Enter the zoo in the morning
The Wenhu line ends at Taipei Zoo station. Enter on a weekday morning. Opening, closing and tickets follow the zoo site — no exact fare, and do not arrive just before closing. Finish one zone inside. Do not start a full loop just before closing. Marchi Hotel in Jingmei is a bed by the night market, not a bed at the zoo gate. If you sleep there, do not attach the market after the descent. Walk the zone you planned. Read the gondola board once before you enter and once as you leave. Stop the day here. Leave the other district for tomorrow. Do not add a stop before the last train, and trust the station board over this guide.
Read the gondola board; keep one stop on the hill
The gondola station is beside the zoo. Hours, stoppages and fares follow the gondola site and the board — no frozen number. EasyCard or iPASS can pay, as a charge separate from the metro. If it is stopped, stay at the zoo and do not switch to the mountain path. If it runs, stay long at tea or Zhinan Temple. The tea promotion centre is not required. If the wind rises, come down early. On the hill keep tea or the temple. If the wind rises, take the next car down. Do not wait for sunset. Keep this stretch inside two hours. Note the metro exit before you start, leave as soon as you have seen or eaten, and do not queue a second door.
Do not append Jingmei or Xinyi
Jingmei Night Market and Xianjiyan are another southern evening or morning. If the gondola is stopped, do not walk in order to catch the market. Elephant Mountain is Xinyi's dusk; riding back from the zoo is still another day. Do not also add Dahu just because it is on the Wenhu line. A Maokong day ends at one long stay on the hill, or at the zoo itself. Maokong ends at the zoo station. Do not add Jingmei or Elephant Mountain on the ride back. Stop once in the middle. When you have eaten or looked, walk on. Do not turn passing shops into a list, and go back by the station you came in on.