Taipei offers tourists plenty of options

by Sarah Segal on September 13, 2009

As Taiwan’s capital, Taipei is a hotspot for tourists from around the world eager to see the people, culture, historic sites and architecture of East Asia. As the political center and financial hub of Taiwan, this modern, fast-paced metropolis houses not only about 2.6 million Taiwanese citizens, but also museums, religious sites, national parks, gardens, zoos and more. Taipei’s cityscape is home to a variety of architecture ranging from ancient Chinese temples to postmodern and technologically advanced skyscrapers. In fact, Taipei is known as home to the tallest skyscraper in the world: Taipei 101. Since it was completed in 2004, the famed 101-floor skyscraper has stood tall and stable enough to withstand typhoons and earthquakes thanks to its 730-ton tuned mass damper, a device mounted in structures to prevent structural failure. However, Taipei 101 doesn’t stop at being geologically safe — with the aid of fiber optic and satellite Internet connections, the skyscraper houses the two fastest elevators in the world, which travel at a speed of one gigabit per second — a whopping 37.5 miles per hour. Taipei also is home to various historic relics of Taiwanese culture. A must-visit for any historical enthusiast, Taipei’s National Palace Museum contains the world’s largest collection of Chinese artifacts from calligraphy to rare books and various curios. Another well-known site, 20-year-old Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, is an elegant, four-walled white monument encased by a tiled blue octagonal roof. A bronze statue of Kai-Shek sits in his traditional Chinese garments in the main hall of the memorial. Various Chinese inscriptions adorn the walls surrounding Kai-Shek, including three Chinese characters above the figure that read “Ethics, Democracy and Science.” Taipei doesn’t only cater to history buffs, political philosophers and city mice. Located in the valley of the Tan-shui River, encircled by mountains and volcanoes, Taipei’s hot springs, parks and nature reserves make it a popular attraction for nature-lovers. Yangmingshan National Park, situated at the northern edge of the Taipei basin and wedged between Taipei City and Taipei County, is one of the seven national parks in Taiwan. Originally known as “Tsaoshan,” Chinese for “Grass Mountain,” because of the characteristically grassy mountain ranges surrounding the valley, the Taiwanese government changed the name to Yangmingshan to honor a notorious philosopher of the Ming Dynasty, Wang Yangming. Yangmingshan became a part of Taipei during the Japanese Colonial period and is famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs and Taiwan’s tallest volcano, the Seven Star Mountain. Taipei also welcomes plant and animal lovers — the Taipei Botanical Garden, located in Southwest Taipei, has more than 2,000 species of lush plants in 17 districts as well as nine ponds. Park-goers can expect to see various birds and aquatic animals such as Malaysian night herons, moorhens, Chinese bulbuls, Zilli tilapias, crayfishes, and carps aroud the park and in the ponds. With 101 sights to see in the biggest city in Taiwan, for some, Taipei will be the experience of their lives. For others, it will only be the beginning.

Taipei offers tourists plenty of options

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