1 Day, 122 stamps

Every single station in the Taipei Metro network has a commemorative stamp. (So does every train station and HSR station.) Each of the MRT station stamps features scenes and attractions from the surrounding area, and people (locals and tourists alike) enjoy collecting them as part of their Taiwan travel experience. If you’re interested in learning about what each stamp shows, you can click here to find out more about the individual stamps of the red, blue, green, brown, orange and yellow lines. At the time of writing, Taipei’s MRT network has 122 unique stamps (not including the 22 that can be found on the Taoyuan Airport Metro Line).

I can’t remember when I first heard about these stamps, but ever since I did, I have harboured the urge to try and collect them all in one go. I couldn’t tell you why. This is just a part of my personality that I can’t change. I like wholeness. I like personal challenges. These two interests combine to make me the sort of person who is willing to spend the whole day travelling around on the MRT network—not once, but twice. (Yes. Twice.)

While most people who collect the Taipei MRT stamps do so over the course of months or years, I decided to set myself the challenge of seeing if it were possible to collect them all in a day. For those who prefer the TLDR version. The answer is yes. It is possible, but maybe not fun unless your concept of fun diverges somewhat from the norm.

The first time I attempted this challenge, I made several mistakes that caused me to fail. I arrived at the first station pretty much at opening time, but that first station was Zhishanyan rather than one of the terminal stations (this meant I had to waste time travelling this section of track twice). I also took breaks for coffee and dinner, which ended up costing me at least an hour, some of which coincided with the peak-headway rush hour time frame. I had planned my route in advance, but I hadn’t factored in things like which stations were good or bad to transfer at. I also went in with the game plan of collecting each station’s stamp the first time I passed through it, regardless of whether or not that would be the most time-efficient.

The second time I attempted this, I took what I’d learnt from my first try and made sure I didn’t repeat the same mistakes. I was ready and waiting at Tamsui Station when the station doors opened, and had everything I needed for the day already with me. I collected the first stamp at 5:54am and was on the 6:00am train out of the station, and a whole (ridiculous) 17 hours later 11:00pm, I stamped my last stamp at Dingpu Station.

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If you are also considering doing something like this, I can offer the following advice:

1. Don’t do it

I’m only half joking. There are lots of other more exciting ways to spend a day in Taipei. And if you’ve got your heart set on collecting all the station stamps, I suggest collecting one line at a time. That way, you can enjoy a more leisurely day getting on and off the trains. Maybe taking a look around some of the neighbourhoods surrounding the stations, or even seek out the various attractions featured on the stamps. This would provide an infinitely deeper and more engaging Taipei experience than simply staying in the MRT network. And… if you’re not convinced, then save this for a rainy day so you’re not missing out.

2. Don’t do it in the height of summer

Speaking of weather, I would advise doing this when the weather is comfortable. Several of the lines have above-ground sections, and I found myself unpleasantly sweaty (and borderline dehydrated) when I did this in September. It was far easier a few weeks later.

3. Wear the right clothes and footwear

It seems kind of silly to be advising you to pay attention to gear for an inner-city adventure like this, but after wearing slip-on shoes and a cotton T-shirt for the first time, I can speak from experience. The amount of walking you’ll do in the course of going up and down escalators is comparable to any day spent in the mountains. Make sure you’ve got comfortable, cushioned shoes that will keep your feet comfy even after hours and hours of standing up or walking—my phone recorded that I took in excess of 30,000 steps that day. And as for clothing, I’d advise sweat-wicking fabrics.

4. Plan your route (but be open to change)

Both times, I had a rough plan of how I was going to make my way around the network, but both times I made quick changes when it made more sense to.

5. Have some way of tracking your progress

I had a map of the MRT network, and I ticked off each of the stations as I passed through. Doing this helped me to see where I had and hadn’t been. I lost my map about two-thirds of the way through my successful attempt, but luckily by that point, I didn’t have any complex line-changing left to do.

