Last Updated on January 1, 2025 by admin
If you are wondering what to bring from Taiwan, then this is your one-stop guide for recommendations on Souvenirs from Taiwan. This Taiwan souvenir shopping guide has suggestions for food, handicrafts, liquor, and jewellery that offer something for every taste and preference.
No matter how short or long my trip is, I ensure to purchase something from the trip to make for great memories. Since I have reduced collecting too many items and trying to live in a minimalistic (read sustainable) way, my go-to souvenirs are refrigerator magnets and snacks and beverages.
However, as a tourist, I understand you also need to purchase items for gifting and sometimes also for personal use. No matter what your reason is, check out these souvenirs to buy from Taiwan.
Table of Contents
SOUVENIRS FROM TAIWAN
Let’s get straight to the options as well as where to buy them and the approximate cost!
Gaji Bags | Taiwanese Tote Bags
First things first! You are likely to want to purchase something while visiting a temple, a natural site or a market. You may not have a bag to carry your shopping. This is where the Gaji bags come in handy. Literally sold everywhere, Gaji bags are very popular and one of the cheap souvenirs from Taiwan.
Gaji bags, also known as Taiwanese Tote Bags, are traditional bags typically made from plastic mesh and characterized by colourful stripes in red, green, and blue.
Originally crafted during the Japanese era using locally grown rush grass, modern Gaji bags are now made from durable nylon fabric, resembling fishing nets in texture and construction. This material is ideal for agricultural, rural, and market use, as it is robust, easy to clean with water, and air-dries quickly.
Many brands and shops add their logos to Gaji Bags for sale. I saw Gaji bags in the Starbucks store too!
Cost of Gaji Bags: TWD 10 – 50 (US$0.30 – 1.5)
Ceramic Tea Set
Taiwan is famous for its tea, so it’s no surprise that it also produces accessories to pour that tea. Tea is a ritual and is served in beautiful ceramics, pottery, and tea sets.
You can find a variety of hand-crafted and hand-painted tea brewing mugs, as well as elaborate tea sets designed for gongfu-style tea preparation. Gongfu is a traditional Chinese tea-brewing method that emphasizes bringing out the finest qualities of high-quality loose-leaf tea by using a much higher leaf-to-water ratio than standard brewing.
A typical Taiwanese tea set includes a teapot and small bowls instead of the conventional tea cups and saucers. Since tea is enjoyed without sugar or milk, there’s no need for milk jugs or sugar bowls. The number of tea bowls in a set can vary, typically ranging from 2 to 8, as there is no fixed standard.
These ceramic tea sets make thoughtful and elegant gifts, particularly for someone who enjoys savouring tea in a tranquil setting. I found a stunning tea set at the Jianguo Holiday Flower Market at an amazing bargain!
If you are a ceramics fanatic and have spare time, you can visit the Yingge Ceramics Street in New Taipei City. With over 100 shops, this area offers an incredible variety of pottery, ceramics, and teaware to suit all budgets. The area also houses the Yingge Ceramics Museum.
Cost of Ceramic Tea Set: TWD 500 – 5000 (US$15 – 150)
T-shirts
T-shirts are also an affordable way to remember a trip and also a perfect souvenir to boast to your family and friends. T-shirts are mostly sold everywhere – in a bustling city market, a mall or sometimes as landmark souvenirs. They often feature iconic landmarks, cultural symbols, local artwork, or catchy slogans representing the place.
In Taiwan, you will most likely find T-shirts showcasing cartoon characters, anime characters, Taipei 101 designs and boba tea.
T-shirts are lightweight, easy to pack, and come in various sizes and styles, making them ideal for travellers looking for affordable yet meaningful souvenirs.
Cost of T-shirts from Taiwan: TWD 200 – 500 (US$6 – 15)
Name stamps
Name stamps in the digital age are as unique as they can get. I have seen characters in Chinese dramas with these seals, so if offbeat souvenirs from Taiwan attract you, then this is a must!
It’s easy and cheap to have a local stamp maker to custom-create a name stamp for you and it gets made within a few hours. There are a variety of designs and materials to choose from.
If you don’t have a Chinese name already, you can ask the vendor to transliterate your name based on how it sounds. This is a great place to get a name stamp in Taiwan.
Depending upon the material of the name stamp and characters, the costs of stamps will vary. Stamp material includes rosewood, jade as well as copper.
