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Taiwan Diary: MRT Souvenir Stamps
Apr. 15th, 2024 12:11 pmI may have talked about this before, but if not, here’s the scoop. Taipei Metro has six lines: the Wenhu (Brown) Line, Tamsui-Xinyi (Red) Line, Songshan-Xindian (Green) Line, Zhonghe-Xinlu (Orange) Line, Bannan (Blue) Line, and Circular (Yellow) Line. Each station on those lines has a commemorative stamp that you can collect in a notebook. I’m sure I learned about it via a recommended Instagram post. Apparently, it is a popular practice in Japan, with stamps available at metro stations, train stations, and tourist sites. Given Taiwan’s close history with Japan, I imagine that’s where the inspiration came from. Bayani Pascual gives an account of their collecting in this blog post. When I learned of the practice, I immediately became intrigued. I love collecting things like stamps and stickers and smashed pennies. I bought a notebook last fall and started collecting.
I did not make much of a concerted effort to collect all the stamps. I also collected stamps when I visited Kaohsiung and rode the MRT there, as well as collecting stamps from sites like Hsinchu’s HSR Station, Bopiliao Historic Block in Taipei, and Taroko Gorge Visitor Center. I entertained vague thoughts of collecting all the Taipei MRT stamps before I left, and then, suddenly, the end of my time living here loomed large. As of this posting, I only have seven more weekends in Taiwan, and with that, all that comes with packing up my life to move on to my next post.
But I’m not ready to give up. On Friday night, I got out my notebook, opened up a map of the MRT lines, and made a list of the stamps I already had. One blogger decided to challenge himself to collect all 122 stamps in one day! I’m not quite that dedicated. I decided to try the Wenhu Line first since one of its terminal stations was close to an HSR station. I got a late start Saturday morning, arriving in Taipei around 11 AM. I took the train to Nangang Station, on the eastern side of the city, and first checked out a bookstore and got a coffee. I started my collection trip in earnest around noon. I had plans to stop at a few stations along the way, to get out and stretch my legs, and be done by five, at which time I planned to be at Fonda Mexico, my favorite restaurant in Taipei, sipping a margarita and eating some delicious tacos. I needed to collect 20 of the line’s 24 stamps, but I figured I would easily be done by five.
Despite the slow start, I didn’t feel too much pressure. In the aforementioned blog, the poster mentioned that MRT cards have a little warning built in -- if someone makes too many stops in a day, too close together, it will stop working. This is to prevent too many people from using the same card at once or to stop the card in case it’s been stolen. Since I have a dread of being thought foolish by strangers, I decided to purchase a lot of single-trip tokens. It worked out pretty well. I stopped at Donghu, the second stop on my journey, because I was already hot, and got a snack and a Coke at 7-11. Then I stopped at Dahu Park, which has a lovely moon bridge and lots of pretty birds. I didn’t get any good pictures of the birds, but I enjoyed the breeze and the shade and the peaceful atmosphere. I didn’t stop much again for the next four-ish stations -- just in and out to get the stamps. My phone battery was getting perilously low, so I decided to try out one of the charging stations. If you download an app, you can rent battery packs, take them with you, and return them to another charging station when you’re done. You’re charged 15 NT (about $0.45) per hour. It’s a handy service.
I made another stop at the Jiannan Road Station. There is a mall nearby, with another bookstore I wanted to check out. I found the book I had been looking for AND saw a Swinhoe's white eye for my bird list. (I really need to get a better camera and a pair of binoculars if I’m going to fill out that life list!) However, though my shopping and bird-watching were successful, I was still 14 stops from the end of the line, and it was nearly four o’clock!
Thankfully, I could skip five stations that I’d already collected stamps from, but I had to buckle down and get busy stamping if I wanted to make it to the restaurant in time before the weekend dinner rush. I had a pocketful of tokens and a second wind. I made it to Muzha Station shortly after five o’clock. I didn’t have to go all the way to the Taipei Zoo Station terminal, having collected that stamp last fall. Then I had to get back on the train, ride seven stops to Daan Station, where I transferred to the Red Line, and then a few more stops to tacos and victory!
Looking back, it was a good choice to start with the Brown Line. Much of the line is above ground, so I got a chance to look out into neighborhoods I wouldn’t have otherwise visited as they aren’t in a very touristy area of town. I should have been careful to drink water along the way. I was so sweaty all day -- it’s getting hot and extra humid now that summer’s approaching. When I got to Fonda, I guzzled that frosty margarita down, and got a very swimmy head for my troubles.
Next weekend, I’m going to get an earlier start and tackle the Blue Line. I only need 11 stamps for the Blue Line and the Green Line, but the Blue Line connects to the HSR station. I’ll try the Green Line the week after next, probably, and then, maybe, I’ll try the Red Line. I need about 20 stamps for the Red Line, alas. Maybe I’ll take a mental health day mid-week and attempt the Red Line. There’s an ice cream shop near one of the stations that was a filming location for HIStory 3: Trapped, one of my favorite BL dramas. I’ve been meaning to visit it, but it’s a bit off the beaten track.
