Plan to visit Taiwan?

The Popular 3* hotels favoured by Singaporeans and HKers currently: For booking, contact them directly.

http://www.freewebs.com/crazyazn/hotels.htm

To see the whole of Taiwan will take a long time but during a 8D/7N trip you can cover Taipei, Northern Taiwan, Hualien,

Sun Moon Lake and Taichung

Here's a nice website: www.hostels.com. It has ratings and lists what's included with the hostel. I stayed at the YMCA one and felt just fine, though I had been living in Taiwan for a while and I was used to their standards of clean. Not that they're horrible! It's just not the same as the U.S. But Taiwan is a very safe place to visit so I wouldn't worry about being mugged. Overcharged, maybe. But if you can speak a little Chinese that nips that problem in the bud.

Places to go in Taipei are: The National Museum, Taipei 101, night markets (shilin or danshui are the ones I recommend for visitors), random wandering (it's fun!), Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall, Xinanmen Botanical Gardens, The Grand Hotel, and a temple (there are many around and by MRT stops).

To see the whole Taiwan island? Well, that really depends on what you want to see? Do you want to see the sunrise on the highest mountain in Taiwan? Do you want to see the wonderful beaches of the south? What do you want to see in between?

A book that could help you answer all of your questions is the Lonely Planet book about Taiwan. It should list popular sights to see in which area of the island and in what city (including Taipei), how long it takes to get there, ratings and opinions about hotels/hostels. It also names things in Chinese so, when you're in Taipei and you want to take a taxi, you can just point to the name of the place and off you go. It's really the best thing you can do to plan your trip and make sure you get to see everything you want to see. Happy Planning!

Can't answer all of your answers, but I can tell you the Taipei YMCA Hostel is AMAZING. It's really more of a hotel, but it is technically a hostel and students get discounted rates. It is located at the Taipei Main Station subway stop so while it's not really in the middle of a shopping district, it is in VERY easy access to some of the most popular shopping districts in Taipei.

Places to see in Taipei: Taipei 101, Ximending, Shilin if you want clothes, Longshan Temple, Maokong Gondola

I was in Taiwan for a week last month and in that week I ventured to all the main cities between the middle of the island and Taipei (the farthest south I went was Hualien).

You may explore,

www.Travel.Kayak.com

Good Luck !

if i were you, i would go somewhere else, it's not worth it.