Cost of Name Stamps: TWD 800 – 150000 (US$50 – 500)
Artificial flowers
During my visit to Taiwan, I saw Orchids everywhere! On-street trees, public bathrooms, mall lobbies, restaurants and even locals carrying them. The colours, shades and types made me yearn for them and I wanted to take them back home.
While it is not allowed to carry seeds and roots of native plant species, you can settle for artificial plants. They are long-lasting, washable and look almost real. I found them at Jianguo Flower Market
Cost of Artificial Flowers: TWD 300 – 1000 (US$10 – 30)
Chinese decoration items
Go to any flea market, and it will be filled with trinkets, threads, amulets and charms. Their use in traditional temples and homes is fixed but they also make for beautiful and exotic decoration items. They are affordable and look incredibly beautiful as souvenirs from Taiwan.
Cost of Decoration items: TWD 10 – 200 (US$0.3 – 6)
Mochi
Mochi is super popular in Japan and reels of Mochi being made always garner a lot of views. Mochi are small chewy balls of glutinous rice that contain a wide variety of fillings. They pounded a lot of times and there were always 2 people, one pounding it and the other one shifting the mochi in between the pounds. The rhythmic pounding makes watching Mochi’s preparation amazing!
While you may not easily find Mochi making in Taiwan, the snack is equally popular in Taiwan. Taiwanese mochi comes in a wide range of fillings, including red bean paste, peanut, black sesame, taro, matcha, chocolate and fruit-flavoured fillings.
Mochi is carefully packaged in individual plastic packs and then in a box. They are beautifully packaged in pairs of twos, fours or eights or sixteens. It has a low shelf life so it’s best to purchase vacuum-packed options to carry back home.
Cost of Taiwanese Mochi: TDW 120 – 500 (US$3.6 – 15)
Taro Pastry and Chips
Taro is a purple-coloured tropical root vegetable that has a starchy flesh with a nutty and sweet flavour. Taro is a beloved ingredient in Taiwanese cuisine and is widely used in sweet and savoury dishes.
Taro pastries, or taro-flavored mooncakes, are delicate and flaky treats filled with sweet taro paste. The outer layer is typically made from thin, buttery pastry, while the inside is packed with smooth, creamy taro filling. The pastries are enjoyed with tea.
Taro chips are to Taiwan and Tapioca chips are to Kerala, India. Taro chips are crunchy chips that are made by slicing taro into thin pieces and frying, air-frying or baking them. These chips retain the root vegetable’s subtle sweetness and earthy flavour and may or may not be salted or flavoured with other spices before packaging.
Both Taro Pastry and Chips make for a delicious Taiwan Souvenir!
Cost of Taro Pastry: TWD 200 – 500 (US$6 – 15)
Cost of Taro Chips: TWD 50 – 150 (US$1.5 – 4.5)
Freeze-dried Fruits
Taiwan’s sub-tropical climate produces an array of high-quality fruits, and the freeze-drying process captures their natural sweetness, intense flavours, and nutritional benefits. Freeze-drying of fruits ensures they can be enjoyed non-seasonally making up for one of the healthy souvenirs from Taiwan.
These fruits are light to carry and make up for on-the-go, guilt-free snacks. Additionally, the compact and resealable packaging makes freeze-dried fruits convenient for travellers.
Strawberries, mangoes, pineapples, dragon fruit and guavas are some of the fruits that are freeze-dried, packaged and sold in supermarkets.
Cost of Freeze Dried Fruits in Taiwan: TWD 150 – 300 (US$4.5 – $10)
Incense sticks
Just like in India, Chinese temples also burn incense sticks in their temples.
While some may find it odd to carry incense sticks as souvenirs back home, incense burning is not necessarily for temples, it is known to have many therapeutic benefits for the mind. So carry a piece of good-smelling sticks for air purifications, warding off evil energies and also peaceful sleep.
Cost of incense sticks: TWD 150 – 500 (US$4.5 – 15)
Pineapple cake
Pineapple cakes are one of Taiwan’s most beloved and widely available sweet treats. These cakes feature a buttery, crumbly exterior filled with a luscious, sweet pineapple jam at the center. Typically sold in airtight packaging, they are perfect for taking home as a souvenir, ensuring they stay fresh during your journey.