If you’re interested in seeing all the station stamps, you can check out the five main lines here. There are PDFs with the stamps. The stamps for the Yellow Line, which is newer, can be found here. I haven’t bothered with figuring out how to host my own pics on DW, but these are clearer examples anyway.
This is definitely one of the nerdiest things I’ve ever done, but I enjoyed it. I might seek out a few of the cool stamps from the lines I don’t finish, but regardless, I’m glad I learned about these stamps, and in the future, I’ll be sure to travel with a blank notebook, just in case.
I did not make much of a concerted effort to collect all the stamps. I also collected stamps when I visited Kaohsiung and rode the MRT there, as well as collecting stamps from sites like Hsinchu’s HSR Station, Bopiliao Historic Block in Taipei, and Taroko Gorge Visitor Center. I entertained vague thoughts of collecting all the Taipei MRT stamps before I left, and then, suddenly, the end of my time living here loomed large. As of this posting, I only have seven more weekends in Taiwan, and with that, all that comes with packing up my life to move on to my next post.
But I’m not ready to give up. On Friday night, I got out my notebook, opened up a map of the MRT lines, and made a list of the stamps I already had. One blogger decided to challenge himself to collect all 122 stamps in one day! I’m not quite that dedicated. I decided to try the Wenhu Line first since one of its terminal stations was close to an HSR station. I got a late start Saturday morning, arriving in Taipei around 11 AM. I took the train to Nangang Station, on the eastern side of the city, and first checked out a bookstore and got a coffee. I started my collection trip in earnest around noon. I had plans to stop at a few stations along the way, to get out and stretch my legs, and be done by five, at which time I planned to be at Fonda Mexico, my favorite restaurant in Taipei, sipping a margarita and eating some delicious tacos. I needed to collect 20 of the line’s 24 stamps, but I figured I would easily be done by five.
Despite the slow start, I didn’t feel too much pressure. In the aforementioned blog, the poster mentioned that MRT cards have a little warning built in -- if someone makes too many stops in a day, too close together, it will stop working. This is to prevent too many people from using the same card at once or to stop the card in case it’s been stolen. Since I have a dread of being thought foolish by strangers, I decided to purchase a lot of single-trip tokens. It worked out pretty well. I stopped at Donghu, the second stop on my journey, because I was already hot, and got a snack and a Coke at 7-11. Then I stopped at Dahu Park, which has a lovely moon bridge and lots of pretty birds. I didn’t get any good pictures of the birds, but I enjoyed the breeze and the shade and the peaceful atmosphere. I didn’t stop much again for the next four-ish stations -- just in and out to get the stamps. My phone battery was getting perilously low, so I decided to try out one of the charging stations. If you download an app, you can rent battery packs, take them with you, and return them to another charging station when you’re done. You’re charged 15 NT (about $0.45) per hour. It’s a handy service.
I made another stop at the Jiannan Road Station. There is a mall nearby, with another bookstore I wanted to check out. I found the book I had been looking for AND saw a Swinhoe's white eye for my bird list. (I really need to get a better camera and a pair of binoculars if I’m going to fill out that life list!) However, though my shopping and bird-watching were successful, I was still 14 stops from the end of the line, and it was nearly four o’clock!
Thankfully, I could skip five stations that I’d already collected stamps from, but I had to buckle down and get busy stamping if I wanted to make it to the restaurant in time before the weekend dinner rush. I had a pocketful of tokens and a second wind. I made it to Muzha Station shortly after five o’clock. I didn’t have to go all the way to the Taipei Zoo Station terminal, having collected that stamp last fall. Then I had to get back on the train, ride seven stops to Daan Station, where I transferred to the Red Line, and then a few more stops to tacos and victory!
Looking back, it was a good choice to start with the Brown Line. Much of the line is above ground, so I got a chance to look out into neighborhoods I wouldn’t have otherwise visited as they aren’t in a very touristy area of town. I should have been careful to drink water along the way. I was so sweaty all day -- it’s getting hot and extra humid now that summer’s approaching. When I got to Fonda, I guzzled that frosty margarita down, and got a very swimmy head for my troubles.
Next weekend, I’m going to get an earlier start and tackle the Blue Line. I only need 11 stamps for the Blue Line and the Green Line, but the Blue Line connects to the HSR station. I’ll try the Green Line the week after next, probably, and then, maybe, I’ll try the Red Line. I need about 20 stamps for the Red Line, alas. Maybe I’ll take a mental health day mid-week and attempt the Red Line. There’s an ice cream shop near one of the stations that was a filming location for HIStory 3: Trapped, one of my favorite BL dramas. I’ve been meaning to visit it, but it’s a bit off the beaten track.
If you’re interested in seeing all the station stamps, you can check out the five main lines here. There are PDFs with the stamps. The stamps for the Yellow Line, which is newer, can be found here. I haven’t bothered with figuring out how to host my own pics on DW, but these are clearer examples anyway.
This is definitely one of the nerdiest things I’ve ever done, but I enjoyed it. I might seek out a few of the cool stamps from the lines I don’t finish, but regardless, I’m glad I learned about these stamps, and in the future, I’ll be sure to travel with a blank notebook, just in case.
