TAIPEI PART III: the Maokong Mountains

By far, the best thing we did in Taiwan was our journey to the end of the MRT line and the gondola across the Maokong Mountains. It was our last day in Taipei and taking the gondola was a whim, a small dot at the end of the map next to the Taipei Zoo. I'm not sure I mentioned before, but the Taipei metro system is quite beautiful. The line to the zoo is elevated, much like the L in Chicago. As we sat on the train for the twenty minutes it took to reach the end of the line I felt so peaceful, tall houses and trees gliding by.

The last stop was full of small children and high school couples visiting the Zoo on a Saturday afternoon. We passed them by and continued three or four blocks to the gondola which was only 50 TWD each way (about $1.75). I had expected the gondola to go from the bottom to the top of a mountain. What we found instead was a trip across several mountain peaks traveling about 4 kilometers above the tree tops. It was a misty kind of afternoon, just cool enough to have us wearing sweaters, and the view from the gondola carriage was breathtaking. If I thought the train was peaceful, it was nothing to the meditative feel of riding the gondola. It was heading on to late afternoon by this time so that, as we rounded one peak the mountains would be suddenly suffused in gold.

We finally disembarked to find ourselves in a small cliffside village. Half-farming town, half carnival I wished we had had more time to spend there. Between fields and orchards were wedged numerous tea houses, hiking paths and sweets stalls. Feeling in the spirit I bought a large bag of cotton candy as we wandered along the only street in town.

Maokong Tea Houses

The fields, the foods and then the fall.

If we had brought stronger shoes and warmer clothes we might have wandered onto the hiking paths, leading off to more temples and tea houses, but the day was cooling quickly. As we walked further it felt like drifting into the realm of Spirited Away. Stairs disappearing into leaves led up and down in every direction and next to the road — rainboots in tree branches and overgrown motorbikes. If not Spirited Away then at least we saw something akin to Forster's India, whose jungle swallows everything with no thought of civilization.

Our final stop was a tea house, clutched at the bottom of a long stairwell. It was there we learned that we were in the town of Mucha and that this mountain, and all the others around it, is famous for green tea. All those fields we passed, along the road and in the gondola, were tea fields. At the cafe we were able to try hot tea, tea cakes, tea souffle and tea ice cream. The owner of the cafe is a baker whose dream is to bring the flavor of Mucha, his hometown, to the world. Sitting in the chill air of the cafe, sipping the scalding tea which made that small town famous will surely be one of my strongest memories of Taiwan.

The Mucha Tea House.

TAIPEI PART II: City Life

I've heard that no city can be truly beautiful unless it conjoins a body of water. This is why cities like Amsterdam, Paris, London, Venice, are said to stick in the minds of those who visit them. Taipei holds true to this saying, bounded on two sides by river banks, but for me the true beauty of Taipei stemmed from its mountain boundaries.

Our second or third day in Taipei we were able to get an amazing view of all the city from the top of Taipei 101. Taipei 101 is second tallest building in the world and, since it was built on an island, is designed to withstand hurricanes. It was interesting to learn just a modicum of the knowledge behind this physical feat when we visited the structure. You see, the Taipei 101 has inside it essentially a giant ball suspended by steel cords and struts. This ball or damper absorbs and distributes the movement generated when wind hits the tower, reducing the stress on the rest of the building. Inside the tower we got to see a short video of the damper's actual movement during a hurricane.

Taipei 101

It actually took us ages to get to the tower because we underestimated its size. We had gone to lunch at a dim sum place downtown and when we came outside we could see Taipei 101 on the horizon — maybe 3 or 4 blocks we thought, a quick walk, see the tower and we can find something else to do for the rest of the afternoon. 40 minutes later we were still walking and the tower didn't look closer. Deceptive building. Although finally we did get there of course.

Once in the building you can pay to take the high-speed elevator up to the 89th floor. There is of course, no other option for going up to the 89th floor and while the ticket is a little pricey it is money well spent. Once you are on the 89th floor you have a beautiful view of Taipei. They also have bathrooms, a cafe, a gift shop and access to the 88th floor, where you can learn about the building's construction, and the rooftop, with an even more stunning view of the city.

View from Taipei 101's 89th floor.

Sunset from Taipei 101.

Taipei was very urban and it showed in the intersections filled with motorbikes, in the plethora of suits and in the availability of things like 'the Spot' Cinema which daily shows art films from around the globe. I don't particularly see the charm of the big city myself — the medium or small city seems just fine to me — but going to 'the Spot' reminded me of the assets of the big city, the availability of things like an art cinema and the multicultural atmosphere. At 'the Spot' we saw the only English-language film available — Nebraska.

'The Spot'

Taipei Traffic

As much as I enjoyed this urban side of life, after three days of city walking I was ready to get out and see something beyond skyscrapers.