Taipei: A Tourist Friendly City?

There is no way to truely experience Taiwan without staying in Taipei. As the educational, cultural, and financial center of the country, Taipei attracts more visitors than anywhere else. Since Taipei is home to the only major International airport in Taiwan, almost every foreignor will arrive in Taipei. Unlike in most major big cities, Taipei is full of friendly people. There are several museums, department stores, and restaurants that make this city unique and exciting. However, the most difficult thing to do is to navigate the streets of Taipei. It's easy to go somewhere if it is close to an MRT (subway) stop. If you have to walk a few blocks from the station, it is not going to be easy. Instead of using 'pingyin', the system of writing that uses English letters to represent the sound of a Chinese character, Taiwan uses their own system. As much as this is a problem for people trying to learn Chinese, it is even more of a problem for tourists. The government decided to make all road signs in English letters. That's a great idea, but it is all spelled wrong. The same street is spelled numerous ways, depending on the map you are using. I've seen major cities like 'Taizhong' spelled 'Taichong' and 'Taichung'. I would think it's best to just copy down Chinese characters if you need to get somewhere. Of course this doesn't really help most of the tourists.