While there are many brands selling pineapple cake all over Taiwan, Chia Te is a bakery in Taipei City that makes the most delicious and hence the most popular pineapple cakes in the country. It is so popular that that there are long waiting lines of tourists and locals who want to purchase this as a post-dinner dessert or take it back home. It is best to go to the Chia Te bakery on a weekday morning to avoid long queues.
While pineapple filling is the most popular and associated with Taiwan, other fruit-filling options in the cake are mango, strawberry, melon and cranberry, amongst others.
Cost of Pineapple Cake in Taiwan: TWD 370 – 700 (US$11 – 21) depending on number of pieces in the box.
Tea
Tea is an important beverage in Taiwan. Most restaurants will have a teapot filled with subtle flavoured warm tea that is refilled unlimited times on your table. It is like an alternative to water.
And it is fair to have a free-flowing supply of tea since Taiwan is known for producing some of the world’s finest tea. The weather and altitudes in Taiwan ensure to production of some of the most loved flavours of tea. The Oolong tea is the most famous tea flavour globally.
Tea is found as tea sachets or loose leaves. Other than oolong tea, black tea, green tea and white tea are readily available in the market.
Cost of tea in Taiwan: TWD 100 – 3000 (US$3 – 90) depending upon type, quality and quantity.
Socks
Socks may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about souvenirs from Taiwan, they are a surprisingly popular and unique choice. They are affordable, found everywhere and have great utility.
Socks sold in Taiwan have vibrant designs and playful patterns, that often feature anime characters, cartoon characters and cultural icons, making them a fun way to take a piece of Taiwan home with you. There are options for warm socks as well for winter months.
Cost of Socks: TWD 100 – 300 (US$3 – 10).
Jade jewellery
I always thought Jade was found and important in Mainland China thanks to all the cartoon movies and their references – Jade Palace in Kung Fu Panda!
But only after visiting Taiwan, I came to know that the country has some of the best Jade deposits due to the variety in colour, texture and transparency. No wonder there is an entire section dedicated to Jade in the National Palace Museum.
In case you want to purchase jade in the form of jewellery it is possible to do so at the Jianguo Jade Market. The multiple stalls over there are known to sell authentic jade stuff ranging from statues, pendants, jewellery, decorations, etc.
It is difficult to know the difference between real and fake jade as the fake ones are made so well these days. So practice caution while making a big purchase.
Cost of Jade in Taiwan: TWD 300 – 30,000 (US$10 – 1000).
Millet wine or Mijiu
Millet wine also known as Mijiu is a traditional alcoholic beverage made by the indigenous tribes of Taiwan. It holds deep cultural and ceremonial significance, often used in rituals, celebrations, and as an offering to ancestral spirits. The wine is crafted from millet, a staple crop among these communities, symbolising sustenance and connection to the land.
Mijiu has a mildly sweet and earthy flavour with hints of nuttiness and is served in traditional ceremonies serving roasted or grilled meats. The sweetness is natural and balanced, often complemented by a slightly tangy or sour undertone from fermentation.
This wine is especially popular in Nantou County and is sold around the Sun Moon Lake markets. You can taste and then proceed to purchase.
Cost of Millet Wine in Taiwan: NTD 400 – 1000 (US$ 12 – 30)
Postcards
Postcards are the lightest souvenirs you could pack and take home for your family, friends, and colleagues. The best part? There are postcards available at most tourist places – Taipei 101, Formosan Aboriginal Village or even Songbolin Tea Centre.
There are post offices at a lot of tourist places from where you can send this to yourself back home or your friends.
Cost of postcards: TWD 50 – 100 (US$1.5 – 3)
Skincare and Cosmetics
Unlike huge stores in Bangkok or Seoul, I found the number of shops for skincare and cosmetics was less. The number of Watsons stores was also less as compared to Bangkok. I wanted to pick some sheet masks like I always do from Watsons but I had only 1 option in one aisle.
Poya is another skincare shop, however, in my 6 days in Taiwan, I did not have the time to explore it so I cannot comment on the availability of products.
Refrigerator magnets & Keychains
I love displaying the country-specific refrigerator magnet. I pick up magnets that either have the most famous landmarks or food or culture.
You can find location-specific magnets at tourist attractions across Taiwan – temples, observatories, landmarks, the airport and even Family Marts and 7-Elevens! But the best options I found were in the night markets. No matter which night market you visit, there are ample options to choose from!
WHERE TO PURCHASE SOUVENIRS FROM TAIWAN
This is not an exhaustive list but a recommendation based on where I went during my very short time in Taiwan.
