At any of Taipei’s busy intersections in the evening, you can see thousands of motorcycle riders decked out in helmets and face masks, looking like anonymous biker gangs heading out to cause trouble. Taiwan has more than 8 million motorcycles on the road, double its number of cars.

The neon lights of the busy night markets and the landmark skyscraper, Taipei 101, also seem to typify the busy capital of Taiwan.

The city has its charms but if the madding crowds cause you to wish for a quiet refuge, there are some very good options not far away.

Zhuzi Hu, also known as Bamboo Lake, is an hour away by car from central Taipei. A two-hour train journey south from Taipei gets you to incredible Taroko Gorge.

Bamboo Lake

Despite its name, Bamboo Lake has no bamboo and no lake.

Known for its flower cultivation, Bamboo Lake supplies half of Taiwan’s calla lilies. It is located in Yangmingshan National Park and features more than 20 volcanoes and many hot springs.

Soothing brooks gently lap against the rocks and moss. Colorful wildflowers stretch from cracks in the rock wall. Follow a brook and you will encounter calla lilies decorating terraced fields that engrave the deep valley. Fresh mountain air is perfumed by the lilies.

You can join the farmers to hand pick some calla lilies or sit back with a cup of tea at a pavilion overlooking the terraced field.

Taroko Gorge

If you want to escape farther away, take a two-hour train trip south from Taipei to meet one of Taiwan’s eight wonders, Taroko Gorge.

Taroko means magnificent mountains in the language of the indigenous Truku people, known for their tattooed faces and weaving skills. With an area of 92,000 hectares and many peaks over 3,000 meters high, Taroko Gorge National Park has at least 10 worthwhile points of interest, with Baiyang waterfall trail in Tianxiang being the best.

The Baiyang trail is 2.2 kilometers long and begins with a 380-meter tunnel, the end of which is the starting point for a one-hour cliff walk that encompasses seven more tunnels of different lengths and curves.

Going through these tunnels is a little scary. Bring a flashlight. The sunlight or the sound of the fast flowing stream also helps guide hikers. As you venture into the deepest sections of the long tunnels, you can extend your hand and not see it in the darkness. One second you might land on the flat floor, next second you could step into a water pit.

At the end of each tunnel, you are rewarded with vistas of the green canyon below the winding mountain path. After seven tunnels, you feel like you’ve left civilization behind and you’re ready for the charms of Baiyang waterfalls.

The spectacular waterfalls can be viewed from a suspension bridge, the water captivating as it splashes into the crystal clear pool and flows through rocks, sometimes murmuring and sometimes gushing. Varied landforms from odd faces to heart shapes are sculpted in the marble gorge, topped by dense forests.

Walk through the tunnel next to the suspension bridge and you will find a “water curtain cave.” A walk through the cave, where cool mountain spring water pours down from the roof and forms a shallow pond, can seem like magic.

Taipei’s Shilin night market

Nature enchants you but it does not fill your stomach. If you’re headed back to Taipei, the night markets are a good place to eat.

With more than 200 years of history, modern Taiwanese cuisine is a fusion of indigenous Hakka food, Chinese regional food, especially Fujian cuisine, as well as Japanese food.

Since the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), ethnic Han Chinese from Fujian and Guangdong provinces started to migrate to Taiwan and turned the mountains into their homes. Traders carried homemade snacks in their bamboo yokes to find hungry laborers. Their sales calls echoed in and out of the mountains and rice fields.

The once simple food popular with laborers became the root of the now world renowned Taiwanese cuisine.

Shilin in the north of Taipei has one of the largest and most famous night markets in Taiwan. It includes more than 500 food stalls. Snacks, or xiaochi in Chinese, come in all forms and flavors: tropical fruit, pearl milk tea, fish balls, zhuxuegao (pig blood cake), guabao (Taiwanese burger), oyster omelet and rouyuan (Taiwanese meatballs), to name a few.

But do not forget there is more than just food as you squeeze through the crowds. Watch out for action: Boiling fish balls are smoothly poured into four or five bowls in one go, and sprinkled with finely chopped spring onions. A kitchen hand will then effortlessly stack them up, lift and go, shuffling through the crowd of people. Before you catch your breath, these bowls will have arrived at your table safe and sound.

Bamboo Lake

Take Taipei MTR Danshui Line to MTR Beitou Station, then take a taxi to Bamboo Lake located in the Yangmingshan National Park. The fare ranges from NT$300 (US$10.15) to NT$400. It takes 40 minutes by taxi from MTR Beitou Station to Bamboo Lake. Or, at MTR Beitou Station, take mini bus 9 at Beitou Elementary School to go to Bamboo Lake. Visit http://english.ymsnp.gov.tw

Taroko National Park

Hualian Bus Company runs a shuttle from Hualian Train Station to Taroko National Park daily and it takes one hour. Baiyang Waterfall is located in Tianxiang, which is the last bus stop on the Hualian Bus route. Taiwan Railway runs trains frequently from Taipei to Hualian throughout the day and the train journey takes two hours. Visit Taiwan railways at http:www.railway.gov.tw.en/; Taroko National Park at http://www.taroko.gov.tw/english/

Shilin Night Market

Take Taipei MTR-Danshui Line to MTR Jiantan Station. Shilin Night Market is across the street from Jiantan Station.

Lighting up Shanghai

Shanghai's iconic Oriental Pearl TV Tower will be illuminated every night from Friday until November 24. The extravaganza is part of celebrations for the 170-year anniversary of when Shanghai became an international treaty port and the 15th Shanghai International Art Festival.

Advanced lighting, projection and three-dimensional animation technologies will be used to create dreamlike images.

The tower has been covered with LEDs. The 15-minute show will be staged at 7pm, 8pm and 9pm daily.

Denmark tour packages

Tourists who buy tour packages to Denmark during the 2014 Badminton World Championship from August 25 to 31 in Copenhagen from online travel agency Ctrip will get free tickets to the matches.

Ctrip has signed an agreement with the Scandinavian Tourist Board to sell Denmark tour packages targeting tourists who want to see the world’s best badminton players compete for global bragging rights. Tour packages will go on sale beginning January 1.

Budget flight to Taipei

Juneyao Airlines will launch a direct flight between Shanghai and Taipei on December 1 with discounted prices. A return ticket will cost 900 yuan (US$145), excluding taxes. Flight HO1309/10 will take off from Pudong International Airport at 10:30am and land in Taipei at 12:20pm. The Taipei to Shanghai flight will take off at 1:30pm. The flight will operate every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. The Shanghai-based airline opened a direct flight between Shanghai and Kaohsiung on November 1 as it seeks to tap the surging demand of Chinese mainland tourists who want to visit the island. The airline said the Kaohsiung flights are about 95 percent full on average.

New Boeing planes

Garuda Indonesia Airlines has begun operating new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft on its Shanghai-Jakarta route. Flight GA895 takes off at 10:05am from Shanghai and arrives in Jakarta at 3:25pm. The airline also has three weekly flights from Beijing with the new aircraft. The planes have eight first-class seats, 38 business-class seats and 268 seats in economy class.

Airbus A380s in Shanghai

Singapore Airlines has begun using Airbus A380 planes between Shanghai and Singapore. Flight SQ825 takes off from Pudong International Airport at 12:10am and lands in Singapore at 5:50am. The return flight takes off at 5:05pm and arrives in Pudong at 10:20pm. The airline became the sixth to use the superjumbo jets on flights to Shanghai. The others include Emirates, Air France, Lufthansa and China-based Hainan Airlines and China Southern Airlines.

The A380 can carry 853 passengers in an all-economy class configuration.