6. Consider staying close to where you plan to start your attempt

This is probably a bit of an extreme step for most people, but if you are serious about trying to collect each and every stamp in a single day, it will make the process smoother. I stayed in a cheap hostel in Tamsui the night before, which meant I was able to have a longer sleep than if I had travelled to this starting point from home. I think there are only a few places that make sense as starting points: Tamsui, Dingpu, Huilong and Nanshijiao. Starting at any of these means that you avoid a long “wasted’ period of time travelling back along the same track in the other direction.

7. Take all the food and water you’ll need with you

You cannot eat or drink once you have passed through the ticket barriers, but you can eat and drink in the unpaid sections of the station. I took water in a hiking bladder with a straw and made sure to sip on that whenever I was outside of the ticket barriers. For food, I went in with some energy bars, bread rolls and nuts—things I could snack on quickly and easily when I had a moment.

8. Get a travel pass

Doing this would be horrendously expensive if you didn’t have a travel pass. I had a T-pass when I attempted it, but you could just as easily do it with a day pass. Both offer unlimited rides. However…

9. Choose when to swipe in and out, when to ask to be let out, and when to stay in the paid area

Even though the travel passes offer unlimited travel, they have an inbuilt anti-abuse mechanism that gets triggered after you use it a certain number of times. If this happens, when you go to swipe out, the ticket gate will tell you to seek assistance from the station staff. The staff will scan your card and see how it has been used. I had to go through this process several times in the course of this challenge and had three types of reactions. In some cases, the staff saw my foreign face and reset the card without saying anything; in other cases, they asked what I was doing and I showed them my stamp book; and in one case, I got asked if I was sure I was the only person using the card (again, this was solved by showing them the stamp book). If this sounds a bit stress-inducing, there is an alternative. You can preemptively approach the station staff, explain what you’re doing and ask if you can be let in and out (you’ll need to make it clear that you plan to continue your journey). I must have done this at least a hundred times across the two attempts and was only told no twice (one of those times, a member of staff offered to stamp the book for me, and the other was just a man on a power trip). The only downside to this is that you might have to waste a bit of time queuing. (Seriously, I have a new found respect for station staff after doing this. They have to deal with so many silly questions and angry people.) Finally, there are a number of stations where you don’t need to pass through the ticket barriers at all. In these, it is possible to reach over the barrier from inside and stamp your page.

10. Be aware that most transfer stations have a single stamp

But transfer stations on the yellow line have two.

I think that’s about it. If you’re foolish enough to give it a go after reading the above, then good luck!

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Below is the list of timings and stations in the order in which I visited them. I am sure there is probably a more efficient way to do this, and if you discover it, I would absolutely love to hear about it.

