Category: Travel

國家圖書館 National Central Library
No.20, Zhongshan S. Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei City 10001, Taiwan
886-2-2361913

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Located just across the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, this library is the only National Library in Taiwan.

To enter, you’ll either have to leave your ID to get temporary pass for the day or you can also get a permanent card by showing your passport & submitting a photo.

As I was just a tourist, I took the temporary pass to get in.  When I entered the library, I started taking pictures (no flash).  One of the personnel approached me and asked me to stop taking pictures as it is not allowed in the library.  They’re very strict but I understand why there is such a rule.

In åœ‹å®¶åœ–書館 National Central Library, we’ll be able to find extensive collection of magazines, books, newspapers, art & a lot more.

Highlights are the ff:

• Chinese Studies Resources
• Microform Materials
• General Books & Periodicals
• Electronic Resources
• Chinese Rare Books/Special Collection
• Government Publications & Law Collection

This 6-floor library, would you believe, has internet access available.  It offered a number of computers for free use & also provide DSL ports for those who came with their laptop.  Cool, isn’t it?  A high-tech National Library! 🙂

More pictures here.

中正紀念堂 (Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall)
21 Zhongshan S. Road, Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
886 (02) 2343-1100-3
Admission: FREE

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My mom accompanied me to CKSC Memorial Hall & at that time, the weather was unbearably HOT!  You can’t even open your eyes that well as the sun was shining soooo brightly.  We arrived at around ten thirty in the morning but found out that the Theater & Concert Hall where the restaurants & coffee shops were would open at around eleven thirty in the morning.

Mom sat around the corner, she was hiding in the shade! hahaha!  While I bravely embraced the sunny weather and took some pictures of the amazing CKSC Memorial Park.

Chiang-kai Shek was a leader who strived for modernizing the Republic of China.  When he died in 1975, the Taiwan nation grieved when they lost such a great leader.  The citizens proposed to establish a memorial hall for Chiang-kai Shek to show their utmost respect to the leader they missed.

In order to reach the statue, you will need to climb up 89-step stairs.  The number of steps signifies Chiang Kai-shek’s age when he died.

The bronze sculpture of Chiang Kai-shek dominates the main hall.  If you noticed, there are inscriptions on the wall behind the statue.  Those 3 words are the 3 principles of the people and of Chiang Kai-shek’s political thinking.

• Ethics – Principle of Minzu (the People’s Connection/Relation, Government of the People or Nationalism)
• Democracy – Principle of Minquan (the People’s Power of Government by the People)
• Science – Principle of Minsheng (the People’s Welfare/Livelihood or Government for the People)

There are also inscriptions on each side of the walls.  They say:

• the purpose of life is to improve the general life of humanity.
• the meaning of life is to create & sustain subsequent lives in the universe.

On the ground floor, you’ll find a museum dedicated to Chiang Kai-shek’s life.  It has paintings, medals, uniforms, manuscripts, etc.

The 250,000 sq. meter ground also includes the National Theater (where we had our brunch) & National Theater Hall w/c I found sooo astounding!

National Theater Hall

National Concert Hall

National Theater Hall even have a section where we can see what’s in store for the month.  They provide LCDs in the walkway and there’s a preview for every upcoming show!  Coolness.  Here’s one:

The rest of the pictures can be found here.

西門町 (Ximending) is a very popular place in Taipei where the young hang out.

With over six thousand vendors, and twenty theaters, Ximending is definitely a place any artists would love to perform in as well as a place for businessmen would want to have commercial space in.

You would be able to see almost anything we enjoy doing like shopping, theaters, coffee shops, bars, tattoo parlors, fast food restaurants, gift shops.  If you’re looking for something new or trendy, you would surely find it there.

It is in è¥¿é–€ç”º (Ximending) where we tried Taiwan’s famous Pork Stew Rice (燉肉飯).  This is also where we tried the modern toilet restaurant, w/c is super cool. (I’ll post about modern toilet restaurant soon!)

西門町 (Ximending) is a very busy area. There are always a lot of people hanging around, but nights and weekends are their peak time.

Here is è¥¿é–€ç”º (Ximending) during the day:

Just to give a little history, è¥¿é–€ç”º (Ximending) got its name during the Japanese era where it was named after an administrative division.  Later on, the Japanese decided to set it up into an entertainment & business area.  è¥¿é–€ç”º (Ximending) became even more successful after Japan’s defeat.

