This is actually not my first time to take Maolan Gondola, just want to tell you how fun it is!
Taipei Maolan is going up about 330 meter height and about 25 minutes the whole trip, it only cost you 3 usd dollars, first stop it took you to Taipei Zoo, second stop is to Chih-nan temple, the very last stop is “Mao-Kong”, the direct translation of this place in Chinese is like cat empty, well there are 2 stories about this name, 1 is said that the cats are all gone with the tea house shutting down in a period of time, so it’s cat empty. Some others said this name is the pronunciation according to the dialect of it’s geography terrain.
Like it’s name Mao-Kong once is famous for its quality, locally grown tea. So when the Gondola open in 2007, the tourist came back to this place, make these tea house recover it’s prosperity. (I’m not sure if the cats come back too?) If you like to find delicious food upthere, many local family restaurants are renovated, food it great too. (normally we eat rice with pork, beef, fish and fried veggies… etc.) After a greasy chinese meal, to have a cup of Tieguanyie tea is the best thing we like to do here, especially sitting on the terrace with a Taipei view from the mountains top.