1. 05:54 — R28 – Tamsui (淡水站)
2. 06:04 — R27 – Hongshulin (紅樹林站)
3. 06:15 — R26 – Zhuwei (竹圍站)
4. 06:25 — R25 – Guandu (關渡站)
5. 06:33 — R24 – Zhongyi (忠義站)
6. 06:41 — R23 – Fuxinggang (復興崗站)
7. 06:51 — R22 – Beitou (北投站)
8. 06:58 — R22A – Xinbeitou (新北投站)
9. 07:16 — R21 – Qiyan (奇岩站)
10. 07:21 — R20 – Qilian (唭哩岸站)
11. 07:26 — R19 – Shipai (石牌站)
12. 07:30 — R18 – Mingde (明德站)
13. 07:35 — R17 – Zhishanyan (芝山岩站)
14. 07:41 — R16 – Shilin (士林站)
15. 07:46 — R15 – Jiantan (劍潭站)
16. 07:51 — R14 – Yuanshan (圓山站)
17. 07:57 — R12 – Shuanglian (雙連站) – Skipped Minquan West Road then doubled back.
18. 08:01 — R13/O11 – Minquan West Road (民權西路站) – Transferred onto the orange line heading towards Nanshijiao.
19. 08:10 — O19 – Xingtian Temple (行天宮站) – Returned back in the direction of Luzhu/Huilong.
20. 08:17 — O10 – Zhongshan Elementary School (中山國小站)
21. 08:25 — O50 – Sanchong Elementary School (三重國小站) – Skipped Datouqiao.
22. 08:34 — O51 – Sanhe Junior High School (三和國中站)
23. 08:43 — O52 – St. Ignatius High School (徐匯中學站)
24. 08:51 — O53 – Sanmin Senior High School (三民高中站)
25. 08:58 — O54 – Luzhou (蘆洲站) – Doubled back to Datouqiao.
26. 09:20 — O12 – Daqiaotou (大橋頭站) – Jumped over to the Huilong branch line.
27. 09:27 — O13 – Taipei Bridge (台北橋站)
28. 09:35 — O14 – Cailiao (菜寮站)
29. 09:43 — O15 – Sanchong (三重站)
30. 09:52 — O16 – Xianse Temple (先嗇宮站)
31. 10:02 — O18 – Xinzhuang (新莊站) – Skipped Touqianzhuang.
32. 10:11 — O19 – Fujen University (輔大站)
33. 10:23 — O20 – Danfeng (丹鳳站)
34. 10:32 — O21 – Huilong (迴龍站)
35. 10:52 — O17 – Touqianzhuang (頭前庄站) – Transferred onto the yellow line heading in the direction of New Taipei Industrial Park.
36. 10:55 — Y18 – Touqianzhuang (頭前庄站) – This station is a transfer station with two stamps.
37. 11:00 — Y19 – Xingfu (幸福站)
38. 11:13 — Y20 – New Taipei Industrial Park (新北產業園區站) – Doubled back on the yellow line heading towards Dapinglin.
39. 11:27 — Y17 – Xinpu Minsheng (新埔民生站)
40. 11:41 — Y16 – Banqiao (板橋站) – Although this is a transfer station with two stamps, I did not collect the blue line stamp at the same time because the stations are quite far apart.
41. 11:53 — Y15 – Banxin (板新站)
42. 12:06 — Y14 – Zhongyuan (中原站)
43. 12:19 — Y13 – Qiaohe (橋和站)
44. 12:31 — Y12 – Zhonghe (中和站)
45. 12:45 — Y11 – Jingan (景安站)
46. 12:56 — Y10 – Jingping (景平站)
47. 13:10 — Y9 – Xiulang Bridge (秀朗橋)
48. 13:21 — Y8 – Shisizhang (十四張站)
49. 13:35 — Y7 – Dapinglin (大坪林站) – Yellow line completed. Transferred onto the green line headed towards Xindian.
50. 13:39 — G04 – Dapinglin (大坪林站) – This is a transfer station with two stamps.
51. 13:51 — G03 – Qiizhang (七張站)
52. 14:07 — G03A – Xiaobitan (小碧潭站)
53. 14:20 — G02 – Xindian District Office (新店區公所站)
54. 14:30 — G01 – Xindian (新店站) – Returned on the gren line headed back towards Songshan.
55. 14:46 — G05 – Jingmei (景美站)
56. 14:55 — G06 – Wanlong (萬隆站)
57. 15:04 — G07 – Gongguan (公館站)
58. 15:15 — G08 – Taipower Building (台電大樓站)
59. 15:25 — G09/O05 – Guting (古亭站)
60. 15:31 — G10/R08 – Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall (中正紀念堂站) – Transferred onto red line in the direction of Tamsui for one stop.
