:
Find all souvenirs at various gift stands throughout the Taipei 101 shopping center. Or in the Taipei 101 85th-floor Observatory. The shop inside the Observatory seems to have more variety than the rest of the shopping mall, but costs more.
Then you’d need to pay the NT$600 entry fee for the Observatory.
7. Taiwanese Snacks
- Avg. Price: NT$30 – 1,000
By Taiwanese snacks, I’m referring to a bunch of stuff you can stuff your bags with from supermarkets. Refer to the accordion in the beginning of this post titled “What to Buy in Taiwan Supermarkets.”
It tells you all the snacks I recommend trying.
Lower-priced snacks from supermarkets won’t taste as good as their more expensive counterparts from specific stores. But they’re an excellent means to have snacks for your plane ride, family, friends, and colleagues and to hide in your snack stash.
8. Art Made by the Locals
- Avg. Price: Varies
Check out various stands and stalls where artists are hawking their handmade goods. Support a local and bring something cool home for your loved ones.
Find handmade art at any stall spread throughout the city. Or head to the Artist Alley on weekends and check out what the artists there have.
9. Taipei Suncakes
- Avg. Price: NT$270 for a box of 10
- Chinese name: 太陽餅
- Taste: Honey mixed with maltose.
- Texture: Flaky & messy to eat
If you’re going to Taichung City, get these cakes there instead. Because that’s the birthplace of this delicious maltose wonder.
Otherwise, get suncakes from these places in Taipei:
- Supermarkets: Lowest prices.
- Sugar and Spice (糖村): Higher-cost, but best-tasting.
- Chia Te Bakery (佳德糕餅): 2 birds with 1 stone deal; buy pineapple & sun cakes here.
- Taipei Leechi (台北犁記): Another noteworthy bakery.
- Tai Yang Tang Lao Dian (太陽堂老店): Not familiar with this place, but it’s an option.
10. Meat-Shaped Stone
- Avg. Price: NT$200 each
- Notes: Get jade shaped like cabbage for NT$22,000
Meat-shaped stones are chunks of jasper carved into the shape of Dongpo pork or Dongpo meat (东坡肉). Dongpo pork is a popular way of cooking pork belly in Taiwan and China. You’ll find these stones on display at the National Palace Museum in Taipei.
Their gift shop also sells small versions of these stones. You could also grab a tiny jaded cabbage.
11. Pokémon Center Merch
| Hours | Sun – Thur: 11 AM – 9:30 PM |
| Fri – Sat: 11 AM – 10 PM | |
| Address | 110202, Taipei City, Xinyi District, Songshou Rd, 110號 11號 新光三越台北信義新天地A11 3F |
- Important, read first: As of 2024, you will need a reservation to visit the Pokémon Center on the weekends. You can walk in at any time Monday through Friday.
You’d make a reservation by speaking to one of the staff outside the Pokémon Center. They’ll give you a number, tell you when to return, and wait in line to get in.
I recommend coming in on a weekday if possible. It was a nightmare when I went in during the weekend. Parents kept accidentally ramming me with their strollers, and kids kept shoving past me…
If you’re a Pokémon fan, I highly recommend visiting this place since it’s the only other location outside Japan (except Singapore). It’s also much bigger than the Singapore store and has better merchandise.
Anything in particular that I recommend getting?
Always get the themed plushies if you have room in your luggage. They’re typically more than NT$1,700 for the smaller ones. And much more expensive for the bigger ones.
Otherwise, I recommend getting the tea and pineapple cakes if they’re available. The tea types are Taiwanese specialties (e.g., Alishan Oolong Tea). However, I believe the pineapple cakes are regular pineapple cakes.
But they’re from Taiwan. Thus, a food souvenir.
Both items are small enough to where they should fit in your luggage. Otherwise, I’m sure you’ll find tens of small knick-knacks.
However, if you love Azumarill and Mimikyu, prepare for disappointment. Because during the many times I’ve visited, they haven’t had merchandise for either Mon.
12. Stuff from Don Don Donki (Don Quijote)
Taipei has 2 Don Quijote locations, Ximending and near the Guanghua Digital Plaza. They do have 3 other locations outside the capital city, but if you’re primarily spending your time here, you’ll want to check them out.
If you don’t know what this store is, it’s a Japanese discount store chain with locations throughout Asia (and Guam). If you don’t intend to visit locations outside of Taiwan or want items specifically for the Taiwanese market, check out the stores in Taipei.
I wrote a separate guide on what to buy, but here’s a summary:
- Items you can only buy in Taiwan (e.g., cookies)
- Japanese KitKats: If you’re not visiting Japan afterward
- Don Don Donki merch: Plushies, reusable bags, etc
If you love wasabi, you should definitely get the wasabi KitKats. They definitely don’t taste horrendous and totally won’t make you feel like you’ll throw up.
FAQs
Are Shoes Cheaper in Taiwan?
No, only knock-off shoes are cheaper in Taiwan. Most other shoes are priced similarly to those in the United States.
Sources
- [1] Skyscraper Center: Tallest buildings