EP99 Taipei Songshan District | The Last Obstacle

EP100 Taipei City | Five Saints Become True

One hundred episodes. One hundred locations across Taiwan. One hundred chapters of Journey to the West. We end where we began — back in Taipei, under Taipei 101, the building that started it all. In the finale episode, we watch the entire team arrive home, receive their destinies, and become what they were always meant to be. Sun Wukong's golden headband — placed on his head in Chapter 14, a source of pain and control for the entire journey — quietly disappears. We eat the full Taipei classics: Din Tai Fung xiaolongbao, Yongkang beef noodles, and a Shilin night market send-off. And Bridge, Bao, and Captain say goodbye to the most extraordinary road trip in history. Location: Xinyi District [https://locguy.com/f/%E8%87%BA%E5%8C%97%E5%B8%82] | Dadaocheng [https://locguy.com/f/%E8%87%BA%E5%8C%97%E5%B8%82] Food: Din Tai Fung Xiaolongbao [https://locguy.com/explore/food/xiaolongbao] | Yongkang Beef Noodles [https://locguy.com/explore/food/yongkang-beef-noodle] | Shilin Night Market [https://locguy.com/explore/food/night-market]

EP99 Taipei Songshan District | The Last Obstacle

Episode 99 brings us to Songshan District in Taipei — home of Raohe Night Market, one of Taipei's oldest and most beloved night markets, and the Rainbow Bridge that arches over the Keelung River in a graceful curve of coloured light. Raohe is the night market that locals argue is the best in the city — a single long lane packed with food stalls, the entrance guarded by the ornate Ciyou Temple. We eat two of the market's most iconic foods: Pepper Buns — baked in a clay tandoor-style oven until the crust shatters and the peppery pork filling bursts with juice; and Herbal Stewed Pork Ribs — a medicinal herb broth that's been simmering for hours with fall-off-the-bone ribs, the ultimate Taipei night market comfort food. And we find out what happens when Tang Monk forgets a very important promise — and meets the most justified obstacle of the entire journey. Location: Songshan District [https://locguy.com/f/%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%B8%82/%E6%9D%BE%E5%B1%B1%E5%8D%80] Food: Pepper Buns [https://locguy.com/explore/food/raohe-pepper-bun] | Herbal Stewed Pork Ribs [https://locguy.com/explore/food/herbal-stewed-pork-ribs]

EP98 Taipei Wenshan District | Reaching India

Episode 98 takes us to Taipei's Wenshan District — home of the Maokong Gondola, the Taipei Zoo, and the hillside tea plantations where Muzha Tieguanyin tea has been grown for over a century. The gondola rises from the zoo at the valley floor up to Maokong, where tea houses dot the mountain and the city skyline glitters below. We eat Tieguanyin tea cuisine — dishes where the locally grown tea is used as an ingredient, infusing everything from chicken to noodles with its distinctive roasted flavour — and Muzha Goose, the neighbourhood's beloved simple specialty: tender poached goose served cold with a ginger-scallion dip. Over these homey Taipei flavours, we witness the most extraordinary moment in the whole journey — the team finally arrives at India, sheds their mortal bodies, and meets the Buddha. Then things get complicated. Location: Wenshan District [https://locguy.com/f/%E5%8F%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%B8%82/%E6%96%87%E5%B1%B1%E5%8D%80] Food: Tieguanyin Tea Cuisine [https://locguy.com/explore/food/tieguanyin-tea] | Muzha Goose [https://locguy.com/explore/food/goose-meat]

EP97 New Taipei Shenkeng / Shiding | Framed for a Crime

Episode 97 takes us to the mountains just southeast of Taipei — Shenkeng and Shiding, two neighbouring old towns in New Taipei City connected by winding mountain roads. Shenkeng Old Street is Taiwan's undisputed capital of stinky tofu, where an entire lane of shops each offers their own take on this pungent, crispy, irresistible delicacy. Nearby, Shiding's Crooked Lane (不見天街) is a covered alley built over a stream, and the viewpoint at Thousand Island Lake reveals a reservoir studded with green islets that looks like it belongs in a fantasy film. Over fiery, crispy Shenkeng stinky tofu and a refined Shiding tofu meal, we follow Sun Wukong as he goes from hero to prisoner to underworld investigator — all to prove they didn't do something they didn't do. Location: Shenkeng District [https://locguy.com/f/%E6%96%B0%E5%8C%97%E5%B8%82/%E6%B7%B1%E5%9D%91%E5%8D%80] Food: Shenkeng Stinky Tofu [https://locguy.com/explore/food/shenkeng-stinky-tofu] | Shiding Tofu Meal [https://locguy.com/explore/food/hot-spring-tofu]

EP96 Lienchiang Dongyin | Tang Monk Refuses Wealth

Episode 96 takes us to Dongyin — the most remote, most northerly island of Matsu, sitting at the edge of Taiwan's sovereign territory. A white lighthouse stands at the island's northern tip — the northernmost lighthouse in Taiwan — and the old military fortification Guozhi Beige keeps watch over the sea from its granite cliffs. This is 國之北疆 — the Northern Frontier of the Nation. We eat the freshest seafood of the trip: cold-current sea urchin, fat steamed oysters, and clean-broth fish soup from waters where the Kuroshio and cold currents collide. And we take a small, ceremonial shot of Dongyin Gaoliang — the local sorghum spirit that clocks in at 58 degrees. Over these most remote flavours, we follow Tang Monk as the wealthiest man in the land tries to give him everything — and he says no to all of it. Location: Dongyin, Matsu [https://locguy.com/f/%E9%80%A3%E6%B1%9F%E7%B8%A3/%E6%9D%B1%E5%BC%95%E9%84%89] Food: Dongyin Seafood [https://locguy.com/explore/food/seafood] | Gaoliang Spirit [https://locguy.com/explore/food/matsu-gaoliang]