Why Watching A Pro Sports Game Should Be On Your Taipei Bucket List

Recently, my friend and I drove to Taoyuan to see the New Taipei Kings take on the Taoyuan Pauian Pilots! Both teams are part of the P. League+ (pronounced ‘Plus League’) — Taiwan’s professional basketball league. For the casual basketball fan, the league might have popped on your radar this past September when Jeremy Lin signed a one-year contract with the New Taipei Kings.

During previous trips to Taiwan, I’ve often had a lot of family commitments. During this five month digital nomad season, there’s been much more time to explore and try new things. So I recruited my friend J — a Californian-Taiwanese who also recently moved to Taipei — to join me in watching sports. In addition to watching last night’s basketball game, we also watched a baseball game earlier this fall watching the Wei Chuan Dragons take on the Fubon Guardians.

Before coming to Taiwan, I read loads of recent travel guides but didn’t see pro sports games on many (if any) lists. And now having gone to games, I think they should be recommended! Read for more details.

Watching a P. League+ game in Taipei

When travelling, I am a fan of both people watching and just generally being in the same space as locals doing everyday things. I love getting a sense of what life is like in the country I’m visiting. There’s lots of variation on this, of course. Different people can live very different lives in the same place. Often lives converage at sports games. At last night's game, we saw junior teams, couples on dates, groups of friends, government officials, and more (not that many expats or tourists though, perhaps because we were at an away game). It was a great experience and an easy thing to book for groups. Our tickets were TWD $700 / CAD $30. Also amazing are the food options. Think fried chicken, stinky tofu, scallion pancake wrapped hot dogs, skewers, and more.

Watching a CPBL game in Taipei

To be honest, I found watching a P. League+ more relaxing than watching a CPBL (Chinese Professional Baseball League) game in Taipei. Baseball games in Taipei are rowdy! The cheering and hyping up the crowd goes on all game! The Tianmu Baseball Stadium is also gorgeously located near rolling hills. What a view. 

I’d say the crowd at a baseball game is similar to the one at a basketball game… perhaps even more passionate. On the evening we went, we happened to sit right in front of some super fans who had season tickets and were subscribers to the network. When they showed our section cheering on the screen, they quickly downloaded that part of the recording and shared it with us. So sweet, and definitely a night I’ll remember. Next time I’m here with friends or my siblings, I’d love to come again. 

Conclusion

If you have any questions about the above or things to do in Taipei, feel free to send me a DM! I absolutely love Taipei and would love to help you enjoy your trip if I can. Have fun exploring the night markets, handicraft streets, world class museums, creative restaurants, hikes with a view, and consider doing something unique like adding a night watching a sports game, too. Let me know if you go and wha you think!