Shopping in Taipei
Ximending Night Market and Shilin Night Market are treasure troves for picking up souvenirs in Taipei. These bustling markets feature shops offering a wide range of items, from quirky finds to branded products for anything you might need.
I also discovered beautiful souvenirs on the 4th floor of Taipei 101, where tickets are sold, and entry to the observatory begins. These souvenirs are primarily themed around the iconic landmark, with options ranging from landmark-shaped cookies to coasters and stationery—offering endless choices for visitors.
Another great spot for souvenirs is the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei. Alongside the usual items like coffee mugs, t-shirts, and magnets, I found adorable utility products featuring cartoon characters, adding a unique and playful touch to the collection.
The National Palace Museum Gift Shop also has lovely souvenirs replicating the exhibits. This includes ceramics, jade, lacquerware, books, fans, coins, etc.
Shopping in Taichung
Although Taichung has fewer tourist attractions, the souvenir shops at Taichung Railway Station are fantastic! I especially enjoyed exploring the wide variety of products dedicated to the Taiwan Bullet Train. The collection of plushies, keychains made from old tickets, tote bags, and magnets featuring the bullet train and other railway themes was fascinating.
Shopping near Sun Moon Lake, Nantou
Nantou County has legends related to owls so you will find many shops dedicated to selling only owl-related souvenirs – jewellery, bags, display items and everything in between. Since it is a region rich in growing tea, millet and other fruits, you will find shops selling the same.
Loose tea leaves, millet wine and dried fruits are sold as souvenirs from Taiwan.
SOUVENIRS FROM TAIWAN: TIPS & TRICKS TO BUY
No matter where you travel, the rules of shopping and bargaining remain the same. Here are some of the tips and tricks to remember for souvenir shopping in Taiwan.
Buy Local
Make sure that the product you like and buy is locally made. Don’t buy something that you would get in your country for the same or cheaper price! I assumed the electronics in the electronic city of Taipei would be cheap but it was almost the same cost as India!
The bargain game
The shopkeepers know tourists are going to bargain so the prices are anyway increased by 50%. So slash the prices by 50% and agree to pay 60-70% of the price. Negotiate hard by simply walking away. If the price is possible for them, they will call you back and give you a counteroffer.
If you buy in bulk, they will give you a better discount.
Beware of custom restrictions
Meat (and dry meat) and seeds from Taiwan are highly restricted due to potential plant diseases and animal health concerns. It is best not to carry them.
Timing is Key
Know the timings on night markets! I was told the night markets are open till 2 am but 50% of shops were shut by 11:30 pm in Ximending. Allow yourself plenty of time to explore the shops and make purchases.
SOUVENIRS FROM TAIWAN FAQs
What to buy at Taiwan Airport? Taipei Airport Shopping
All the international airports in Taiwan are convenient for purchasing food souvenirs, and that last-minute shopping for friends. Travelers can find a variety of popular Taiwanese treats, including pineapple cakes, mochi, and dried fruits, along with Oolong tea and tea-related products like tea sets.
What are the must-buy souvenirs in Taiwan?
Taiwan boasts an incredible variety of must-buy souvenirs. For food lovers, the top picks include taro cakes, pineapple cakes, mochi, and brown sugar ginger tea cubes—delicious treats that are quintessentially Taiwanese. These food souvenirs can be found in many shops across Taiwan, making them a perfect choice for travellers. Traditional handicrafts, such as jade ornaments and pottery, are timeless and iconic keepsakes.
Where is the best place to buy souvenirs in Taiwan?
Night markets and airports!
SUSTAINABLE TIPS FOR SHOPPING IN TAIWAN
- Avoid buying leather bags and artefacts. Try to buy textile-based local products.
- Carry a bag while shopping and avoid plastic bags.
- Encourage shopkeepers to pack fragile items in a newspaper instead of bubble wrap.
- Be polite to the shop owners. In case you don’t buy anything from there, smile at them and say ‘ Xie Xie’ (thank you) before leaving.
Read More posts about Souvenirs from around the world
- Souvenirs from Kutch, Gujarat
- Souvenirs from Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
- Food souvenirs from Tokyo, Japan
- Souvenirs from Vietnam
- Souvenirs from Uzbekistan
I hope this shopping guide on Souvenirs from Taiwan is helpful to you. If you found this blog helpful, leave a comment to let me know what you purchased.
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