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.