61. 15:37 — R09 – NTU Hospital (台大醫院站) – Returned back to Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall.
62. 15:48 — G11 – Xiaonanmen (小南門站)
63. 15:57 — G12/BL11 – Ximen (西門站)
64. 16:07 — G13 – Beimen (北門站)
65. 16:15 — G14/R11 – Zhongshan (中山站) – Transferred onto the green line towards Songshan.
66. 16:26 — G16/BR11 – Nanjing Fuxing (南京復興站) – Skipped Songjiang Nanjing.
67. 16:30 — G17 – Taipei Arena (台北小巨蛋站)
68. 16:38 — G18 – Nanjing Sanmin (南京三民站)
69. 16:51 — G19 – Songshan (松山站)
70. 17:04 — G15/O08 – Songjiang Nanjing (松江南京站) – Green line completed. Transferred onto the orange line.
71. 17:13 — O07/BL14 – Zhongxiao Xinsheng (忠孝新生站)
72. 17:28 — O04 – Dingxi (頂溪站)
73. 17:31 — O03 – Yongan Market (永安市場站)
74. 17:38 — O02 – Jingan (景安站)
75. 17:46 — O01 – Nanshijiao (南勢角站)
76. 18:02 — O06/R07 – Dongmen (東門站) – Orange line Completed. Transferred onto the red line.
77. 18:07 — R06 – Da’an Park (大安森林公園站)
78. 18:13 — R04 – Xinye Anhe (信義安和站)
79. 18:18 — R03 – Taipei 101/World Trade Centre (台北101/世貿站)
80. 18:23 — R02 – Xiangshan (象山站)
81. 18:34 — R05/BR09 – Da’an (大安站) – Transferred onto the brown line heading towards Taipei Zoo.
82. 18:42 — BR07 – Liuzhangli (六張犁站) – Skipped Technology Building.
83. 18:46 — BR06 – Linguang (麟光)
84. 18:52 — BR04 – Wanfang Hospital (萬芳醫院站) – Skipped Xinhai.
85. 18:55 — BR03 – Wanfang Community (萬芳社區站)
86. 18:58 — BR02 – Muzha (木柵站)
87. 19:01 — BR01 – Taipei Zoo (動物園站) – Doubled back on the brown line heading towards Nangang Exhibition Centre.
88. 19:09 — BR05 – Xinhai (辛亥站) – Picked up this skipped station.
89. 19:19 — BR08 – Technology Building (科技大樓站) – Picked up another skipped station.
90. 19:27 — BR10/BL15 – Zhongxiao Fuxing (忠孝復興站)
91. 19:34 — BR12 – Zhongshan Junior High School (中山國中站) – Skipped Nanjing Fuxing.
92. 19:40 — BR13 – Songshan Airport (松山機場站)
93. 19:46 — BR14 – Dazhi (大直站)
94. 19:51 — BR15 – Jiannan Road (劍南路站)
95. 19:57 — BR16 – Xihu (溪湖站)
96. 20:01 — BR17 – Gangqian (港墘站)
97. 20:05 — BR18 – Wende (文德站)
98. 20:07 — BR19 – Neihu (內湖站)
99. 20:10 — BR20 – Dahu Park (大湖公園站)
100. 20:17 — BR21 – Huzhou (湖州站)
101. 20:23 — BR22 – Donghu (東湖站)
102. 20:29 — BR23 – Nangang Software Park (南港軟體園區站)
103. 20:36 — BR24/BL23 – Taipei Nangang Exhibition Centre (南港展覽館站) – Brown line completed. Transferred onto the blue line towards Dingpu.
104. 20:43 — BL22 – Nangang (南港站)
105. 20:49 — BL22 – Kunyang (昆陽站)
106. 20:54 — BL20 – Houshanpi (後山埤站)
107. 21:01 — BL19 – Yongchun (永春站)
108. 21:07 — BL18 – Taipei City Hall (市政府站)
109. 21:13 — BL17 – Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall (國父紀念館站)
110. 21:18 — BL16 – Zhongxiao Dunhua (忠孝敦化站)
111. 21:28 — BL13 – Shandao Temple (善導寺站)
112. 21:34 —BL12 /R10 – Taipei Main Station (台北車站) – Red line completed.
113. 21:43 — BL10 – Longshan Temple (龍山寺站)
114. 21:55 — BL09 – Jiangzicui (江子翠站)
115. 22:03 — BL08 – Xinpu (新埔站)
116. 22:07 — BL07 – Banqiao (板橋站) – I had already collected the yellow line’s stamp earlier.
117. 22:13 — BL06 – Fuzhong (府中站)
118. 22:19 — BL05 – Far East Hospital (東亞醫院站)
119. 22:30 — BL04 – Haishan (海山站)
120. 23:40 — BL03 – Tucheng (土城站)
121. 22:50 — BL02 – Yongning (永寧站)
122. 23:00 — BL01 – Dingpu (頂埔站) – Blue line completed.