Taiwan is rapidly growing as a hotspot for globetrotters, thanks to the growing popularity in its food, art, and culture. In the past couple of decades, Taipei has propelled to one of the top-visited places in the world, and one of the highest earning amongst the Chinese-speaking cities on that list. Inevitably, Taipei has seen changes to solidify its place as a desirable destination, especially in development and maintenance of its commemorative sites and attractions. This includes the opening of the Maokong Gondola in 2007, a 4.3km cable car starting from the Taipei Zoo Station.

There are two other stops between the bottom Taipei Zoo Station and the top Maokong Station, each with its own attractions and sites to see. Fresh air, great views, and plenty of tea and ice cream is more than enough excuse to visit for a half- or full-day out to this destination on the outskirts of Taipei City.

Getting Up to Maokong – EasyCard, iPass, and Everything Else

Maokong (貓空) is the area atop a mountain in the southern Wenshan District (文山區) of Taipei City. In order to reach Maokong, visitors will likely first need to reach the Taipei Zoo Station – there are two of these, one relating to the Subway, and the other to the Maokong Gondola, both of which are within walking distance. You can reach these stations by bus; we recommend you search for the best route via Google Maps, whose results for public transport are highly reliable. From the foot of the mountain, there are actually several routes up to Maokong.

Taking the Maokong Gondola

As mentioned, there are a total of 4 stops on the Gondola: the bottom Taipei Zoo Station, followed by Taipei Zoo South, Zhinan Temple, and Maokong Station at the very top. Fares are NTD70, 100, and 120 (US$2.30; $3.30; $3.95) for taking the cable car 1, 2, or 3 stops respectively. You can also visit the Gondola’s website (English available) for other discounted deals such as the Taipei Fun Pass (NTD350; US$11.55), which includes unlimited rides on the Gondola – allowing for stops at all stations without paying extra – as well as unlimited bus and MRT rides.

If you aren’t looking to purchase any of their Discount Tickets, you can generally pay for tickets at the Gondola stations via machines similar to MRT ticketing machines, or at the manned counters. You can also tag on using the EasyCard stored value card like you would for a bus or subway station – but be advised that you cannot use other stored value cards such as iPass, at least as of our trip in April 2019, and as of publishing this article in February 2020.

We figure that this is because EasyCard started in Taipei, whereas the iPass started in Kaohsiung, and as such the EasyCard is favoured at this Taipei attraction. We were informed that they are currently working on allowing the iPass to be used for the Gondola, but with a year passing since asking and seemingly no indication of any progress, we advise of this for awareness. The EasyCard also gives users NTD20 (US$0.70) discount on weekdays, excluding on public holidays and deferred holidays.

Crystal Cabins are also available, much like on the cable car we visited at the Sun Moon Lake. These are cabins whose floors are transparent glass, allowing for almost 360° viewing while inside. However, with these only available once every 3 or 4 cars, and its popularity as a novel experience, the wait can be far longer than for a normal car. We can’t recommend one over the other, it’s simply a matter of preference.

We also advise to check its service days – the Gondola is closed every Monday, except for the first Monday of every month. This, as well as all other information on the Maokong Gondola can be found on their website, which is available in English.

Taking a Bus

You can also take a bus between Maokong Gondola Station and the bottom Taipei Zoo Station. We can’t guarantee the location where you might need to wait for this as we did not take the bus going up. We can, however, advise that you ask the staff at the Taipei Zoo Station for this information. On the way back down, you can take the bus from the Maokong Gondola Bus Station which is where we caught it, but as it was already half-full by the time we got on we suspect it isn’t the first stop.

According to the timetable that we saw on Maokong, the buses that travel up and down the hill depart every 20-60 minutes depending on peak travel. See the image below for a rough idea. The fare one-way is NTD15 (US$0.50), which by far makes it the cheapest method of travelling, but it’s first-come-first-serve, and thanks to the low frequency and the ambiguity of schedules, it can become a huge gamble if you don’t seek information carefully.

