In Taiwan, it is very important to spend quality time with family and friends especially on weekends. From the 1980s onwards, Taiwanese are spending more on recreation and entertainment as their income increased. Some popular activities are as follow:
1. Park outings
People usually go to the park for activities like strolling, exercising, mediating, gossiping, or simply relaxing. On weekends, whole families turn up to enjoy the scenery.
In the morning, parks can accommodate up to hundreds of people, young and old, who exercise before attending school or work. The different ways of exercising are: tai chi, dancing and badminton. It is also common to see older men playing Chinese chess in the park. Some even hold singing sessions there with their portable music players.
2. Shopping and visiting attractions
Besides spending time in the parks, many families eat out on weekends or go shopping. Taipei’s shopping malls are flooded with people, and night markets bustle with shoppers. Shilin Night Market is one example of the largest night markets in Taipei. Some families visit temples and others visit National Palace Museum, the Zoo, or any of the amusement parks.
A temple in Taiwan
Facilities in Taiwan
3. Mahjong and Pachinko
Mahjong is an activity that is popular with the adults, and pachinko, a Japanese word for pinball machines, is an alternative for the young and old to pass their free time.
Mahjong
Pachinko
4. Teenagers' activities
Taiwanese teenagers go to the movies, meet their friends in parks, or hold barbeques. When the weather turns cold or on rainy days, the youngsters hang out in arcades to bowl or play pool, table tennis, and computer games.
5. Chinese-style workouts
Tai chi is the ancient Chinese art of shadowboxing. It is actually a form of exercise with a series of set meditative movements. Kung-fu is another popular martial art and is part of the physical education curriculum. Martial art displays can be seen daily in Taipei’s city parks, at Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, and at Yang-ming-shan National Park. 
6. Getting Away
Home to many beautiful mountainous types of scenery, Taiwan offers city dwellers the opportunity to escape from the usual work routine. Hiking in the Central Mountain Range has become a popular leisure pastime.
Some examples of hiking hideouts:
Yu Shan National Park, the largest and most pristine national park in Taiwan, provides hiking trails and showcases the ruins of aboriginal settlements and the Qing dynasty.
Hohuan shan (Mountain of Harmonious Joy) in the Central Mountain Range is Taiwan’s only ski resort. Besides appealing to skiers in winter, it also attracts numerous hikers during summer.
Grand Taroko Gorge, a dramatic, rocky, coastal scenery of Yehliu in the northern part of the island draws many of Taipei’s residents who like to visit the area on weekends.
Ho huan shan
7. Sports
The most popular sports in Taiwan are basketball, baseball, and table tennis. These are played by children as well as the adults. Many are also trying to take up golf and tennis.
Baseball team8. Traditional Sports
Skipping has been popular since the Tang dynasty. Shuttlecock is a game where players are to kick the object back and forth without it falling to the ground. Top spinning was once popular with children, but it is played mainly by men in Taiwan today. Diabolo spinning looks like a yo-yo and is played by moving the Diabolo using a long cotton string attached to a stick at either end of the string.
Diabolo performance9. KTV Entertainment
Karaoke Television, is to sing along to pre-recorded music videos, and is a widely popular activity for socializing in Taiwan. “Karaoke” derived from the Japanese word meaning “empty orchestra”. There are many KTVs in Taiwan and it is one of the most patronised places by the young people.