Some surprises that we’ve seen in è¥¿é–€ç”º (Ximending) were:

• Cute Animals being displayed at night.

• A pink shop had a ritual when they were closing.  I was in awe.  I totally forgot to take a video of it!  The six pretty ladies in pink would say something in japanese then they would keep bowing to us.  They then would step back a few spaces and the door will close on them.  You will be able to see that they were just staying where they were until the door completely shut down on them. hahaha what a nice sight to see!

西門町 (Ximending) is definitely a must-go see when you’re in Taiwan.  Truly a hip place for us young & for the young at heart 😉

I have 2 sets of albums for è¥¿é–€ç”º (Ximending): daytime & night time, take your pick.

至善園 (Garden of Perfected Benevolence)
台北市士林區至善路二段221號
221 Zhishan Rd., Sec. 2, Shilin, Taipei, 11143 Taiwan

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After visiting National Palace Museum, do not forget to drop by 至善園 (Garden of Perfected Benevolence).  You don’t have to pay the entrance fee if you still have your ticket to the National Palace Museum (at the same day of course).  Otherwise, you’d have to pay 20NT as entrance fee.

Before you enter the garden, you will be able to see the site map by the entrance. Here are the attractions that we saw during our 15 minute visit 😛

Here is a video of the Dragon Pond. You’ll be able to see a lot of fishes and ducks swimming in the pond. The intertwining dragons in the pond symbolizes the omnipotence and magical benevolence of the Dragon..

The Pine Wind Pavilion has two floors. If you go up the second floor, you will be able to have a view of this beautiful garden. One interesting thing to note is the wooden pillars are carved with phoenixes and dragons.

The West Bridge Pavillon stands by the water. It has a bridge that connects opposite sides of the shore.

Chang Chi of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote by a pond and washed his brush by it.  This is where the Brush Washing Pond is named after.

If you happen to be visiting during rainy season, you won’t see any flowers. We were in such a hurry that we were not able to visit the whole area. I would really loved to have visited when flowers were in season.

Other pictures here.

國立故宮博物院 (National Palace Museum)
台北市士林區至善路二段221號
221 Zhishan Rd., Sec. 2, Shilin, Taipei, 11143 Taiwan
886 (02) 2881-2021

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One of the most important museums in the world, 國立故宮博物院 (National Palace Museum) can be seen by paying just 160NT.

If you love art and history, the National Palace Museum has such rich collection that it may take you the whole day to truly appreciate it. 

The museum is continuously being renovated and upgraded. The collection is always expanded. It now has over 650,000 pieces of the finest collection of Chinese art and culture from the middle Neolithic Age up until the Ch’ing Dynasty.

國立故宮博物院 (National Palace Museum) collection of antiques, books, caligraphy, historical documents and painting are displayed throughout three floors of the building.

Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures. Sorry, I don’t have anything to show you through, so you have to visit Taipei and go to 國立故宮博物院 (National Palace Museum) to know what I’ve seen. Their policy did gave me time to really appreciate the wonderful historical collection that they have that goes way back to 6200-2070 BCE.

Here are the exhibitions during the time we visited (09/15/2009):

• Compassion & Wisdom: Religious Sculptural Arts
• Rare Books & Documents Gallery
• Special Exhibition Galleries
• Arts from the Qing Imperial Collection
• Splendors of Qing Furniture
• Transitions & Convergences
• Prototypes of Modern Styles
• The New Era of Ornamentation
• Painting & Calligraphy Galleries
• The Contest of Craft: Ming Dynasty’s Jia-Jing to Chong-Zhen
• Treasures from an Age of Prosperity: The Reigns of Emperors Kang-xi, Yong-zheng & Qian-long
• Toward Modernity: Late Qing Dynasty
• The Mystery of Bronzes
• Classical Civilization: The Bronze Age
• Dazzling Gems of the Collection: Famous Pieces form the Qing Dynasty Palaces
• The Neolithic Age: The Beginning of Civilization
• From Classic to Tradition: Qin & Han Dynasties

The museum has free tour guides in English every 10 am and 3 pm. If guests prefer to tour at their own pace, they can pay 200NT for an English headphone guide.

This is me & my mom outside the museum (the only place we can take pictures hehehe :P)

Rest of the pictures here.