Taking a Taxi

Thanks to the hordes of tourists making their way up and down the hill, there are swarms of taxis who are also keen to make a little bit of money by charging exorbitant prices. At the top of the mountain, we were advised that rides down to the bottom were NTD75 per person (US$2.50), which is far cheaper than the NTD120 (US$3.95) it would otherwise be for a one-way Gondola ride. You’ll miss out on the view and the experience of the Gondola, but it’s also cheaper, and far more reliable than the bus, making it a very viable third option.

Activities at the Top of Maokong

Though still a fairly new place to visit, Maokong has several attractions that are heavily geared towards hiking. Plenty of walking trails dot the mountainous area, though there are also plenty of small villages with shops and eateries for you to have refreshments. We advise to prepare for long walks; though the maps around Maokong look fairly simple, there’s a fair distance between each attraction so one will need to be prepared to walk.

Walking Trails

The village is fairly dispersed, meaning that walking is a given. All throughout, there’s no shortage of walking trails and scenic locations for photo opportunities, from tiny paths with vague markings to newly-built platforms. If you enjoy wandering on foot, it’s a great opportunity to get some fresh air and see Taipei from new heights.

Sampling Tea and Visiting the Taipei Tea Promotion Centre

Thanks to its location in the mountains, the Wenshan District upon which Maokong sits is famous for its tea, especially its prized tieguanyin (鐵觀音), an oolong tea with a complex processing method. The best tieguanyin tea is also some of the most expensive teas in the world. Its name means Iron Goddess of Mercy, though buyers should be careful of other varieties of tea that are processed using the Iron Goddess Method, which can also be called Iron Goddess Tea.

Around 1.5km (~1 mile) from the Maokong Gondola Station is the Taipei Tea Promotion Centre, a small museum showcasing the materials and machinery involved in processing tieguanyin, and also a garden for relaxation. Entry is free (though there is a length staircase to the front doors), and a basic tieguanyin tea is available free-flow in the museum for its visitors to sample.

Though the gardens were closed for maintenance on the day we arrived, it all made for a nice visit to better understand the process and art of Taiwanese tea.

Tea Soft-Serve Ice-Cream

Throughout the village in Maokong, there are plenty of shops selling tea, all of which are happy to provide samples to taste of the merchandise available. There are also plenty of teahouses and cafés, with the most popular product in the area being black or green tea soft-serve ice creams, that we witnessed almost every group of people eat as we wandered around.

It seemed one of those dishes that, while not necessarily unique to the area, is a must-eat while you’re there, much like Raohe Night Market’s pepper buns or Anping Fort’s tofu pudding. Regardless of where you go, the price is fairly consistent at NTD90 (US$3), steep for the product but understandable in such a touristy area.

We sampled two, with the first being from the Maokong Tea House. This one was visually one of the most impressive, thanks to its expensive waffle cones compared to the wafers of most other shops. The black tea ice-cream was topped with a little green-tea sugar cookie cat, which was pretty disappointing right off the bat – thick and doughy, it had few redeeming qualities. Unfortunately, the ice-cream was hardly any better, icy in texture and rather bland. In all honesty, the cone was the best component.

We headed next door to Ting Tea Garden in order to get over our experience. We didn’t expect too much, thanks to the machine being located outside giving it a desperate, cheap sort of vibe. Surprisingly, it was much better, with a creamier texture despite the odd crystal of ice, and its thinner, crisper cocoa sugar cookie cat was much more satisfying. In all, neither were exactly the best quality ice-cream we’ve ever tried, but if you’re there and you want some we can say for sure that they’re not the same from store to store.

As long as you’re up for a walk and some quiet, the Maokong is a great half- or full-day visit to get away from the busy streets of Taipei City. It’s also a great place to stock up on tea souvenirs for all your foodie friends, and experience a change of pace from the high-pace shopping, dining, and sights in the centre.

Taipei Zoo Gondola Station (動物園站)
No. 8, Section 2, Xinguang Road, Wenshan District, Taipei City, Taiwan 116
Website for the Maokong Gondola