Taipei, the political and financial centre of Taiwan, is the island’s most populous city. Now a sprawling metropolis, Taipei is an ideal place to visit for those who love the hustle and bustle of the big city. English is not widely spoken in Taiwan, and most street signs and signs for bars and restaurants will not be in English. Most hotels do have staff who speak English, and in many bars, you may find that if the staff cannot communicate with you, they will find someone who can. When you are going out and about, you may find it useful to get your hotel to write down the address in Chinese, or pick up business cards which you can then give to the taxi driver to get you to where you want to go.

Taiwan is one of Asia’s most progressive countries as far as LGBT rights are concerned and certainly the most liberal of the Chinese diaspora. Not only does the Taipei Government print its own free guide to the gay community, but school children are taught about homosexuality and tolerance for sexual minorities. Taiwan held its first Gay Pride Festival in 2003 in Taipei’s Memorial Park. The Red Theatre Plaza, is Taipei’s gay-friendly, multi-cultural zone. Most of the Karaoke Bars are gay-friendly and popular places to hang out for the older gay crowd. There is no gaybourhood as such, the gay bars are all over Taipei.

The hotels listed are mostly gay-friendly, the bars are either gay or gay-friendly and the restaurants are there for their delicious food! They are so tolerant here, everywhere will probably be gay-friendly.