Places to bathe
Spring City
see 'sleep' section only has private rooms or an outdoor swimming pool-type pool for non-guests.
Millennium Hot Spring
Is an outdoor public hot spring. at nt$40 plus an additional nt$20 if you store your stuff in a locker, it's a great choice for the budget minded. after exiting the xin beitou mrt station, you'll see a park across the street. walk up zhongshan road, along the left side of the park. on the way you'll pass the hot spring museum. after the museum, you'll come to a fork in the road. the entrance to the hot spring is on the right. as with most outdoor hot springs in taiwan swimwear is required. do bring your own swimwear, purchase it on-the-spot is available however limited choices and it can be quite expensive. they have a number of rules, available on english signs; it would behoove you to follow them lest the guy in the red shirt blow his whistle at you.
There are many hotels and traditional baths located around Qinshui Park previously called Xin Beitou Park. This park is located directly across from Xin Beitou MRT station Danshui line. Xingyi Road, the main road from Tianmu to Yangming Mountains in Beitou, also has many hot-springs-cum-restaurants, plus a couple of free public baths at the top end where the bus turns back. For Xingyi Road, take bus 508 from Wenlin Road, Shilin from Shilin MRT station exit 1, follow the overhead tracks and turn left at Zhongzheng Road and right at next crossroads [with pedestrian overpass], the 508 stop is on the right. On its way to Xingyi Road, the bus makes a stop opposite the Veterans Hospital in Shipai. Note: The spring water in Beitou is acidic, so don't wear anything that could be damaged by acid, such as pearls.
Sweetme Hot Spring Resort
shuimei - see 'sleep' section.
Dharma Drum Mountain
The internationally well-known Ch'an Zen master Ven. Sheng-yen has a monastery, publication house, Buddhist University and several meditation centers in the Taipei area. The umbrella group is called Dharma Drum Mountain, and the administration center and university are located on a hill side in Jinshan, Taipei County. The main monastery, Nung Chan Sz Nongchan Monastery, is located in Beitou nearest MRT station: Qiyan on the Danshui line and holds weekly meditation classes with English instruction. For information, check their English web page: (http://www.dharmadrum.org).
hot springs
Traditional public hot spring etiquette requires that bathers thoroughly wash and rinse off their bodies before entering the bath, do not wear clothing including swim wear in the bath and tie up their hair so that it does not touch the water. Finally, people with high blood pressure, heart disease or open wounds should not enter the baths.
Most of the public outdoor hot springs In the Beitou area are modeled more after European spa centers and require swimsuits since you will be bathing in mixed company. Finding a real traditional Japanese style public bath is increasingly rare. Take a peek and check before peeling off all your clothes.