If you walk through Taoyuan Airport, Taiwan’s largest airport you will find that the terminals are a convenient, intellectually stimulating, cultural-tour microcosm of Taiwan, allowing you to truly enjoy your stay at the island’s most important gateway.
Your time is precious. As is your money. You’ve expended hard-won resources to be in Taiwan, and have limited time here, but want to know the country as best you can. Guaranteed is that precious time will be spent at the international airport – most likely Taiwan Taoyuan International – and Ever Rich Duty Free guarantees that you will have zero down time while there. It has designed an expansive duty-free space, which encompasses Terminals 1 and 2 and the long corridors connecting the two, as a giant square gallery of cultural edu-tainment for your exploration.
As you’d expect, this is a sparkling showcase of the world’s most prestigious brands. But, even more importantly for your purposes, it is a microcosm of Taiwan’s traditional culture and modern cultural-creative dynamism.
Using the airport when traveling to destinations throughout Asia and beyond means spending time at different gates and various duty-free areas each time. The Ever Rich program ensures, you can spend this time well, “exploring Taiwan” without leaving the airport.
Here’s how. The duty-free area is divided into quadrants – interconnected, no movement restrictions, Ever Rich handling A, B, and C, presenting scores of “Taiwan travel” themes to choose from.
Passageways
Ever Rich maintains the interconnecting passageways, beautifying all in accordance with iconic Taiwan-culture themes. A prime example is actually two examples – the Wall of Literature, experienced in two Terminal 1 locations. The calligraphy-covered walls have been created by a renowned Taiwan calligrapher and award-winning music lyricist who specializes in bringing Taiwan landscapes, foods, and everyday culture to life through word imagery. Elsewhere, you’ll see walls teeming with foliage; look closely and you’ll see thousands of individually tended pots, homage to Taiwan’s fecund earth and rich globe-straddling cash-crop decorative-plant industry.
Wall of Literature
Waiting Lounges
Each lounge has been made an aesthetic showcase of a single iconic element in Taiwan’s cultural mosaic. A dynamic marquee wall greets you on entry, boldly announcing the theme, and inside is specially commissioned artwork, accompanied by a kiosk with explanatory video and printed Chinese/English background info. Among the most compelling is the Taiwan Aboriginal Arts lounge (A6), where indigenous artist Siki Sufin has used three classic native mediums, driftwood, rattan, and bamboo, in a powerful wall-art display of traditional artistic motifs. Among the other intriguing lounge themes are Taiwan Alpine, Taiwan Fruit, Glamorous Textile Art, Taiwan Orchid, Taiwan Faience, MIT Bike, Taiwan Opera, Taiwan Music, Taiwan Faience, Glory of Sports, and Taiwanese Local Cuisine, the last mimicking the island’s raucous, colorful traditional night markets.
Taiwan Aboriginal Arts waiting lounge
Taiwan Alpine waiting lounge
Taiwan Fruit waiting lounge
Taiwan Faience waiting lounge
Taiwanese Local Cuisine waiting lounge
Glory of Sports waiting lounge
Taiwan music lounge
Taiwan Movie lounge
“Taiwan Famous Products” Shops
What better way to experience Taiwan than to buy an iconic culture sample to take home as souvenir? I strongly suggest starting at Taiwan Image (C6). First, you’ll see a large map-poster showing Taiwan’s score upon score of “famous products” made in each locality – pineapple cakes, nougat candy, Hakka-style floral fabrics, etc. Almost all, purchasable in souvenir form, are available in the duty-free area. Right beside this map-poster is another one indicating where Taiwan’s renowned teas are grown – especially its high-mountain varieties – and directly below this is a driftwood table-chair set, typical of those found at high-mountain plantation retail outlets, where free samples are prepared traditional-style.
Taiwan tea tasting area
Your culture-hunting gives you much food for thought, and as you’ve found, much inspiration for purchase of actual “famous foods” in packaged form to take home to share. At this time your adventuring will no doubt result in a growling tummy, demanding to be fed, so continue your themed edu-tainment with “live” gourmand touring. Ever Rich’s homee Kitchen restaurant serves a delicious menu of Taiwan-classic culinary creations – the name “homee” was, in fact, chosen because it sounds like “delicious” in Taiwanese. The chef’s special is gourmet beef noodles. Among the hot-snack dishes beloved by locals are Tainan danzai (“carrying-pole”) noodles, braised pork rice, wonton soup, and other delicious specialties.
As well, keep an eye out along the corridors for the old-style street-vendor carts, where samples of other fresh-made classic treats are “hawked,” such as pork crisps, pineapple cakes, and egg rolls.
Pork crisps tasting
Hello Kitty waiting area
Prayer rooms for people of different faiths
A final note: To help you, Ever Rich has prepared a special brochure, Journey Through an Airport, available at its info centers in each area, with suggested tours of differing duration.
Find out more about Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport at: www.taoyuan-airport.com.
Find out more about Ever Rich Duty Free at: www.everrich-group.com.
